What does the future of protesting look like?

The right to peaceful assembly is being challenged in three states. 

According to Vox, the Supreme Court decided yesterday that it would not hear the Mckesson v. Doe case. This case involves popular activist DeRay Mckesson and Office John Doe. In 2016, Mckesson led a protest after the police killing of Alton Sterling. At this protest, Officer Doe got struck in the face by a rock, causing serious injuries. Yet, according to witnesses, Mckesson did not throw the rock.

Moreover, in the Supreme Court ruling NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware, there was a precedent set that political leaders could not be held liable for the violent actions of protestors, so long as they did not encourage the actions. Yet, a lower court ignored this precedent and allowed Mckesson to be sued by Officer Doe.

When the ruling first took place in August 2023, the Brennan Center for Justice wrote: “If allowed to stand, the ruling will chill the exercise of protest rights across the states covered by the Fifth Circuit — Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas — by threatening organizers with personal liability for events outside their control.”

This week, the Supreme Court chose not to hear the case, which meant the ruling stands. While disappointing, this may not come as a shock to some. After all, Louisiana is the same state where Anthony Wayne Babino was choked by a police officer just last week. NewsOne reported that “It was outside of [the Scott Bouldin] festival that Lt. Brun Lavergne of the Scott Police Department on Saturday night employed a carotid chokehold on Anthony Wayne Babino Jr., 20

However, Lt. Lavergne is not a regular-ranking officer. He is, according to Babino’s lawyers, “a senior supervisor, a division head and a training officer.” So, they argued, he should have known not to use a carotid chokehold on Babino, who did not pose a threat to Lavergne. In the video published by NewsOne, Babino is walking away as the officer chokes him. Per Louisiana law, chokeholds are only authorized when there is an immediate threat.

From the video we saw, there was none.

Nonetheless, the Fifth Circuit includes two more states whose police brutality cases have made local and national headlines. In Texas, Sandra Bland was physically assaulted by a police officer and then taken to jail, where she died under mysterious conditions.

In Mississippi, a “Goon” Squad was recently sentenced for the racist torture of 2 Black men, which gives a chilling reminder of Jon Burge in Chicago.

Burge was a disgraced police officer who tortured Black men from 1972 to 2003, and his tactics seemed to have set a precedent. Last month, Dexter Reed died after being shot 96 times by several Chicago Police Officers. There was no mass protest after Reed’s murder, and this is likely because people fear the repercussions.

Obtained from chicagotorture.org.

As we witness a rollback of civil rights protections, some Republican lawmakers are gearing up for Project 2025. According to their official website, “The project will build on four pillars that will, collectively, pave the way for an effective conservative administration: a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook.”

From Texas defying the Crown Act to the Fifth Circuit Court denying people’s first amendment rights, the future of protesting looks uncertain.

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