To the editor:

Dissenting in Kleindienst v. Mandel (1972), U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall observed that “the freedom to speak and the freedom to hear are inseparable; they are two sides of the same coin.”

A word to protesters: If someone is speaking and you interrupt them so they cannot be heard, you are taking away their Constitutional right to speak. If you are blowing a whistle in someone’s face while they are trying to speak, you are interfering with their right to speak. The right to free speech includes the right to be heard.

People who show up at protest demonstrations and interfere are violating the Constitutional rights of the speaker. Very simple. Don’t blow a whistle in someone’s face. Don’t shout them down. Don’t attack them in any way. Do not interfere with law enforcement. You do not have that right.

Dennis Born

New Ulm