A video is going viral of police in Miami Beach coming to a woman’s home to ask her about this Facebook post criticizing the Mayor Steven Meiner: “The guy who consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians, tried to shut down a theater for showing a movie that hurt his feelings, and REFUSES to stand up for the LGBTQ community in any way (even leaves the room when they vote on related matters) wants you to know that you’re all welcome here. ” Let’s be very clear: this is protected political speech. This is the kind of thing that happens in Europe. In the United States, it is supposed to be prohibited by the Constitution. In the video, an officer asks the woman whether she authored the post and then suggests she should “refrain from posting things like that.” He can’t say that. At all. As free speech advocacy group FIRE explains, the First Amendment doesn’t just protect speech from criminal prosecution, it also forbids government actions that chill speech. The government is not allowed to discriminate against speech based on the ideas or opinions it conveys. And when law enforcement officers show up unannounced at someone’s home to question them about political criticism of an elected official, that carries an implicit threat. Police don’t speak like ordinary government employees. Their words come backed by the state’s power to detain, arrest, and prosecute. A person of ordinary firmness, unexpectedly confronted at their home by police and told to “refrain” from criticizing the mayor, would reasonably feel pressured to stop speaking. That alone is a First Amendment violation. When police are dispatched to silence critics instead of criminals, that is not public safety. That is intimidation. And it is completely unacceptable in a constitutional republic. The post This Is America? Police Confront Woman at Home Over Anti-Mayor Facebook Post appeared first on Redacted.