The First Amendment and Protests

 

Whether you like it or not, 2020 was a huge year for Black Lives Matter. Protests rose all over the country in the wake of George Floyd's death. From dances, music, food, and public speakers, the gatherings oftentimes offered many different forms of entertainment while trying to spread their message of equality; however, a portion of protests used questionable methods of action. 

In an article by Shahrukh Alam, one of these incidents was discussed. In 2016, a BLM activist, DeRay McKesson, organized a protest on the highway outside of a police station in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. What is important to note, by way of two clauses of the first amendment, is that everyone has the right to peaceably assemble and use their freedom of speech to protest; nevertheless, it is also critical that those protesting, are aware of the workings of speech/action dichotomy. Within this concept, it states that almost all free speech is protected, and action is frequently unprotected; however, when the action is peaceable and sending a non-vocal message, it can sometimes move to the protected side of the scale. In Mckesson’s situation, the Louisiana law states that you may only disturb the traffic if you have the appropriate permits. This is a step that wasn’t taken by Mr. McKessen and, therefore, the action was unprotected. When the police arrived to break up the event, violence broke out when a protester threw rocks at an officer, causing him to lose teeth and suffer injuries to other areas of his face. At this point, not only has the gathering become violent rather than peaceful, but they didn’t have the appropriate papers to be there in the first place. Several arrests were made including that of Mr. McKesson. 

It was later that the District Court of Louisiana declared that disruption of traffic was only a misdemeanor and that at no point did McKesson call for, or encourage, violence. They also stated that Mr. McKesson could not be held liable for any action taken by other protestors simply because he initiated the gathering. When it comes to the first amendment, Mr. McKesson and his fellow peers were right in voicing their opinions, but wrong in terms of where they chose to do so. The separation of protected speech and unprotected action can sometimes get blurry, but in this case, the law is clear, and had Mr. McKesson had the appropriate permit he would have been golden (providing it continued to be a peaceful protest). Never stop voicing your opinions but do be aware of the actions you take while doing so. We were meant to criticize our government, but maybe stopping traffic isn’t the best way of doing so. 

Source:

Can Protesters Block a Road? An Incomplete Log of Protest Jurisprudence