Rita F. Silva: Trump supporters have the right to assemble and speak
Several days ago, Donald Trump cancelled a rally in Chicago because anti-Trump protesters planned to disrupt it. In order to insure the safety of the people attending, it was decided by the police and Trump to cancel the event.
Thus far, the only protests have been at Trump events. These people say they are exercising their right to free speech and assembly, but what about the rights of Trump and his supporters? People have the right to peaceful assembly; when they go to a rally with the intention of disrupting it, and denying the rights of others, they relinquish their right to assembly.
What I find ironic is the liberal media blames Trump for this violence and not the demonstrators. If these protesters obeyed the law and demonstrated peacefully, there would be no violence. What would happen if this happened at a Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders event. The media would immediately blame the Republicans.
You may not agree with Donald Trump, but he and his supporters have the same right to free speech and assembly as the protesters, and they also have the right to remove the rabble-rousers causing the trouble.
Rita F. Silva, Los Banos
This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 12:26 PM with the headline "Rita F. Silva: Trump supporters have the right to assemble and speak."