I acknowledge that the right to peacefully protest is protected by the first amendment. I also acknowledge that there are limitations. Protesting does not grant permission to physically attack or vandalize the property of others. Protests don't grant immunity if you engage in illegal acts.
There should be flexibility beyond illegal acts. If a protest causes traffic problems, that doesn't mean any crimes were committed. What if a protest is unpermitted? Who permits protests? The government. Do we really want the government in a position to deny the right of dissenters to protest? I'm honestly not a fan of the permitting process.
Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind with protests is that rights shouldn't vary depending on whether we personally agree with the messaging. Unfortunately, most people seem to swing wildly on this issue based on politics. Take a look at the pandemic. Liberal governors claimed authoritarian emergency powers for themselves to tightly control how we lived our lives. When people dared to protest this insane amount of control, liberals were quick to insist that the right to protest does not exist during a pandemic. These same people did a complete 180 on this issue after the death of George Floyd.
I'm not a social creature. I'm not the most likely to protest with others. That doesn't mean I would never protest. There are two areas in particular that I could imagine joining in if a protest emerged nearby, educational rights and authoritarianism.
When I bring up authoritarianism, some people might think of the recent No Kings protests. These protests were portrayed as protests against authoritarianism. If they were truly against authoritarianism, they would have protested the highly authoritarian Obama and Biden administrations. They would have protested against the Democrats during the pandemic. These things did not happen.
There are other indications that the No Kings protests were not opposed to authoritarianism. Communists and socialists openly backed these events. Communism and socialism require giving the government authoritarian control over the economy. A lot of protesters view Franklin Delano Roosevelt, one of the most authoritarian presidents in history, as one of the greatest. I should also point out that a lot of these people wanted Trump to implement a stronger and more centralized lockdown during the pandemic. Simply put, people protesting Trump's authoritarian tendencies previously criticized Trump for not being authoritarian enough.
A lot of protesters didn’t really know why they were protesting. Influential liberals told them to, so they did. They act as though parroting off what they were told to think is the best way to be herd (that was intentional). In the end, obedience to people in a position of influence is an embrace of authoritarian tendencies.
No Kings protesters were not protesting authoritarianism. They are actually supportive of authoritarianism. What they were protesting was who is in the position of authority.
For those who know me, it's time for the part of the post I hate. Most people are entrenched in an either-or binary. They assume that everyone is either a mindless liberal conformist or a mindless conservative conformist. As a non-conformist, this puts me at the risk of people attacking me for believing things I don't believe.
I am not a Trump Republican. Donald Trump has definitely crossed some lines. He is perhaps the most authoritarian person I have seen run as a Republican. Nothing I have written should be interpreted as support for Trump crossing lines that he never should have crossed.
I am against authoritarianism regardless of political affiliation. That doesn't mean that I will participate in pro-authoritarian protests aimed at Trump. Instead, I would need protests that are genuinely opposed to authoritarianism. Even then, I might be reluctant to join. In the state of Washington, we definitely have the right to protest Trump. We can even get away with violence. Protesters don't have equal rights. I'm not convinced that I could avoid being arrested even though I wouldn't engage in any criminal behavior.
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