Las Vegas ICE protests: First Amendment right or breaking the law?
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — First Amendment attorney Marc Randazza explained the boundary of free speech and unlawful activity to 8 News Now after Wednesday night's protest.
RELATED: 94 arrested, 4 officers injured during Las Vegas protest
He said the First Amendment protects your freedom to stand on the sidewalk, chant, and hold signs — but it does not make you innocent of crimes committed while doing so.
'If you're doing something that would be illegal if you weren't protesting, it doesn't magically become legal because you are a protester,' Randazza said.
When it comes to what happened Wednesday night, he said Metro Police made the right call after protestors began to throw rocks and block roads.
'Once a protest descends to people blocking the roads, if the police want to declare it unlawful to clear the streets, you know, even as a staunch First Amendment advocate, that does not rub me the wrong way,' he said.
Randazza said a First Amendment violation happens when police arrest protestors who are acting lawfully, and he hasn't seen many violations in Las Vegas.
'Metro is pretty good with that, but there's a history in Las Vegas, a tolerance, for free speech activities,' Randazza said.
He supports protests regardless of their message.
'I don't care if you're pro-ICE or anti-ICE. Go out there and do it,' Randazza said. 'But do it with your words, do it with signs, do it with chants, if you like. But the moment you start to block traffic, I hope somebody runs you over, and I have no problem with that.'
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