Professor Emeritus William C. Banks spoke with the Christian Science Monitor on President Trump naming Antifa a terrorist organization after the killing of Charlie Kirk.
“There’s a lot of debate and bluster – particularly when something terrible happens in the United States – [over whether] we need a law criminalizing domestic terrorism,” says Banks. “You can’t do it, because ugly words are protected just as pleasing words are.”
Yet, Mr. Trump is not the first person to suggest a domestic terrorism designation, says Professor Banks. The subject has been a matter of off-and-on debate for years, both on the right and the left. But “cooler heads eventually prevailed,” in those efforts, he says.
“We’ve built our nation on a principle of tolerating dissent,” he adds. “So long as these individuals are merely dissenters, they should be protected by the Constitution. It’s really one of the most important principles in our society.”