The 6th Circuit U.S. court of appeals ruled that a demonstration by “Bible Believers” at the Arab International Festival was not protected under the First Amendment since in the Court’s opinion the Christian speakers intended to incite violence and once violence ensued, it could only be stemmed by limiting speech. Eugene Volokh in The Volokh Conspiracy in The Washington Post, August 27, 2014, objected to the Court’s stance as rewarding those who use violence to suppress speech.
Law enforcement officers made no attempt to arrest anyone for throwing rocks and debris at the Christian evangelists and ended the disturbance by escorting the speakers from the festival. Colin Holloway in Free Advice, August 27, 2014, states, “That the Bible Believers were offensive and socially reprehensible in their religious expression is unarguable, but the First Amendment was not created to protect speech that everyone supports or agrees with. First Amendment protections are designed for speech that is unpopular, and the dissent’s condemnation of the 6th Circuit’s acceptance of a heckler’s veto will be something to keep an eye on should the Bible Believers case work its way higher in the judicial system.”