The right to protest

Protest is one of the most valuable forms of free expression, and it’s a key bulwark against authoritarianism. With more and more of the public feeling like our political system doesn’t fully represent them, the availability of protest becomes all the more important.

Research and analysis around the world emphasize that creating open space for political expression is a core pillar of a democratic society. Nearly every contemporary metric of democratic health recognizes the importance of political expression, including the Freedom House Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, and the V-Dem Index. 

Americans are galvanized and ready to protest

The second Trump administration has reignited a protest movement across the country. The regular No Kings protests happening across the country have been among the largest, if not the largest, protests in American history. Those have been supplemented by events in communities across the country focused on specific abuses of power that have been an equally powerful signal about the power of peaceful protest in the face of authoritarianism. 

Protesting has become more dangerous during the second Trump administration

While peaceful protest is a bulwark of democracy, the Trump administration has often worked to undermine the American people’s right to speak out. The federal violence aimed at protesters in Minneapolis, for example, is an attempt to make protesting seem dangerous and risky. Thankfully, those efforts to stoke violence have not, at least thus far, succeeded in preventing protests.

The Trump administration is working to stifle dissent

In addition to stoking violence, the administration has also worked to push colleges across the country to censor their students under threat of funding cuts, arrested protesters on charges that prosecutors could not ultimately sustain, and targeted campus protesters via immigration enforcement. 

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