Human rights no longer seem to be the norm in the United States, as seen recently when a cop threatened to arrest a group of Free Palestine protesters at Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, claiming the First Amendment right did not apply there. A video posted on TikTok captured the encounter. A policeman approached a protester who was holding a “Free Palestine” flag and instructed him to lower it.
Confused, the protester asked, “Why?” and the police responded by threatening to arrest him. This further puzzled the protester. He demanded to know the reason. While the police ensured the protester lowered his flag, the protester behind the camera reminded him, “This is a First Amendment right. It’s the right to protest. It is protected under the First Amendment, did you know that?” Undeterred, the policeman asked another protester for the organizer of the demonstration and was directed towards them. He began walking in that direction. However, he suddenly turned back to ensure the flag was brought “all the way down.”
The police officer then began to inform the protester what would happen if he raised the flag again, but another protester interrupted him, retorting, “It’s a First Amendment right.” As though fed up with the sentence, the cop addressed the protesters, saying, “Now, this plaza is restricted from First Amendment activity,” gesturing with his hands. “All of Capitol Hill,” he added. This sparked laughter and disagreements from the protesters. “No, that’s not the constitution,” a protester argued.
After a couple of moments, the protester behind the camera approached the cop and asked for his name and badge number. “Sergeant Jiannotti, badge number 4567,” he sarcastically replied. The clip triggered mixed reactions on social media. “‘They’ are establishing constitution-free zones in the capital, where is Fox News talking about that, like they talked about the “antifa zones’ or whatever in Portland?” a user demanded, while another pointed out the irony of the situation, “This place is within several miles of the National archives where the Constitution is kept, and it is a constitution free zone.”
A netizen related it to other happenings in the administration and retorted, “This is a constitution-free administration.” Others opted for sarcasm, adding, “But a Trump flag is ok.” Confusion was also not far behind, with one user writing, “A First Amendment free zone on government property? Make it make sense.” One user stated, “The intimidation with blatant misinformation from a position of power is so abusive.”
A netizen was more concerned about the cop’s badge number and wondered, “Badge number 4567. So is this guy just a fake cop? Impersonating a police officer is a felony, I think? No?” and another offered some sort of explanation for the officer’s words, “He is sadly misinterpreting the regulations. There are designated 1st amendment protest areas that can be reserved with special use permits, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t protest in any other public spaces.”
