The Right and Wrong Way to Protest: Los Angeles, June 2025

 

The Right and Wrong Way to Protest: Los Angeles, June 2025

Let me paint two pictures of how protest can unfold, using the recent chaos in Los Angeles as a lens.

1. Imagine a group of citizens, dressed in their Sunday best, standing openly and proudly along the sidewalks of Los Angeles, spaced 10 feet apart to respect public safety. No masks hide their faces—because a true protest, protected by our First Amendment, is bold and transparent. They hold clear, unified signs with messages like, “Protect Our Communities, Enforce the Law Fairly,” or “Support Safe and Legal Immigration.” They line major streets like Atlantic Boulevard or Alondra Boulevard, leaving sidewalks and roads open for pedestrians and drivers. Their message is powerful, their presence peaceful. No businesses are harmed, no cars are burned, no public property is defaced. This is a lawful, dignified demonstration that commands respect without infringing on anyone’s rights. This is how protest should be done.

Now contrast this with the chaos we’ve witnessed in Los Angeles on June 6-7, 2025. Crowds—some reports estimate over 1,000 rioters—have flooded the streets of Paramount and Compton, not to protest peacefully but to wreak havoc. Sparked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids targeting undocumented immigrants, these groups have turned to violence. Cars have been set ablaze, debris like shopping carts litters boulevards, and graffiti reading “f*** ICE” and “f*** LAPD” scars public and private property. Rioters have hurled rocks, concrete chunks, and fireworks at law enforcement, injuring officers and triggering tear gas, flash-bang grenades, and pepper spray in response. A gas station was looted, and a strip mall was set on fire.

This is not protest—it is rioting, bordering on insurrection. The Department of Homeland Security reports a 413% surge in assaults on ICE officers, with some officers’ families doxxed and targeted. Small businesses, still fragile from past economic challenges, face devastation. Entire communities are disrupted, with boulevards closed and residents living in fear. The economic and social scars of this lawlessness will burden Los Angeles for years. Hiding behind masks or chaos, these actions undermine any legitimate message and betray the First Amendment’s spirit.

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On Free Speech Rights and Their Limits

The First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech and peaceful assembly, but these rights come with responsibility. Your right to protest ends where it violates the rights of your fellow citizens. When so-called protesters block public streets, as seen in Paramount and Compton, they deny others their right to free movement. When they burn cars, loot businesses, or deface buildings, they destroy property—private, public, and communal. When they attack law enforcement or endanger bystanders, they threaten lives. These are not protected acts of speech—they are crimes. You have no right to riot, to vandalize, to loot, or to act as thugs harming people and property.

The deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops, authorized by President Trump on June 7, 2025, under Title 10 authority, underscores the gravity of this unrest. While California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have criticized this as “inflammatory,” local authorities struggled to quell the violence, with reports of delayed police responses. The federal intervention aims to restore order, echoing actions taken during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

True protest, as protected by the First Amendment, is open, accountable, and persuasive. It doesn’t hide behind masks or descend into violence. What we’re seeing in Los Angeles—arson, assaults, and destruction—is not protest. It’s chaos that harms the very communities it claims to represent.

June 8, 2025
Curtis Neil

 

On Free Speech Rights and Their Limits in the U.S.

The United States stands apart. Our First Amendment, inspired by the English Bill of Rights of 1689 but imbued with greater force, guarantees free speech and peaceful assembly like no other nation. In the UK, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, protesters might face arrest for lawful dissent, and masks could shield against retaliation. But in America, where the Constitution fiercely protects open protest, masks signal something sinister: intent to commit crimes, to hide from justice. When you stand unmasked for your cause, you stand with the full might of the First Amendment.

Your rights, though, end where you harm others. When rioters block streets, as in Paramount and Compton, they steal the public’s right to free movement. When they burn cars, loot businesses, or deface property, they destroy what belongs to us all. When they attack officers or endanger lives, they cross into crime. These acts aren’t protected—they’re violations. You have no right to riot, to vandalize, to loot, or to act as thugs harming people and property.

The deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops, authorized by President Trump on June 7, 2025, under Title 10 authority, reflects the crisis’s severity. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called it “inflammatory,” but local police were overwhelmed, with delayed responses reported. Federal intervention, as in 1992, aims to restore order.

True protest in America is open, accountable, and powerful, upheld by a First Amendment that other nations have yet to match. What we’re seeing in Los Angeles—masked rioters, arson, and assaults—is not protest. It’s chaos that harms the communities it claims to defend.

June 8, 2025
Curtis Neil