How Police Violently Responded Against Peaceful First Amendment Demonstrations
By Kaleigh Werner
When millions of people across the country filled the streets for 11 days after the murder of George Floyd, police officers and National Guard troops lined up across each city in response. Even though the First Amendment guarantees all citizens the right to assemble, police departments and officials from each state showed no tolerance towards the majority of the peaceful protests that took place last summer.
According to a report published by The New York Times, the Black Lives Matter movement was calculated to be “the largest movement in the country’s history” with marches, rallies and memorials being held on consecutive days from May 26th through June 7th, 2020. On May 25th, George Floyd, a 43-year-old Black man, was forced on the ground unable to breathe while Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kneeled on his neck killing him in just eight minutes. People were outraged as he would be one of 164 Black individuals within the U.S. to be killed by police in the year alone.
Zoe Manor, a 20-year-old activist from Denver, Colorado, participated in 10 demonstrations that were held outside the city hall.
“I remember the first protest we went to. It was a memorial for George Floyd on a Friday morning, I went with my two friends and we were not prepared at all for what happened,” Manor said.
What began as a peaceful service to remember the life of George Floyd and other victims of police brutality resulted in acts of violence by the Denver Police Department. Tanks blocked the streets while officers faced the crowds and shot tear gas and rubber bullets into the air.
“I genuinely could not tell you what the reason was for that response, it was just a memorial service. It was the military versus the protestors.” Manor said. “We had nothing that posed any threat to them. No one in the crowd was armed. It was us and our voices and them and their weapons. The violence from the police only increased from that day on as National Guard troops moved into the city.”
The following day, Manor gathered alongside hundreds of others holding signs and chanting.
“No law enforcement were there for a while, but then a couple hours later the tanks rolled up and these men came out in their gear forming a line in front of the protest,” Manor said. “Everybody had their hands up, posing no threat… the guards started shooting tear gas into the street and I was hit with a rubber bullet in the leg as a young girl was hit in the back and fell to the ground.”
Flammable cans were thrown at cars and bushes forcing people to use their bottled water to put fires out.
“I was there all day and it was so clear that when the police came, that was when the chaos came. Officers were provoking protestors, they were coming for us and it was crazy,” Manor said.
Ellery Roth, a graduate from the class of 2020, said the same violent reactions from law enforcement officials were demonstrated at the four peaceful protests he attended in D.C.
“For me, it started when my friends asked if I wanted to go to a BLM protest at the White House,” Roth said. “Things started getting rowdy about an hour after we had been standing in front of the fence just outside. The police started getting really violent and arresting people. This was the first time I had seen police get this violent,” Roth said.
Even though people were being arrested, Roth never saw any protestors destroying property or being physically violent with others prior to police engagement with the crowd.
Peter Newsham, former chief of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department from 2016 to 2021, counted there to be about 1,000 First Amendment assemblies in 2020. However, only 10 of them elicited the arrests of protestors.
“Usually, when arrests occur it is because people in the group of protestors have decided to either assault others or start destroying property. When that occurs, the police department has no other option but to go in and restore order,” Newsham said.
Yet, Roth only recognized the D.C. MPD officers as the individuals assaulting others that day at the White House. Roth attended his last protest on June 1st in Lafayette Square around 3 p.m., the same day D.C. had set a district-wide curfew for 6 p.m.
“There were hundreds of people kneeling down and I remember there was a line of police and their forces behind them,” he said.
At this point, Roth was unaware that the President of the United States at the time, Donald Trump, was having a photo shoot of him holding a bible up amidst the demonstrations in the park.
“I remember suddenly the police started running at us and I was thinking what are they doing, we aren’t doing anything. We were completely peaceful, on our knees and we still had three hours till the curfew,” Roth said.
The majority of the protestors retreated as the police force continued toward them and were chucking flashbangs and rubber bullets forward, hitting Roth multiple times.
“It was just so aggressive, it felt like war and was the most militaristic thing I have ever seen. I knew then if you are in a position of power you can do whatever you want,” he said.
Manor and Roth recall the facilitation of these protests as law enforcement officials responding to peaceful demonstrations by creating violence. According to Newsham, his department followed the policies for controlling First Amendment assemblies.
“There is a lot of misinformation that is put out on social media regarding demonstrations and protests, suggesting three was a lot of acrimony. Sometimes when there is not, that is exaggerated and blown out of proportion,” Newham said.
However, Newsham does agree that every time a demonstration occurs, police departments learn how they can handle future ones better. He continues to advocate for the people’s right to gather and safely protest the government with First Amendment assemblies occurring on a daily basis.
The nature and size of a demonstration are pertinent to the facilitation of them as well. Manor agreed with this due to her previous experience participating in the “March For Our Lives” protest as well as others.
“I was at protests at the same exact place for different causes and the police were protecting us. It wasn’t about the protest, it’s about what we are protesting,” she said.
The Black Lives Matter protests from the summer of 2020 aren’t the only ones where police departments have responded in a violent nature.
“Officers need to stop stacking the streets and where peaceful protestors are trying to speak by gathering and using our voices,” said Manor.
Reducing the degree of police presence at First Amendment-protected assemblies is a possible solution, yet it doesn’t appear to happen anytime soon as D.C. MPD recently activated their entire force in lieu of Derek Chauvin’s conviction prompting similar demonstrations to occur in the city.
