On Rodney King, LA Riots,
and the Right to Free Speech
29 years ago, Rodney King was brutally beaten by white officers. 28 years ago, the officers were acquitted. Anger boiled over in Los Angeles and people rioted. The oppression of blacks and minorities in this country have continued to present time. When George Floyd was coldly and callously killed and people saw the video, it sparked outrage across the entire world, an outrage amplified by the build-up of injustices to black people throughout history, including the police killings of Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, and thousands of others.
You have a right to be heard. You have a right to protest police brutality and racism. You have a right to freedom of speech and expression. This freedom of speech is a fundamental right guaranteed by the first amendment of the United States constitution. This freedom is also guaranteed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of democracy.
There are some limitations on the right to free speech. Incitement of violence, for example, is not protected, and any statements during a protest that are interpreted that way may result in action or arrest by law enforcement. Please be aware of this if you do protest!
Curfews across the United States challenge fundamental and ordinarily lawful free speech by making it illegal to gather and protest during a specified time period.
Right now the specified curfew time period in Los Angeles is 6 pm to 6 am, aka the time Monday through Friday that most Americans are off of work and finally have the practical ability to protest outside of the digital realm. Because many people need to work throughout the workweek, many people are limited in their ability to lawfully protest in the streets during non-curfew hours.
The justification for the curfew can be debated, however the practical effect is that some people who have been peacefully protesting in the streets have been getting arrested by law enforcement. These arrests have happened both before and after curfew.
I am outraged by any arrests, citations, criminal charges, or police brutality when people are peacefully protesting. I believe it fundamentally breaks our core principles as a country birthed in rebellion and a country that is supposed to support freedom of speech and expression.
For this reason, I want to help as many people as I can who have been wrongfully arrested for exercising their first amendment rights to protest and express themselves. If you or a loved one was wrongfully arrested or charged with a crime in relation to your speech, your expression, or your existence outside curfew in or near the LA area, please don’t hesitate to contact me, I will help you pro bono. Please be safe.
Kevin O’Hara, O’Hara Law. 310-525-5882. Call or text.
Disclaimer: I cannot promise representation. I can answer your calls and texts and see how I can help you, whatever way that may be. This may be guidance or referral to another legal aid society in the Los Angeles area.
PHOTO:
Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash
