This has nothing to do with 1st amendment rights.
This whole argument depends on the FULL cirumstances. If he was putting the flyers on private property, without the owner’s consent, then he is guilty trespassing and vandalism at the very least (and in TX he is very likely to be shot - which is justified in TX under our Castle Doctrine).
Yes, he has 1st amendment rights, but only until those rights infringe on someone else’s property rights. At least in TX, you can’t paint, post, or otherwise deface someone’s property in the name of the 1st amendment, without consent.
With your argument of 1st amendment rights, what is then stopping pro-Obummer supporters from coming on private property or public property and posting pro-obama posters without consent? You can’t have it both ways.
If you look at where he was posting the signs, they were on public property. The only argument the city has is to claim it was vandalism of city property. But then every other sign posted, taped, stuck in the ground on the corner, etc. would also violate that- including garage sale signs. You either enforce all of it or none of it. If grandma posting lost dogs signs isn’t slammed into a police car and cuffed, then the law is not being applied accordingly.
They go easy on liberal nuts:
Self-proclaimed environmentalists arrested for vandalism(11:41 PM CST on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 )
Four teenagers, who claim to be environmentalists, have been charged with vandalizing dozens of SUVs.
The three boys and one girl are accused of causing more than $100,000 in damage....
Investigators say 18-year-old Randall Heinrichs was the leader of the group and was on probation for burning an American flag last year at an elementary school....Investigators are not calling them hate crimes, but rather misguided mischief. "I think by and large it is a very confused group of teens," says Hickman. "I guess you can characterize them as not really having a clue."
Cy-Fair teen is charged in flag burnings (burned someone else's flags) (Houston Chronicle April 21, 2003, 10:31PM By S.K. BARDWELL)
An 18-year-old Cy-Fair High School student has been charged with felony arson and felony criminal mischief for two flag-burning incidents in northwest Harris County last month.Randall W. Heinrichs, of the 14500 block of Enchanted Valley in Cypress, was arrested at his home Saturday -- his birthday. His family posted a total bail of $12,000, and Heinrichs was released to await trial.
...Victoria McCord, owner of Lumber Tag Specialties of the 13300 block of Skinner Road, said he is relieved an arrest has been made in the case.
On March 22, a flag displayed vertically on the side of McCord's business was set afire by someone who climbed the fence to get into the closed shop's grounds.
Two youths were seen running from the business by passers-by, one of whom followed the suspects and got a license plate number.
The flag had been draped on the coffin of McCord's brother, an Army veteran who died in May 1999. At his burial, the flag had been presented to McCord's mother, who died in December.