POLL: Americans Oppose Campus Protesters Defacing Property, Occupying Buildings

A new poll finds that Americans disapprove of some of the methods employed by the recent pro-Palestinian campus protesters, with large majorities saying they oppose vandalism, oppose building occupations, and support punishing students who participated in encampments. A majority of Americans said that defacing school property (80%), burning an American flag (68%), or occupying buildings (52%) are “never” an acceptable form of protest, and a plurality said the same of establishing encampments (43%). With the exception of flag burning — which is controversial but protected speech— the most disfavored forms of protest are all unprotected by the First Amendment.