The participants in the "people's convoy" have the same rights to protest, including rolling into Washington, D.C., that Black Lives Matter demonstrators or anyone else in the United States has even if the government doesn't approve of the movement, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Wednesday on Newsmax.
"The rule of law requires that the same responses be made no matter whether the protest is a left-wing protest approved of by the administration or more right-wing protests that are disapproved," Dershowitz said on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now." "The one rule is clear under the First Amendment. You can't pick and choose."
The convoy's organizers told Newsmax's Sean Spicer that the protests will be peaceful with their kickoff in California, which will start with a prayer.
Dershowitz pointed out that the Black Lives Matter protests have been tolerated and even praised, even though "they caused death and destruction of property, and very, very little was done about it. People were bailed out."
And with the trucker convoy, the protests must be allowed, even in Washington, D.C.
"It is the place where the Constitution says you can peacefully assemble and petition for redress of grievances," said Dershowitz, adding that if highways are being blocked, that is illegal.
"Of course, Black Lives Matter protesters blocked entry into courthouses and very little was said about that, so we need a single standard of justice," said Dershowitz.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and officials in Ottawa have come under fire for the government's reaction to anti-mandate convoy protests. Dershowitz said that's because Trudeau overreacted in the same way his father, Pierre Trudeau, may have acted.
"I advised his father. Pierre Trudeau in 1970 when they invoked the War Measures Act after the killing and kidnapping of important officials," said Dershowitz. "Democracies often overreact, and I think Justin Trudeau did overreact."
The younger Trudeau also said the views expressed by the truckers were unacceptable, which in itself is not acceptable, said Dershowitz, because "in a democracy, there's no such thing as an unacceptable view."
The attorney also said that there should be a condemnation of any place where civil liberties are hindered, but still, that criticism should be proportionate.
"Don't condemn Canada in the same breath that you condemn [Vladimir] Putin, said Dershowitz. "They're not in any way comparable … yes, we expect more of Canada. Yes, we expect more of the United States, but we have to keep our condemnation proportionate. Those are both great democracies."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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