Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, has said that pro-Palestine protesters are engaging in “hate speech” which will not be “tolerated” in his state.
Stitt made the remarks during an appearance on Fox News’ Fox & Friends on Monday.
During the segment, Stitt told Fox host Brian Kilmeade, "We stand with Israel. They’re our greatest ally in the Middle East."
"But you and I get that. It used to be common knowledge," Kilmeade replied. "Does it bother you that 900 arrested, dozens of schools around the country feel differently? They feel as though Israel is the bad actor and they need to divest and they refuse to leave. The numbers of people who disagree with me and you is staggering. Does it make you down on the future generation of leaders in our country?"
"I think it’s a very small minority that are super vocal. They need to be held accountable," Stitt said. "I wish every young person could watch the video of the GoPro cameras on October 7. These people with machine guns that literally there was a concert going on for young people and they came in and just started mowing them down. That’s not right, and I mean who are these people that are saying that they encourage that or they stand with Hamas? Man, I would kick ’em out of universities. This is unbelievable. This is hate speech."
Later that day, Stitt doubled down in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
"If you’re standing with these terrorist groups— it’s time to get your head examined," he wrote. "We’re all about free speech in Oklahoma. But hate speech isn’t going to be tolerated." If you’re standing with these terrorist groups— it’s time to get your head examined.
We’re all about free speech in Oklahoma. But hate speech isn’t going to be tolerated. pic.twitter.com/jfBuHuSqIk
— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) April 29, 2024
These comments, of course, were antithetical to the First Amendment.
The Supreme Court upheld that there is no First Amendment exception for offensive, repugnant, or hateful speech in Snyder v. Phelps, which protected the expression of the Westboro Baptist Church. The group is best known for their signs at military funerals which read “God hates f-gs” and “Thank God for dead soldiers.”
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), an organization dedicated to protecting the First Amendment, wrote, "Federal courts even protected the free speech rights of Nazis, who in 1977 were denied a permit to march through Skokie, Illinois, a village where many former Holocaust survivors lived. (Although the Nazis prevailed in court, the march actually never took place.)"
"A free society must give much breathing space to hateful speech in order to avoid thought control and the censorship of unpopular views by the government," the organization contends. "Instead of stifling free speech, we, as free citizens, have the power to most effectively answer hateful speech through protest, mockery, debate, questioning, silence, or by simply walking away."
