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So I get that the act of burning the flag is protected speech, but surely the act of setting a fire on public property is a crime regardless?
I would think burning flags is only ok on a place where burning other things is ok.
No more birthday candles allowed in glorious free USA.
That's a pretty bad faith comment. The video of the incident showed the person pouring accelerant on a flag on the ground and starting a decent sized fire.
I support the flag burning, but I think that there is a better way to do it than pouring gas on the sidewalk and lighting it up. Doing in a metal container would be much more responsible.
Did the fire spread to anything else and cause damage
Come on dude, that's another bad faith argument. The legality of setting fire to things is not determined after the fact.
You're better than this. Try to put more thought into your comments.
He did it on pavement, dropped the flag onto pavement, and kept a safe distance. There was no danger of it spreading to anything else flammable
It's about what is legal and what is not legal.
It's not legal to set fire on the sidewalk. Everyone accepts that to be true and a pretty good law.
Burning flags in general is legal, most people accept that to be true and think that it's a pretty good law.
When you do something illegal, while doing something legal, in order to prove that the second thing was legal. You muddy the waters and give ammunition to people who want the second thing to be illegal.
Or maybe stop apologizing for cruel dictators. They don’t need your help, so don’t help them. This “to be fair” and “decorum” crap has gotten us to a point where children are being kidnapped and raped without consequence, and free speech has been eliminated. I know you aren’t trying to be part of the problem, but I’m here to tell you that you absolutely, unequivocally, are part of the problem.
Yeaaa, that's pretty off base. You're moving the goalposts. I just said it's a crime to set fire to things on the sidewalk in a public and mentioned that it would be more responsible to do it with a metal bin or something.
All of this "apologizing for cruel dictators" "you are part of the problem" bullshit is nonsense bad faith strawman argument. You were looking for someone to fight with and went after me because it suits you to do so.
Picking fights like this with random people who agree with 98% of what you think because 2% of their opinions are different yours, is a right wingers wet dream. They love that you are doing this. They love that you would take time out of your day to attack your allies and further fracture resistance.
Just wanted to pop in to say all of this "master debater"ese is bullshit and people should stop taking those who endlessly rattle on about "goal posts" and logical fallacies seriously.
This isn't fucking debate club nor is it Ben Shapiro.
I doubt anyone's mind has ever been changed a single iota by this type of talk, and I find it pointless at best and fascist apologia at worst.
I just wanted to add that there is a difference between a conversation and a sermon. If someone wants to ignore everything I say and make shit up just to spout nonsense, they can do that, but I'm going to call them out for it and I'm going to point out the ways in which they are having a text based masturbation session in my replies.
Calling every person you disagree with a fascist apologist, gives space for real fascists to thrive, so thanks for helping them out with that I guess.
Dude saying stuff like because "he did this protest in a way that may have hypothetically inconvenienced or damaged someone or something and therefore it should be technically illegal and that's fine" is fascist assistance.
During Trump #1, I had conversations in real life with people that were arguing that the people in Charlottesville didn't "have a proper permit". The person I was having the conversation with was then and likely is now a fucking fascist. He voted for Trump in 2016, likely in 2020, and likely again in 2024.
Be mindful of the company you keep.
Concern trolls always approve of a conceptual protest but never quite find one that is tastefully or respectably done to their standards amongst actual protests (unless their side does it, then an insurrection is a tourist visit).
This protest should not be illegal and was harmless. There's no reason to get mealy mouthed about it.
As a youth myself and friends lit many a thing on fire. Most were fireworks but there were other things and sometimes with a magnifying glass. Now these were rather small fires but none the less they were by and large allowed as no law was ever enforced in this regard although sometimes we were told to knock it off.
Friend, you're on lemmy. You may only have extremist views with 0 nuance or else you're a part of The Enemy™.
Realistic takes are not allowed here
Yes, the way to push him on this would be to very publicly burn a flag in a manner that is perfectly legal otherwise. Find an official fire pit or BBQ in a public park. Scorching the sidewalk with gasoline is only going to give them an easy win when they charge you for "defacing public property," creating a danger to the public, or even arson.
I'm glad at least one person understands the point that I made. If you're going to have a showdown with an unjust law, don't give your enemy easy ways to twist your actions into something that they are not. It should be legal to burn anything you don't like - as long as you respect the normal rules about burning things in general. Fire isn't something to fuck around with, and the laws about not burning things on the street are good laws.