By: Neeraj Konathan Renganathan / Staff Writer
Protests are completely legal. Currently, there are protests and huge public gatherings to show their anger and support for George Floyd, who died due to police brutality.
In the United States, the First Amendment gives you the right to protest and express free speech.
Although protesting itself is not against the law, certain rules should be followed by the protestors and the police to ensure that people or property will not be harmed. Here are some of the rules to better protect yourself and others to ensure you make your voice heard.
Your Rights
- The first rule in protesting is to find a public place which is dubbed as “public forums” these include sidewalks, parks, or any public property.
- You do not need a permit if you are protesting in public forums unless they obstruct the normal activities of other people such as pedestrians or workers. In such cases you need to obtain a permit, the police department should be contacted for a “No-objection Certificate”.
- It is in your right to distribute leaflets and ask for petitions to be signed, the police cannot harass or arrest you for this reason unless you are obstructing the entrances to buildings or forcibly detaining people.
- You are allowed to take photographs in public places of anything in plain view, even the POLICE, officers cannot confiscate the evidence without a legitimate warrant.
- If you are detained always ask the police officer what it is, you are suspected and remind them about your First Amendment rights. Always try to deescalate the situation and ask the police officer if you are free to leave, if yes, then walk away.
Although these should cover the basic rights, to understand in detail about your rights visit ACLU website.
It is important to not be ignorant of the fact that we are still in the middle of a pandemic which spreads when people congregate.
“Protestors should stay 6 feet apart from each other and wear a mask at all times. They should avoid touching their face or mask. When they take off the mask, they should wash their hands immediately for at least 20 seconds. They should not hug others or shake hands or come into any physical contact with other people”, said Dr. Trepka, Chair for the Department of Epidemiology.
COVID-19 at the time of publishing this article has claimed more than 108,708 lives in the United States alone according to John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
“Protestors should stay home and quarantine themselves until they can get a COVID-19 test and get the result, But it is important to note that, they will need to wait about 5 days before they get the COVID-19 test because if they are tested too early it may be falsely negative”, Said Dr.Trepka.
To the knowledge of PantherNOW, there are two protests happening on Saturday one of which is in Miramar, and another one which is set to take place in FIU south campus near PG5 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.