"Chicago, our schools, our neighborhoods, our city, as it relates to what President Trump said, will be a Trump-free zone."
This is not an advocacy piece about Trump, far from it. This is a simple admonishment of the person who made the above statement.
The Mayor of Chicago just stated to the people occupying a huge geographical location that The POTUS's words are not to be adhered to by those residing in the area. The mayors office has placed an effective ban on what the office of POTUS says and implements through its words in Chicago.
This is hazardous as far as I'm concerned. Chicago already has an unusually high violent crime rate, primarily as a result of very restrictive firearms legislation, and by creating a ban on speech pertaining to words coming from the POTUS, the Office of the Mayor has created a potential for physical harm to those who ignore this quasi dictatorial mandate. Those who feel the desire to express a verbal opinion could end up facing more than just vitriol from the supporters of the mayors office and haters of The POTUS. They could face threats of violence and, possibly, actual violence!
You cannot just ignore the first amendment and you can not and should not encourage this type of ignorance, especially if you want to avoid occurrences such as the violence seen at Berkley this past weekend.
Its free speech for all or none at all. Senators, congressmen/woman, governors and Mayors do not have the authority to arbitrarily ignore peoples right to free speech. Those that believe they do need to be removed from office for the delusional rhetoric they espouse.
Its a sad day for humanity when people who wish to express and discuss ideas peacefully are potentially made to fear negative consequences for the spoken word.