General Discussion

Last edited Wed Jan 14, 2026, 10:30 PM - Edit history (1)

I entirely agree with you that application of any of these exceptions is pretty subjective and subject to surprising results.

That said, I'm not clear on how incitement would apply at all, and it appears that the fighting words exception would very likely not apply to ICE, given the application of the principle.

From your linked source, here's the general definition of incitement:

That can clearly cover a multitude of sins--I suppose, read literally, it would be perfectly legitimate to pass a law prohibiting people from saying, "There's no traffic coming. We can cross against the light."

But I'm not seeing how this really applies to the ICE/citizen encounters we've seen.

Clearly, fighting words is the more likely argument ICE would make. But that exception, as defined (I'm relying on the source you've linked--I certainly haven't researched these points myself) doesn't seem to apply to what ICE is feeling sad (or murderous) about.

Especially given that, according to this related article on the website you cite, you can be pretty nasty to law enforcement and they're supposed to be able to take it.

Here's what they say:



The bolded part in the first quoted paragraph pretty clearly means that the kind of cursing at ICE officers we've seen on videos is constitutionally protected. It doesn't fall within the fighting words exception.

And if the language in the second quoted paragraph is not prohibited when aimed at a law enforcement officer, it is, as fire.org says, hard to think of speech that would qualify.

As a fun bonus, it appears that the standard is different for law enforcement than for citizens at large. From the same link above:

(Emphasis added.)

Finally, it's a question whether we're talking about criminal or civil liability. If the harm (as in, for instance, defamation) is purely compensable, it seems that an ICE officer faced with nasty words might have a case for damages. But I'm not at all sure it would constitute an arrestable, let alone capital, offense.