Looking at the uproar and social injustice movement that has re-sparked after the death of George Floyd in the summer, there have been many protests across the country against police brutality. Most of which have been peaceful although the media likes to portray otherwise. According to an article by the Times, 93% of Black Lives Matter protests have been peaceful. With the other 7% only escalating after protesters have been prompted by police engagements and interference with protesters FA right to protest peacefully.
Considering the BLM protests that did get more violent it was after protesters had been spurred on by police using unnecessary force using weapons such as "tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray or beating demonstrators with batons — in over 54% of the demonstrations in which they have engaged." Police even used this excessive force on journalists documenting the events, it's at this point that many people began to wonder if their FA rights were under attack.
In regard to the peaceful demonstrations, protesters were within and protected under their FA right to peacefully protest and assemble. Although the cases where stores were burned down and looted, protesters exploited and took advantage of the FA and those actions were not and are not permitted under FA protections.
As a whole, it is important to understand that the protests were not inherently violent and in the instances in which the protests turned violent, it was a response rather than initiating it as such. America needs to get better at communicating and listening to each other efficiently with open minds in a way where we can have meaningful discourse and learn from each other, after all this is one of the fundamental principles our country was founded on.
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