"The First Amendment deems it unconstitutional to deny Americans the right to peacefully protest, but protestors have been abused by the police and suppressed by the government for expressing their anger over police brutality and systemic racism" - Frankie ettinger, 11th grade
Over an 11 day period earlier this summer, Amnesty International documented 125 separate cases of police violence against protestors for racial justice. While police brutality is nothing new, it’s interesting and quite scary to see how quickly the police not only perpetrate violence during these current protests, but continue to defend it.
The First Amendment deems it unconstitutional to deny Americans the right to peacefully protest, but protestors have been abused by the police and suppressed by the government for expressing their anger over police brutality and systemic racism. An editorial group for The New York Times recently wrote that police “have behaved as if determined to prevent peaceful protest by introducing violence,” and that police have been going to protests and “silencing the loudest voices.” Rather than try to understand the source of these activists’ grievance, American police are directly going against the First Amendment by causing harm to befall on protestors in attempts to silence them.
The protests started earlier this year when George Floyd was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin over an alleged counterfeit bill. They began in Floyd's town of Minneapolis and quickly spread across the nation, and then the world. Many Americans took to the streets to express their anger and demand change. While the right to protest is guaranteed to all Americans, the government’s response has been upsetting, from President Trump tweeting about protests needing “Law and Order” to those 125 documented cases of police violence mentioned above. That number is getting higher as protests continue to happen. If Americans were guaranteed the right to protest, then why do police continue to harm protesters?
Instances of police violence during protests span across forty states and include the use of rubber bullets, pepper spray, tear gas, batons, and more. One protestor, Lizzie Horn, recounted her experience to NPR, saying that police out of the blue started “breezing pepper spray into the crowd... Then they started with the tear gas. Someone who was right in front — had a tear gas canister hit his head and started running back. We were trying to help him, flushing his eyes and then he just fainted and started having a seizure.”
Horne also recalls that even when protestors were putting their hands up, the police would not stop abusing them. Exercising the right to peacefully protest should not lead to being hit with rubber bullets and suffering from seizures. It’s unconstitutional to deny Americans the ability to protest without enduring harm, and it’s concerning to see that right challenged by authorities.
During the first Presidental debate on September 29th, President Trump went so far as to tell Proud Boys, a white supremacist group that has incited violence at Black Lives Matter protests, to “stand back and stand by” when asked by the moderator if Trump would once and for all denounce white supremacy. Rather, Trump’s comment did the opposite and only encouraged white supremacists to show up at Black Lives Matter protests and further abuse protestors who are fighting for equality.
Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee recently -- and privately -- signed off on a law that makes it illegal for protestors to camp out overnight on state property. If they’re convicted, they could lose their right to vote (it is already illegal to vote in Tennessee if you’re a felon) and get six years in prison. State property refers to land that the government owns. A portion of this land is open to the public, such as parks and libraries, and the other part is private, such as military bases or laboratories. Protestors often assemble at plazas or in front of government buildings, both of which are public property. It is not trespassing unless protestors were to enter the building, or went into a gates area with a “no trespassing” sign. So why did Governor Lee pass this law if protestors are allowed to peacefully camp out in public areas? His reasoning was that violence had broken out during these camp outs, which ended up with fires being set to a courthouse and businesses and vehicles being damaged.
While this new bill doesn’t outlaw protesting all together, it puts a limit to where protests can take place and how protestors assemble. While camping out, protestors have chanted “We want to see Governor Lee. We don’t wanna fight, we just wanna be free,” and made it very clear that they would leave if they could simply speak to their governor. However, Lee did not come out and speak to them. Regarding Lee’s bill, Justine Jones, a protestor from Nashville, said that, “the priority was stopping protesters, instead of looking at what caused the protests in the first place.”
Civil rights groups and activists worry about this new law, because it criminalizes protests and restrains free speech. They also worry that it could criminalize being homeless because homeless people would have to resort to sleeping on private property if they’re caught on state property.
Journalists are joining the list of those at risk during protests. According to the Nieman Journalism lab, journalists have been met with the same violence policing endured by protestors and have been attacked by police about 140 times at protests in the last four days of May. Although some of the journalists affected have been hit on accident, some have been arrested for covering the protests.
Here are some important numbers recently reported by Forbes Magazine: more than 54 journalists have been arrested, 173 out of the 208 assaults on journalists have been by police, and out of that 173 incidents, there have been 47 physical attacks on journalists by police. Oakland CBS reporter Katie Nielsen was detained by the police on June 1st, even after she identified herself as a journalist and showed the police her credentials. While Nielsen was the only journalist she saw arrested that day, she said “it was enough to keep us from reporting and shooting the arrests that were happening with the protesters.” Nielsen was later released and has no charges against her.
When law enforcement starts attacking and arresting both journalists and protestors, it only cements the idea that freedom of speech cannot thrive. All Americans have the right to peacefully protest and record said protests. If law enforcement treated protestors and journalists with respect, or perhaps even engaged in meaningful discussions regarding the source of protestor’s anger, then they wouldn’t have a problem with the protests and the recording of protests in the first place. Their defiance in the face of protestors makes many Americans believe that the policing system in this country is rotten to the core.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed that there are some people who can protest and be respected by the police at the same time. Not all protestors are treated equally. At protests fighting for Black and Brown lives lost to the police, violence perpetrated by the police is very common and expected. At protests fighting against wearing masks and staying in quarantine, police officers don’t wear riot gear, nor do they shoot rubber bullets at those protestors. They are much more calm and reserved and don’t assault the protestors. The obvious difference between anti mask protests and protests against police brutality is very clear: anti maskers are typically white and for Trump. Many protestors who attend Black Lives Matter demonstrations are Black and if they aren’t, they’re there to support and defend Black lives, and to protest against police brutality. Police in this country show more respect to people who refuse to protect themselves and others from a global pandemic than to people who are standing in support of Black lives.
While America is currently seeing a large uprising of police brutality during protests, it’s important to note that police punishing protestors has always been a thing. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, police brutalized protestors who were calling for an end to police violence against Black people. The current protests have been a wake up call for a lot of white people who haven’t been paying attention to racist policing, but it’s important to recognize that what we’re seeing now isn’t new. Sadly, America has never extended the first amendment right to peacefully protest to everyone. So yes, what’s happening right now is unconstitutional but if you look back throughout history, it’s always been this way. Keep fighting against the racist policing system so we don’t have to bury the right to protest all together.
Click here to read about abolishing the police.
Click here to read about and donate to organizations that are fighting for racial justice.
The First Amendment deems it unconstitutional to deny Americans the right to peacefully protest, but protestors have been abused by the police and suppressed by the government for expressing their anger over police brutality and systemic racism. An editorial group for The New York Times recently wrote that police “have behaved as if determined to prevent peaceful protest by introducing violence,” and that police have been going to protests and “silencing the loudest voices.” Rather than try to understand the source of these activists’ grievance, American police are directly going against the First Amendment by causing harm to befall on protestors in attempts to silence them.
The protests started earlier this year when George Floyd was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin over an alleged counterfeit bill. They began in Floyd's town of Minneapolis and quickly spread across the nation, and then the world. Many Americans took to the streets to express their anger and demand change. While the right to protest is guaranteed to all Americans, the government’s response has been upsetting, from President Trump tweeting about protests needing “Law and Order” to those 125 documented cases of police violence mentioned above. That number is getting higher as protests continue to happen. If Americans were guaranteed the right to protest, then why do police continue to harm protesters?
Instances of police violence during protests span across forty states and include the use of rubber bullets, pepper spray, tear gas, batons, and more. One protestor, Lizzie Horn, recounted her experience to NPR, saying that police out of the blue started “breezing pepper spray into the crowd... Then they started with the tear gas. Someone who was right in front — had a tear gas canister hit his head and started running back. We were trying to help him, flushing his eyes and then he just fainted and started having a seizure.”
Horne also recalls that even when protestors were putting their hands up, the police would not stop abusing them. Exercising the right to peacefully protest should not lead to being hit with rubber bullets and suffering from seizures. It’s unconstitutional to deny Americans the ability to protest without enduring harm, and it’s concerning to see that right challenged by authorities.
During the first Presidental debate on September 29th, President Trump went so far as to tell Proud Boys, a white supremacist group that has incited violence at Black Lives Matter protests, to “stand back and stand by” when asked by the moderator if Trump would once and for all denounce white supremacy. Rather, Trump’s comment did the opposite and only encouraged white supremacists to show up at Black Lives Matter protests and further abuse protestors who are fighting for equality.
Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee recently -- and privately -- signed off on a law that makes it illegal for protestors to camp out overnight on state property. If they’re convicted, they could lose their right to vote (it is already illegal to vote in Tennessee if you’re a felon) and get six years in prison. State property refers to land that the government owns. A portion of this land is open to the public, such as parks and libraries, and the other part is private, such as military bases or laboratories. Protestors often assemble at plazas or in front of government buildings, both of which are public property. It is not trespassing unless protestors were to enter the building, or went into a gates area with a “no trespassing” sign. So why did Governor Lee pass this law if protestors are allowed to peacefully camp out in public areas? His reasoning was that violence had broken out during these camp outs, which ended up with fires being set to a courthouse and businesses and vehicles being damaged.
While this new bill doesn’t outlaw protesting all together, it puts a limit to where protests can take place and how protestors assemble. While camping out, protestors have chanted “We want to see Governor Lee. We don’t wanna fight, we just wanna be free,” and made it very clear that they would leave if they could simply speak to their governor. However, Lee did not come out and speak to them. Regarding Lee’s bill, Justine Jones, a protestor from Nashville, said that, “the priority was stopping protesters, instead of looking at what caused the protests in the first place.”
Civil rights groups and activists worry about this new law, because it criminalizes protests and restrains free speech. They also worry that it could criminalize being homeless because homeless people would have to resort to sleeping on private property if they’re caught on state property.
Journalists are joining the list of those at risk during protests. According to the Nieman Journalism lab, journalists have been met with the same violence policing endured by protestors and have been attacked by police about 140 times at protests in the last four days of May. Although some of the journalists affected have been hit on accident, some have been arrested for covering the protests.
Here are some important numbers recently reported by Forbes Magazine: more than 54 journalists have been arrested, 173 out of the 208 assaults on journalists have been by police, and out of that 173 incidents, there have been 47 physical attacks on journalists by police. Oakland CBS reporter Katie Nielsen was detained by the police on June 1st, even after she identified herself as a journalist and showed the police her credentials. While Nielsen was the only journalist she saw arrested that day, she said “it was enough to keep us from reporting and shooting the arrests that were happening with the protesters.” Nielsen was later released and has no charges against her.
When law enforcement starts attacking and arresting both journalists and protestors, it only cements the idea that freedom of speech cannot thrive. All Americans have the right to peacefully protest and record said protests. If law enforcement treated protestors and journalists with respect, or perhaps even engaged in meaningful discussions regarding the source of protestor’s anger, then they wouldn’t have a problem with the protests and the recording of protests in the first place. Their defiance in the face of protestors makes many Americans believe that the policing system in this country is rotten to the core.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed that there are some people who can protest and be respected by the police at the same time. Not all protestors are treated equally. At protests fighting for Black and Brown lives lost to the police, violence perpetrated by the police is very common and expected. At protests fighting against wearing masks and staying in quarantine, police officers don’t wear riot gear, nor do they shoot rubber bullets at those protestors. They are much more calm and reserved and don’t assault the protestors. The obvious difference between anti mask protests and protests against police brutality is very clear: anti maskers are typically white and for Trump. Many protestors who attend Black Lives Matter demonstrations are Black and if they aren’t, they’re there to support and defend Black lives, and to protest against police brutality. Police in this country show more respect to people who refuse to protect themselves and others from a global pandemic than to people who are standing in support of Black lives.
While America is currently seeing a large uprising of police brutality during protests, it’s important to note that police punishing protestors has always been a thing. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, police brutalized protestors who were calling for an end to police violence against Black people. The current protests have been a wake up call for a lot of white people who haven’t been paying attention to racist policing, but it’s important to recognize that what we’re seeing now isn’t new. Sadly, America has never extended the first amendment right to peacefully protest to everyone. So yes, what’s happening right now is unconstitutional but if you look back throughout history, it’s always been this way. Keep fighting against the racist policing system so we don’t have to bury the right to protest all together.
Click here to read about abolishing the police.
Click here to read about and donate to organizations that are fighting for racial justice.
