Portland is understandably tense after of the killing of two people who tried to stop a man's anti-Muslim tirade on public transit. But is Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler correct when he argues that two upcoming "alt right" protests in the city should be shut down because, in Wheeler's words, "hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment"?

The Washington Post says Wheeler is flat-out wrong to claim that "hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment." And Stranger reporter Ana Sofia Knauf wound up at the same answer as the Post when she explored this question back in May.

"It's a hard pill for progressives to swallow," a University of Washington law professor told Knauf, "but hate speech is protected."

As poorly timed and inflammatory as the upcoming protests may be, when it comes to trying to stifle them because of concerns about hate speech, "history and precedent are not on Wheeler's side," as the Post put it.

For what it's worth, Wheeler has simultaneously taken a different tack. In the same Facebook message in which he called on the federal government to deny permits for the upcoming rallies, he wrote:

I am appealing to the organizers of the alt-right demonstrations to CANCEL the events they have scheduled on June 4th and June 10th. I urge them to ask their supporters to stay away from Portland. There is never a place for bigotry or hatred in our community, and especially not now.