NYC Police Suppress Cindy Sheehan’s Right to Free Speech

How is this allowed in the United States?

NEW YORK (AP) – Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan said Tuesday she was hurt slightly in a scuffle that erupted when police broke up a rally as she was at the microphone. An organizer was arrested and charged with using a loudspeaker without a permit. “I was speaking and someone grabbed my backpack and pulled me back pretty roughly,” Sheehan said, describing the scene at Manhattan’s Union Square on Monday. “I was shoved around.”

Yes, I understand that protesting Bush’s invasion of Iraq makes him uncomfortable – but what gives the NYC police the right to stop a speech against our continued military presence in Iraq? Besides, what was the need to rough up the mother of one of our fallen soldiers?