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Panguitch, Utah -- An arrest in Utah on June 11th sparked national attention when a police officer made a routing traffic stop at a local gas station.
As he spoke to the motorist, the cop noticed a young woman holding a "back the blue" sign in the parking lot. She then threw the sign on the ground and stomped on it. Next, she picked it up, wadded it into a ball and threw it in the trash as she was "smirking in an intimidating fashion," at the officer.
The officer questioned the 19-year-old woman and arrested her, charging her with criminal mischief with a hate crime enhancement, along with disorderly conduct.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports on the officer’s account of the incident.
“Due to [the woman] destroying property that did not belong to her in a manner to attempt to intimidate law enforcement, I placed her under arrest,” the affidavit says.
The affidavit also explains that the allegations are being treated as a “hate crime enhanced allegation” due to “the demeanor displayed by [the woman] in attempts to intimidate law enforcement while destroying a ‘Pro Law Enforcement’ sign.”
While I fully support the police and the Thin Blue Line, I also support the First Amendment and free speech and I don't like that this is being called a "hate crime." All crimes are in some respect, hate crimes, but freedom of expression isn't a crime.
The cop said that the woman was “evasive” about where she obtained the sign, but eventually told him that she simply found it laying on the ground. So it doesn't sound as if it's "destruction of property," if that claim is true.
Sure, there's no question that this young woman was despicable and rude, but that isn't a crime. The First Amendment wasn't designed for just allowing speech we like; it's for speech we don't like. The remedy for speech we don't like or that we disagree with, is more speech.
If a cop or anyone else for that matter, can make a claim of hate speech because they don't like it, this severely impinges on our freedom of speech. And when it comes right down to it, hate crimes are really thought crimes and nobody has the right to tell you what to think.
So in the end, I believe the cop was wrong to arrest that woman, in spite of her rudeness. I may not agree with what she said, but I will defend to a severe head cold her right to say it.
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