Blog 4: Black Lives Matter

Should We Be Scared to Demand Justice?

When reading this article, a few sections held a heavy weight when it came to the rights each citizen has that are protected by the First Amendment. First, rioting, in its pure definition, is not protected by the First Amendment, but peaceably assembly is. In addition, the riots during this time and acts that they were making at these protests were acts of expressive action to enact reform in our government, its policies, and its law enforcement, and would be protected my the First Amendment.

Second and probably often overlooked in scenarios like this one, freedom of speech would apply to attorneys being allowed to wear "Black Lives Matter" pins in courtrooms since that is public property. If violence is not taking place at a peaceful protest, why is there the need for added fear from police or military in combat or riot gear? Does the fear that they inflict on us as citizens infringe on our First Amendment right to peaceably assemble and petition our government?

If I was a citizen on that street, I would say, "Yes, I should be able to hold signs and walk down a street. I should be able to exercise my First Amendment rights without the fear of swat, military force, or police in riot gear surrounding me because I am not breaking the law."

In addition to the number of citizens that are injured or arrested at the protests, many citizens are experiencing fear and trauma from situations that occur after due to arrests. Seeing that our own law enforcement and government are stripping us of our First Amendment rights is something that is scary. People are being taken away from protests in handcuffs in masses. The majority of those citizens were peaceful, but the power the police had in their hands at that time was enough to handcuff them, administer them citations, or potentially transfer them to detention centers or jails to be put into holding cells. That doesn't seem fair, just, or right to me.

Image above found here