ACLU Announces It Won’t Defend Hate Groups that Protest with Firearms
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.18.17
When mobs of white supremacists and militia members showed up in Charlottesville, Virginia, carrying torches and Nazi flags, many of them also open carried firearms. If you were to talk to any of these loons, many – if not all of them – probably believed they were protected under the First and Second Amendments, but let’s get one thing straight, public terror isn’t listed anywhere under the Constitution.
It’s stated pretty clearly; the First Amendment protects the right to “peaceably” assemble, and the Second Amendment doesn’t say anything about menacingly lining the streets, and carrying firearms in order to intimidate protesters and police officers.
With that being said, and in light of those horrendous events, The Hill is reporting that The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has announced a change in their own policy, in which they would not represent any hate groups who demonstrate with firearms.
ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero explained to the Wall Street Journal, “the events of Charlottesville require any judge, any police chief and any legal group to look at the facts of any white-supremacy protests with a much finer comb.”
The ACLU has been receiving considerable backlash after defending the rights of the organizers who wanted to rally around the Robert E. Lee statue. The group was eventually granted permission for the rally, which later turned fatal for one, Heather Heyer, 32, and left dozens more injured.
