Blog Post #3: The First Amendment

 Blog Post #3

The First Amendment gives us the six basic freedoms. These six freedoms are freedom from religion, freedom of religion, free speech, press, assembly, and petition. Having the First Amendment is important because it sets rules for the government to not have too much control over the people. Having this Amendment is important because it protects our rights as American citizens, but a recent event on January 6th, many people stormed that United States Capital after the defeat of President Donald Trump in the 2020 election cycle.

When looking at the riot on the US capital, it began as something that was similar to a  peaceful protest. This would fall under the First Amendment that is protected by speech, assembly, and petition. These people who were outside protesting all were wearing Trump merchandise and also were holding up Trump flags. The people at the Capital were there because they were upset with the outcome of the election. Stated in an article by The New York Times; this was a "rally to save America." At first what was going on at the Capital was protected by the First Amendment, but once people started to break into the U.S. Capital and become violent it took away the freedom protected by the First Amendment. 

Another occurrence that happened during the storm of the Capital that is questionable in correlation with our First Amendment rights, is when Donald Trump posted a video to Twitter. Donald Trump posted a video telling the people who were rioting at the Capital to go home and that this needed to end. Twitter took down the video Trump posted then proceeded to ban his account. Having Twitter ban Trump's account is being discussed of whether it goes again free speech. Although Twitter is a private owned company, the same rules we have towards the U.S. government and having free speech should be allowed on social media platforms. Having the First Amendment is important to protect us from our basic freedoms from government; there is a lot of discussion how and what they actually protect us from.