A friend on Facebook posted an article proposing that burning an American flag be made an act of treason in the United States. I pointed out that in Texas v. Johnson the Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag was a protected form of expression under the first amendment. He then asked if he struck the person that burned the flag (as a way of expressing his opinion of the flag burner) would that be protected under the first amendment? My initial response is that battery (striking the protester) would not be protected, but my Internet searching skills failed to come up with anything conclusive. There's a lot out there about *threats* of imminent violence not being protected by the first amendment, but nothing about *actual* violence. Can anyone provide some pointers that would be helpful?