There is zero evidence the guy wearing the arm band did anything close to what you describe. Yes what happened by the hand of Nazi's is indescribably bad. A terrible time for the world, no denying that. That does not give someone the right to knock a guy out, for wearing an arm band.
Few examples, I think we all know the Westbro Baptist church. They cheer the deaths of all sorts of people, military, gays, miners, just recently the deaths of the hurricane victims. They protest and picket these deaths, show up at funerals. Truly disgusting behavior. That being said, when done legally it is their right to free speech. Would it feel awesome punching out a guy protesting a loved one's death? Hell yeah it would. It would also be illegal, and land us in jail. I do not support their message or how they deliver it, I do support their right to do so however. As bad as it is, I still support it.
From a personal experience. We have a group of individuals who belong to the
Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ.
They like to hang out downtown on nice days, and to go to UT football games. Anywhere that has a large population of civilians where they can shout at people. Where the stadium fits over 100k and many more tailgate, etc. What do they do? They yell at people walking by. Insult them, mock them, etc. Even wives and kids. Wife and I were going by them last year when she was pregnant, and they shouted out that she was dressed like a whore, and our child was an abomination. Can't really get much more offensive than that for a man. Would I have liked to beat his ass? Did I slow my walk and really think about it? Yes, I did. But that is what they want, to bait people into a fight. They had a guy dedicated to recording confrontations. Much like Westbro.
They're allowed to yell at people in public places with their sexism, racism, bigotry and hatred. Why?
Protected by free speech. Their entire purpose is to troll people into an argument with insults and personal attacks. Much like a few people here, they just do it irl. Again, I do not support their views, or how they go about it, but I do support their right to do so. They have ruined a few days for us before, you simply cannot enjoy yourself when people like that are yelling like that. I don't want the kids to hear that either. It would have been personally gratifying to beat his ass after he called my wife a whore for how she was dressed, and our unborn child an abomination. It also would have landed me in jail and without a job. There are plenty of videos of them online.
I also support Kap's right to kneel. That is his right. It is also the right of a business owner to not hire him for the fear of losing money via ticket sales and sponsors.
There was a KKK march recently here in town. I forget the exact number, I am pretty sure it was like 70:1, protesters to marchers. One person arrested, no fighting, no property damage. As pathetic as their views are, how little I think of them as a person, they had the right to march. They got the permits, and were within the law. They were far overshadowed by people who disagreed with them, which was a great thing. I don't agree with their message, I do support their ability to be able to deliver that message in peace.
There are countless examples of free speech that can be offensive to people. It comes in many forms, clothing, words, signs, etc. There is no sliding scale of offensiveness to warrant a stern talking to, to an actual assault. We have to allow the bad, to get the good. We cannot dictate on a personal level what someone is allowed to say, allowed to wear, how they look, etc and if they don't line up with our way of thinking, we assault them. No matter how despicable the views of people who really believe in hatred, bigotry, racism, sexism, etc. Which is exactly what the views of Nazi's are. Yet, when they express their views legally, that is their right. I am legally allowed to say I am better than you for whatever reason I come up with. I could call you ugly, fat, short, gay, say my race is better than your race. You are allowed to refute my allegations and argue back to me. We are not allowed to assault each other for these words. There really is nothing else to say, the law backs up my stance. Assaulting someone for what they wear or say, is going backwards. We don't have to like what is being expressed, but we do have to allow it when done legally. I really can't even believe this is a discussion, but seeing how many people support the violence at protests I shouldn't have been surprised.
I rambled a bit, don't have anything else to say. Gearing up for a day of football. Either people support the 1st Amendment, or they don't. There is no pick and choose, depending on who says it and what the message is. That's the bottom line. So no point in me going back and forth about it, this is my stance. Which is founded in our Constitution, backed by laws.
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