Protest hypocrisy

When states locked things down for the Covid-19 pandemic, there was some resistance. Many Americans felt that these lockdowns were an overreach of authority. Protests emerged. A strong condemnation came against these protests. The Constitution isn't absolute. Governors had the right to suspend the Constitution simply by declaring a state of emergency. Protests were illegal.

There was a drastic change after the death of George Floyd. Protests were organized, and the narrative took a complete 180. Suddenly protests were once again protected by the Constitution. The same people who emphasized that protesting is illegal started emphasizing that these were "lawful protests."

Many of these supposedly lawful protests took a dark turn. While most small protests remained peaceful, many of the larger protests embraced violence. Usually, the people defending these protests intentionally misportrayed them. Every discussion of any of these protests, including riots, had to have a specific word embedded: peaceful. This includes CNN's notorious reference to a fiery but mostly peaceful protest.

Personally, I don't support the idea that a governor has the power to suspend the Constitution. Peaceful protests should be legal even during a pandemic. This should be regardless of your personal views on the reason for the protest. Protesting excessive lockdown orders during a pandemic is acceptable. So is protesting over racial injustices.

Of particular concern is that people in a position of power ended up showing that the right to protest is contingent on their approval. This is undeniably defiant of the intent of the First Amendment. There was a lot of support for these protests coming from positions of influence regardless of if they became violent. You could even argue that these signs of support incentivized the protests and riots. When government officials incentivize violence, they are completely abandoning even a pretense of ethical standards.