title:  Denver Police Officer Literally Tells Protesters To Stop Doing Anything That’s Free Speech
text: Amidst protests all around the country against Trump s Muslim ban are local police departments ensuring that the protests don t get out of hand. One might think one has the right to protest anywhere as per the First Amendment, but apparently, not all police officers agree. In Denver, Police Commander Tony Lopez says that people can t protest at the airport without a permit.So, okay, a lot of places do that in order to maintain peace and public safety. Requiring a permit for gatherings over a certain size makes some sense. But the way he phrased it is shall we say a little strange: Stop doing anything that could be construed as free speech without a permit. There s no context in the video so it s hard to know what the situation was. However, even without the context, that s a strange and frankly alarming way to say that the roughly 120 or so protesters at Denver International Airport need a permit for their gathering.Lopez is also seen telling someone that he can t carry the Constitution around without a permit. Aren t there other ways to tell groups of people that they need a permit? Why phrase it that way? Even if the question he was asked was along the lines of,  We can t exercise our right to freedom of speech here?  there are other ways to explain than  stop doing anything that could be construed as free speech. Watch below:Featured image via screen capture from embedded video