Our First Amendment and its Six (Yes, Six) Clauses
The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Although the freedom to protest is not specifically mentioned within the First Amendment, the "right to assemble peacefully" is mentioned.
With that being said, the death of George Floyd sparked a massive wave of racial injustice gatherings which has not been seen since the era of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Through social media and the internet, the Black Lives Matter Movement was able to touch more people than ever, for example, more than 18 million people signed the "Justice for George Floyd" petition, in less than one month (First Amendment Museum).
With the internet being involved at such a large scale for the first time, the government did not know how to handle the police protests.
Freedom of speech and the right to assemble peacefully was challenged even before the death of George Floyd. With the global pandemic, COVID-19, "revealed deep problems in the laws and norms that shape the public's capacity to gather and access information, distinguish facts, think creatively, participate in debates and collective decision making, evaluate results and navigate novel questions surrounding data collection and sharing, surveillance and privacy" (Jaffer). This puts the United States in a situation with the government and its citizens being at odds, as the First Amendment has never been tested to the extent of which it is today. With that being said, it is of utmost important that we learn about our six, yes six, clauses within the First Amendment.
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