The First Amendment protects everyone, even despicable neo-Nazis marching at a Pride festival

At the Motor City Pride Festival, which drew 50,000 attendees, according to Newsweek, the small group of National Socialist Movement members engaged in their typical high-visibility, hate-fueled theatrics. Dressed in their all-black “battle dress uniforms,” wearing swastika armbands and bearing shields, several National Socialist Movement members tore apart a pride flag and distributed the pieces as “souvenirs.” According to the Anti-Defamation League, National Socialist Movement protesters used a litany of foul anti-gay and anti-Semitic chants, and Craig indicated that the group made chimpanzee noises at African American attendees. Multiple sources, including the Daily Mail, report that one National Socialist Movement member pretended to urinate on the flag of Israel.

The capacity for violent escalation was clear: Five members of the neo-Nazi group openly carried long guns or handguns. Open carry is legal in Michigan, but given the National Socialist Movement’s objective to cause trouble, as well as the presence of a group of between 15 and 20 counterprotesters, which included members of the sometimes violent and aggressive antifa movement, members of the Detroit Police Department escorted the National Socialist Movement group as they maneuvered through the event.

With the exception of a report from the Times of Israel that a counterprotester was “pushed to the ground” after confronting National Socialist Movement members, the protest concluded without injuries or arrests, thanks to the careful work of the Detroit Police Department.

Though the regional director of the ADL of Michigan applauded the Detroit Police Department’s efforts to deter violence at the Motor City Pride Festival, others scrutinized the department’s actions. As reported by the Daily Dot, one protester posted photographs on Facebook of the bruises allegedly left on her arm by members of the Detroit Police Department. The police, she claimed, “always protect the Nazis and endanger the antifascists.” One Twitter user professed confusion about how police personnel in pride badges were “escorting” neo-Nazis. Another Twitter user accused the Detroit police of “serving and protecting the Nazis,” according to Newsweek.

These outraged responses to the Detroit Police Department’s assiduous police work reflect the current zeitgeist of safe spaces and trigger warnings, as well as the cherry-picked quashing of oppositional voices by companies such as Pinterest and YouTube. This environment disregards the important truth that our First Amendment protects the rights of every individual, regardless of how discordant their opinions may be, to free speech.

It is without question that the hatefulness and anti-Semitism espoused by the National Socialist Movement is nothing short of despicable. That the group attempts to insert itself into the mainstream is especially disconcerting at a time when anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise in America, and around the world, as discovered in a study conducted by Tel Aviv University, and reported by Reuters in May.

However, by providing protection for the National Socialist Movement and counterprotesters, Craig’s department supported the vital right to freedom of speech, while thwarting any plans to cause a disturbance and threaten the safety of peaceful attendees. The department’s actions should be praised.

As explained by the ADL, “the best answer to hate speech is not censorship, but more speech.” When groups like the National Socialist Movement spew their hateful bile, those of us who oppose them, and we are manifold, should speak out against their views, rather than attacking an organization merely working to keep the peace in a fraught environment.

Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.