Monday, April 5, 2021

Modern Day First Amendment

    On January 6th 2021, the United States Capitol was stormed by individuals attempting to overturn the decision made in the 2020 election. The protesters who showed up to the election were infuriated by the fact that Biden won the election. Many of the protesters who participated believed that President Joe Biden won due to voter fraud and that the election was ‘rigged’. This caused protests to quickly turn violent as protestors started to force their way into the capitol building. Many officers and security guards were harmed in these protests as well as protestors. After successfully breaking into the capitol building, many managed to enter Nancy Pelosi’s office and vandalize her desk in acts of rage. This caused many congressmen and women to shelter in place. The U.S government cannot intervene when protests are taking place unless they break laws such as curfew, trespassing, or any violent crime. In most circumstances the government will not disrupt a peaceful protest, but because many protesters showed up armed and did not obey CDC COVID-19 guidelines, so intervention was needed to ensure no government officials were harmed.

Washington Post Article

    Starting off civil, the January 6th protest was protected by the First Amendment in Freedom of Assembly and Petition. This quickly faded when protestors began storming into the Capitol illegally with violent intentions towards federal administration. Property inside and outside were vandalized or thrashed, meanwhile the crowd motions to press forward. This series of events results in an unprotected action by the First Amendment and sanctions for subsequent punishment for a great deal of the intruders. Many aggressive protestors were convicted, jailed and fined for their recklessness and public endangerment to a federal facility. 

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