Back to First Amendment Rights

This is the text of the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Please note the first word: Congress. That is the entity to whom it is directed: Congress.

I write this in light of a letter published in my old hometown newspaper, the Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette. Here is the text of it:

I read the article headlined “Citizens unite against hate” from the Aug. 17 Journal Gazette. Jamie Duffy wrote, “...violence broke out Saturday after a mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other extremists assembled to protest the city's decision to remove a statue...” Apparently, these groups fought among themselves. 

There is no mention of the group that arrived to deny the former their First Amendment rights. Regardless of your political leanings, the latter group was there, and they were actively engaged in the violence.

The deliberate omission of the second group spotlights the bias of the author. Is reporting all the facts too much to expect from Journal Gazette writers? 

Now, leaving aside the Trumpian "both sides do it" angle of this, attempting to equate the White Supremacists with those who wanted to counter-protest neo-Nazis, this might be the stupidest thing I've read all day (and I've read a lot of stupid $hi+ today).

Let me say this as clearly as possible: The First Amendment applies ONLY to the government and its agents (who are acting within the scope of their governmental authority). I am not the government, and I can tell you that you MUST refrain from using words that start with "R" when you're on my property. That is my right, and the First Amendment has nothing to do with it.

If a Tea Party or Anti-Trump rally takes place in Meadowood Park, I can, consistent with the First Amendment, bring my guitar and amp out there and drown out the protesters completely. I can bring a bullhorn out there and shout them down. I can bring a white noise machine. By virtue of me not being the government, I have NO ability to deprive ANYONE of their First Amendment rights.

This is not a difficult concept. It applies to other amendments as well.