This is in regards to the following article:
http://www.local10.com/news/4090500/detail.html
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Originally Posted by Local10
HIALEAH, Fla. -- The people who live in a Hialeah neighborhood say they are outraged by displays of hatred on a house there.
The home has six swastikas splashed across a fence and another one etched into the door. But it is a message apparently directed at President George W. Bush that has caught the attention of the Secret Service.
Yanis Leidy, who lives near the home that is located on the corner of East 52nd Street and 9th Court, is worried.
"It concerns me," Leidy said. "It worries me that this person might do something else."
Hialeah police records show code enforcement and animal control officers visited this home last September, following complaints. Police say they were looking for owner Billie Morgan.
Monday, despite three visits Local 10 made to the house and leaving telephone messages, neither Morgan nor his wife would give us a comment.
But the Anti-Defamation League did make a comment and they expressed alarm.
Art Teitelbaum, with the Anti-Defamation League, said, "People in almost any neighborhood will recognize that the swastika represents everything that America stands against: bigotry, hatred, war, and destruction -- and the Holocaust itself"
The fence has other prominent signs and warnings, but most disturbing may be a spray-painted message the U.S. Secret Service will investigate as a possible threat against the president.
While displaying swastikas is not illegal, the message could be another matter.
Prominently painted on an awning are the words, "Die Bush."
Teitelbaum said, "… the message is to disturb and to shock people and to express a message, that in this case, appears to be against the president."
There's been much more scrutiny of public signs like that one by the department of homeland security 9-11. Local 10 has learned the Secret Service is sending an agent by the Hialeah house to check out that message to the president.
The Anti-Defamation League says it will also launch a probe if the agency gets complaints from the public.
Tuesday morning, while Local 10 was at the home still trying to get a comment from the owner, a man who claimed to be a friend of Morgan arrived at the house. The man spray-painted over all of the swastikas and the anti-Bush message.
It is unclear at this time if the man was asked to spray paint over the symbols or if he did it on his own.
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Now, the part in this article that quirks me the most is the following:
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Originally Posted by Above article
While displaying swastikas is not illegal, the message could be another matter.
Prominently painted on an awning are the words, "Die Bush."
Teitelbaum said, "… the message is to disturb and to shock people and to express a message, that in this case, appears to be against the president."
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Since when has expressing anything been illegal? This is why there are so many Bush-haters, including myself: He wipes his ass with the Constitution. Although I would agree that the whole "Die Bush" graffitti is both an immature and ineffective way to convey your message, it is still only a message. On top of it all, all it says is "Die Bush." It doesn't say, "People, take up arms and attack Bush," and it doesn't say, "I am going to kill Bush." It simply says, "Die Bush."
Lest we forget...
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Originally Posted by The Constitution
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
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All opinions aside, this is a simple publication that should have the same protection that any other publication would have. I would understand any other law or code that would make the publication illegal (such as a residential code that prohibits grafitti), which should warrant the message being painted over, but as for the actual message being illegal...well...let's just say that is a scary thought.