According to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, citizens are given the right to assemble and protest peacefully. The First Amendment also states that citizens have the right to freedom of speech. Thanks to this amendment, protests have become a common thing in the United States. While most are peaceful, others have taken a violent turn.
Right around the time the United States issued a quarantine due to the infamous Coronavirus, a man by the name of George Floyd was brutally tormented by a police officer. He was later declared deceased on May 25, 2020. While an autopsy report, that was released months after Floyd’s death, said he did have a high level of hard drugs in his system, there should have never been an occurrence of how the officers treated him. Floyd’s death created animosity throughout the country, starting the well-known movement of Black Lives Matter (BLM).
Almost immediately after Floyd’s death, citizens throughout the country started to protest. While many participated in peaceful gatherings, others took it to the next level. Things such as vandalism and shootings were happening at this time. Some even took it as far as lighting police stations on fire. The death of Floyd put it into perspective for many, that what one looks like on the outside will always outweigh the person they are on the inside. The BLM movement is just one of the many extreme protests that have happened in the country. One of the more recent protests that America has faced was the ‘Cease-fire’ protests. Many are extremely upset about what has been happening in Gaza and what little the government has been doing to stop what is happening. In Manhattan, New York, a more extreme protest occurred. Citizens blocked the Manhattan bridge, holding up signs saying things such as “anti-war.” Others even went as far as locking themselves on the bridge with chains, which forced law enforcement to use power tools to free them. That day, 325 were arrested, most charged with misdemeanors.
On Oct. 31, 2023, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, spoke before the Senate. While doing so, many people in the room protested then and there. With ‘Cease-fire’ being what they were protesting about, approximately 20 people shouted and made their opinions heard, and almost all were taken out of the hearing. Many were shouting phrases such as: “From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go,” and “Cease fire now!”
These two protests are only two out of the thousands of protests that happened throughout the country. When does it become too much? When does it become so dangerous that people are threatening the lives of others just to get a message across? The First Amendment gives the people the right to assemble peacefully, not the right to destroy property and put others in danger.
Instead of putting harm in the way of citizens, those who would like to protest should try to peacefully do so instead. Getting what one wants to say out there in gatherings that dont harm others, will do much more than if it is dangerous and harmful to others. Government officals will listen more if the protester is being respectful, not if they are being destructive.