Crowd attends event celebrating the First Amendment – Southwest Virginia Today

Organizers of a Celebration of the First Amendment Saturday afternoon at Floyds Eco-System had to set up extra chairs for the additional attendees who heard speeches, panel discussions, songs and poems about the Constitutional amendment that protects freedom of speech, the press and other such freedoms.

Designed to speak out against what many see as assaults on such freedoms, the crowd applauded and cheered when speakers discussed the right to protest against the government and freely express opinions. Floyd Countys Commonwealths Attorney Eric Branscom kicked off the speeches with a history lesson that talked about a President who wanted to suppress freedom of speech and the press and jail those who did not agree and was backed by the political party that controlled Congress.

Turned out he was talking about President John Adams in 1794 and control of the Federalist Party over Congress then. Branscom said it took Virginians Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who followed Adams, to implement a version of states rights and pardons to get those who disagreed with Adams out of jail and protest the then-new First Amendment.

Even so, Branscom said, it would take 165 years before the U.S. Supreme Court would fully overturn the legal challenges from the 1700s in the Times v. Sullivan case that reaffirmed freedom of the press and the other freedoms of the amendment.

Radford University media professor, author and former newspaperman Bill Kovarik introduced himself to the audience as an enemy of the people, citing a term used by current President Donald Trump, and then brought applause and cheers in a speech where he called for strong opposition and protest against the head of state.

We are friends of the people, Kovarik said, adding that the media must questions those elected to office locally, statewide and nationally.

I work in the tradition of Ben Franklin, Joseph Pulitzer, Ernie Pyle and Woodward and Bernstein, Kovarok said.

The press is not perfect, he said. Were watchdogs.

He said that being called an enemy of the people is dangerous speech.

The press is the Constitutions best friend, he added.

A panel on free speech included Branscom, Floyd County Sheriff Brian Craig, activist Tree Gigante and attorney and columnist Alan Graf, who answered questions from the floor and talked about protest.

Craig praised organizers of events like the Womens March in January for working with his department.

We know the people involved in these events, and we work with them, he said.

Graf said that he, as an attorney, has represented people charged with crimes because they protested legally.

When I came to Floyd, I told the sheriff that I also had sued the police over handling of protests, he said.

As a living, Craig answered with a laugh.

Gigante said protests in many cases are not only a right but should also be considered a duty.

Sometimes, she added, it may be necessary to violate the law to carry out that right.

Brancom said law enforcement must establish where the line is drawn between peaceful and violent protest.

What are the boundaries? Sometimes the limits must be it comes back to pushing against the government, he said.

A panel on freedom of religion consisted of Graf, who told the audience Im Jewish and I come from a holocaust family, Imam Abdullah Ferrom of Roanoke Mosque and Quaker Kim ODonnell.

ODonnell said her religion considers relationship with God a deeply personal thing. Our right to practice is a something we strive to protest.

Ferrom said Muslims work to peacefully co-exist with other religions but face a lot of distrust from others who cite their religion as justification for violence against his beliefs.

He cited threats of having a Muslim registry required in America as a threat.

If there such a thing as a Muslim registry, I will register as a Muslim, Graf said, which brought applause and comments of so will I from members of the audience.

The event also awarded youth and adults for essays, poems and songs about the First Amendments and threats against the freedoms it is designed to protect.

First place winners who were present read their essays or poems to the audience and sang their songs.

Michael Kovick closed the event with his second-place winning song.

Linville M. Meadows, Second Place

Will Bason, Honorable Mention

Andrew Finn, Honorable Mention

Alex Hicks, Honorable Mention

Leah Pierce, Honorable Mention

Kaci Marshall, Honorable Mention

Greg Arens, Honorable Mention

Jillian Greenhalgh, First

Cameron Callahan, Third Place

Julian Hensley-Buzzell, Honorable Mention

Isaac Byrd, Honorable Mention

Stella Sessions, Honorable Mention

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Crowd attends event celebrating the First Amendment - Southwest Virginia Today