Editor, The Beacon:

The chair of the Volusia County Libertarian Party decries the recent arrest of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein as an alarming violation of her constitutional rights to free speech and dissent from government policies (Letters, May 9-15). Yet news reports say that she was arrested for assaulting a police officer and criminal trespass after refusing police orders to leave the private property of Washington University. Those are hardly protected acts under the First Amendment’s right to free speech and to “peaceably” assemble.

In my view, these are the most sacred rights we Americans possess, and we must always be vigilant against encroachment by our increasingly more intrusive federal government. The Feds, along with leftist Big Tech media platforms, have been caught pushing for censorship of speech that deviates from the prevailing orthodoxy of the day on issues ranging from COVID origins and vaccine efficacy to Hunter Biden’s laptop.

But, the First Amendment grants no right to trespass on private property, no right to block access to public roads and sidewalks, no right to threaten and intimidate others, no right to prevent a college from conducting its classes, and no right to obstruct students from attending its classes. Those are the acts of fascist thugs, not citizens engaged in protected speech.

Our democracy is strong enough to protect and endure even the most detestable speech, including vocal support for barbaric terrorist groups like Hamas. And, Ms. Stein should be accorded her full due-process rights and the courtroom presumption of innocence. But if she is convicted, then she should serve jail time along with the other “protesters” who seek to impose their agenda by mob rule, instead of by persuasion and reasoned debate.

John DiChiara
DeLand