What would happen to you if you tore up and burned a copy of the Holy Bible on the steps of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan? What would happen to you if you dropped a Crucifix into a jar of urine, and photographed it, claiming it to be art?
There would be people claiming that you were a religious bigot, who ought to be thrown in jail, but you’d actually face no legal charges. Some people might think you were headed straight to Hell, but no one would actually try to send you there.
What would happen to you if you participated in, or perhaps even led, a protest March in support of Hamas or the Palestinians in New York or Washington or foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy Philadelphia? As long as the protest march was peaceable, there might be some hecklers shouting from the sidewalks as the protest march passed, but you’d not be facing any charges. If you were in the country illegally, now that Donald Trump is President — it wouldn’t have happened under our previous President or Kamala Harris Emhoff, had she been elected — you might get sent back home, but that’s it. And if you are young and pretty, NBC News might even publish a celebratory glamour photo of you!
But, if you lived in Sweden, legally, you could be charged with a crime. Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee legally granted protection there, was charged with incitement against an ethnic group over the 2023 burning of a Quran, and was due to be sentenced Thursday morning. Continue reading