Trump says he wants to protect free speech. Advocates say he’s undermining it.

PCJF/CPLL Executive Director, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, spoke with USA Today about Trump’s Executive Order:

Excerpt from USA Today. Read full article here.

In what President Donald Trump says is a move to protect the rule of law and free speech advocates see as an attack on it, the White House is promising tougher punishments for vandalizing public monuments, statues and religious displays.

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Free-speech advocates called the orders a direct attack on protests and the First Amendment.

“This is all about targeting based on political beliefs and expressed viewpoints with which this administration disagrees,” said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, the executive director of the Center for Protest Law and Litigation. “It’s not about the underlying claims about damages to persons or property. Because there are already provisions in the law to deal with this.”

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Trump upon taking office pardoned people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection, many of whom had pleaded guilty or been convicted of defacing or damaging the Capitol, which itself is a National Historic Landmark and contains multiple statues and other displays.

“It’s completely viewpoint based- they want to use the authority of the state to threaten and chill people and protest. Because again, the Capitol,” Verheyden-Hilliard said. “This is just an ideological screed ‒ except that it bears the weight of the state.”

Excerpt from USA Today. Read full article here.