With this in mind, we turn to plaintiffs' arguments. First, they contend that FACE restricts their freedom of speech because it criminalizes behavior that merely presents one point of view on an issue of social importance. We disagree. The statute does not criminalize speech at all; rather, it regulates and proscribes conduct that uses force, the threat of force, or physical obstruction to achieve its objective. Violence is the target of this statute, not speech, and as such is a constitutionally permitted intrusion.
See Wisconsin v. Mitchell, 508 U.S. 476, 113 S.Ct. 2194, 124 L.Ed.2d 436 (1993);
see also R.A.V. v. St. Paul, 505 U.S. 377, 112 S.Ct. 2538, 120 L.Ed.2d 305 (1992) (fighting words excluded from First Amendment protection not on basis of content but because their content embodies an especially intolerable mode of expression). Plaintiffs may therefore carry signs, pass out literature, and attempt oral persuasion, but they may not do so in a manner that involves violence, threats, physical obstruction, intentional injury, and property destruction.
At the risk of being redundant, we state once again that the statute directs its attention to violent, obstructive, and threatening activity, but it in no way implicates the rights of speech and assembly.