On Tuesday, the University Police Department held a free speech seminar in the Student Union for all students to understand their  First Amendment rights. 

At 5:30 p.m., UPD Chief Michael Beckner started his seminar with a full house. He discussed several Supreme Court cases, beginning with Brandenburg v. Ohio, explaining the laws behind inflammatory language. 

Beckner also touched on subjects such as offensive language and hate speech and what is and is not protected. 

“True threats are not protected. False statements of facts are not protected. For example, in the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp case that deals with defamation or a threat towards the President of the United States, neither of these forms of speech are protected,” Beckner said. 

He talked about reckless speech compared to unintentional speech, comparing someone joking about bombing a building with making the statement with intent. 

Beckner went on to talk about the protestors that have been showing up on campus, which seemed to resonate with the attendees. He mentioned Act 666, a recently passed Louisiana law.

The act states people are allowed to protest anywhere on college campuses as long as they remain outside and do not disrupt the university functions. 

Even though these protestors may annoy or bother students, according to this act, there really isn’t much the school can do unless the speakers are disrupting the learning environment with their volume or physically keeping students from class. 

The students in attendance seemed to find this seminar insightful. 

Thais Lindemayer Gomes, a second-year graduate student studying health promotion, said, “As an international student, I didn’t grow up learning about American laws. It was good to learn about how American laws work and understand my rights.”

If you have any questions or concerns about your First Amendment rights, you can contact Chief Beckner and the UPD at [email protected] or 985-549-2318.