Manitowoc County Supervisor Don Zimmer hates BLM Inc.

Racism Score: 1.9

People often mistake freedom of speech as a license to say anything without consequences. The following is an excerpt of the First Amendment regarding freedom of speech.

Nowhere in the First Amendment does it say, “speak as you will, and thou shall remain unpunished with no repercussions from the public or employer.” 

The First Amendment is referenced frequently when someone is chastised for writing questionable content or vocalizing controversial opinions.

Fox 11 News reports Don Zimmer exercised his First Amendment right even after he came under fire for vocalizing his opinions about Black Lives Matter. Zimmer had disparaging comments about Black Lives Matter the organization.

However, Zimmer did not specify BLM the organization and left the distinction open to interpretation, essentially disparaging the organization and the slogan. 

When asked about his comments, Zimmer doubled down on his opinion by stating “Let me reiterate, Black Lives Matter is a notorious criminal Marxist organization.”

Zimmer went on to explain “I do not view the world through a prism of race as do my critics.” We would like to acknowledge that Zimmer goes hard in the paint when exercising his First Amendment right.

The issue with Zimmer’s comments was due to the timing. Aaron Bailey, a black Manitowoc alder was being sworn in right before Zimmer made his comments.

By all accounts, Bailey did not appear to be as offended as he may have been entitled to, instead, Bailey offered the following.

“People say things people take things out of context. That’s understandable,” said Bailey, “this is freedom of speech say what you want to say. Mean what you want to say and back it up.”

If Bailey is not dwelling on it, everyone else should move on. For additional information about this story, visit Fox 11 News.