The Cycle of Violating the First Amendment Rights

As written in the First Amendment Encyclopedia, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement has pushed into a violent territory for years, mostly since the death of Michael Brown, or earlier, Trayvon Martin in the hands of law enforcement. These riots have sparked counter-protests, battles in the streets, and other tragic events that have now exploded into the 2020s. While looking the article over, and looking into other instances of the BLM movement throughout the country, it is clear that there have been violations of the First Amendment by both violent protestors and the police force of America. 

Police supporting the protests


Protestors continue to use the right to assembly and speech to transmit their message to the masses of the government. Same with the police force respecting these groups by staying far away from them. Some officers even kneeling down in a sign of support. However, as protests move on, many begin to get rowdy and unfortunately, violence starts as barricades are thrown, stores are broken into and people harmed. 


Inside the article, Ashley Eick was quoted as saying “the state should have to prove the existence of a “clear and present danger” of violence before employing militarized forces”. While the article does not take much of a stand, choosing to be objective in the history of the protests, we can see how these actions have influenced the protests against George Floyd’s death. 


Police wear riot gear and go out to break up peace protestors, protesters turn violent and cause physical damage to stores and people and at the end of the day, both sides never come to an understanding and end up in more violence than before. As the perpetual cycle continues, First Amendment rights are violated more and more as freedoms decrease given the national crisis. In doing so, more power is transferred to the government which in turn, continues the cycle. 


For more information and the article in question, here: https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1512/black-lives-matter 


Other sources: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/us/police-protesters-together/index.html 

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