Written by Nicholas Vetrisek
After the tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer, many people took to the streets to voice their anger. Regardless of whether they agreed with the protests, Republicans and Democrats both agreed that protesters are free to exercise their First Amendment rights. Unfortunately, that is not what many of these protests devolved into. While most protesters remained peaceful, there were also some—mostly connected to Antifa—that chose to riot and destroy.
In Minneapolis, more than 300 buildings were burned down and the area now looks more like Fallujah or Bosnia than one of America’s great cities. That is not to mention the numerous other areas destroyed like Chicago, Seattle, and San Diego County’s own La Mesa. The fact is that anyone has the right to peaceably protest the death of George Floyd, but this goes far beyond that and now the full force of the law must be brought down. Multiple police officers have been killed and the increasing body count of the rioting is unacceptable in a civilized society.
The importance of true civil disobedience cannot be overstated, but in many of these cities, that’s not what is happening. These types of disgusting levels of violence and destruction only make it harder for legitimate protests. President Trump’s willingness to deploy the National Guard was a justified reaction to a clearly out of control situation, but the precedent of endless destruction is extremely concerning.
Furthermore, the damage control currently being done by Democrats is not helping. They are doing what they did with legal and illegal immigration by conflating protesters and rioters. If you say you are against violent communists assassinating police officers and burning down small businesses, they conflate that with being opposed to free speech and the right to assemble.
This sort of obfuscation of the real issue is completely counterproductive and dishonest. Antifa thugs roaming the streets and being protected by the media only hurts the protesters by depriving the movement of its credibility. The conservatives and moderates that may have even supported the movement now completely discount it because the leaders and the media refuse to address its violent elements.
Freedom of speech and protection of the First Amendment are essential and must be stringently protected. There is a reason why people like Martin Luther King Jr. are celebrated in America, while violent communists like the “Students for a Democratic Society” are accurately portrayed as terrorists.
The most successful protests in America have been peaceful and did not involve the complete breakdown of law and order. Unfortunately, this movement has gone so far beyond being considered peaceful that the issue of free speech and assembly is no longer part of the current conversation.
