Blog Post #3 : Black Lives Matter Protests and the Capitol Riot





The First Amendment gave us six freedoms. The freedom from religion, of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. What is actually covered under these freedoms is heavily debated, and has come up most recently with the Black Lives Matter Protests and the Capitol riot on January 6th.

 On January 6th a group of Americans gathered around the capitol building while congress was verifying the votes. The gathering quickly turned violent with people smashing windows, tear gassing, and breaking into the capitol building itself. It was a riot. During May of 2020, the Black Lives Matter protests started all across the United States. Thousands of Americans gathered with signs and began peacefully protesting. A lot of these protests then became violent. Were these gatherings protected by the First Amendment. Yes and no.

When a large group of people gathered around the capitol building with trump merchandise and signs, it was protected. This was a group using their right to assembly, petition, and of speech. When some members of that group decided to break into the building itself, this was not protected. The same goes for the Black Lives Matter Protests. When they gathered peacefully their actions were protected by the first amendment. When the protests became violent they were not. Whether or not the actual Black Lives Matter Protesters started the violence is a whole other discussion. 

The Capitol Riot and the Black Lives Matter protests are very similar yet very different. They both were peaceful gatherings that turned violent, however they both were protesting very different things. For more information on the difference between the Capitol riot and the Black Lives Matter Protests, I would recommend this article.

These events bring up the great debate about what is protected by the First Amendment. Speech is protected by the First Amendment (speech that incites violent is not), Action is not. Some actions are protected under the First Amendment such as flag burning and expressive action. An example of an expressive action is when a group of Black Lives Matter protesters laid on the ground in honor of George Floyd. This was an action used to send a message. it was a peaceful action. 




“Letters to the Editor: Stop Comparing the Capitol Mob to Black Lives Matter Protests.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2021, www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-01-19/stop-comparing-capitol-mob-to-black-lives-matter-protests.

Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-21/what-is-sedition-the-capital-riot-legal-debate.

Wehelie, Benazir, and Amy Woodyatt. “'I Can't Breathe': Hundreds Lie down in Protest.” CNN, Cable News Network, 4 June 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/world/gallery/george-floyd-lie-down-intl-scli/index.html.

Comments

  1. Meagan GutheilFebruary 2, 2021 at 10:12 AM

    Very insightful blog post. Also, the article you attached was helpful in better understanding the situation!

    ReplyDelete

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