A video circulating online shows a white nationalist wearing a T-shirt that says “Whites Against Replacement” harassing a Jewish man. Using obscenities, he pokes fun at the man’s appearance, calls him “Jew” using the word as an epithet, and tells him to “go to Israel.”

The exhortation to go to Israel is interesting in light of the fact that both extremes of the right and left are united on “Free Palestine” ideology.

A police officer stands in the background, watching quietly. At one point, the Jewish man engages with the police officer, but at no point does the officer attempt to stop the verbal assault.

Is this free speech? The answer is not so simple. Abusive speech directed at an individual, such as name calling, offensive and vulgar language and personal insults, is classified as “fighting words,” words that by design provoke a physical reaction and cause a fight. Fighting words are not protected under the First Amendment.

General insults directed at a crowd of people fall outside of this narrow classification, but it’s clear from the video that one person is directly targeted by “fighting words.”

If anyone knows the people in the video and a good lawyer, this is grounds for a lawsuit.