The problem with protest

The problem with protest Renée Loth © VICTOR J. BLUE Enrique Tarrio (center, in dark glasses), leader of the Proud Boys, watches as members of the group set fire to a Black Lives Matter banner from Asbury United Methodist Church, in Washington on Dec. 12 The other day I passed by a bumper sticker for the American Civil Liberties Union. “Dissent is patriotic,” it read. I have never before doubted this sentiment: As a journalist, I revere the First Amendment’s right to free expression. But as with many things I thought I knew for sure — that a boorish, inept president could grow into the job; that you can’t consume too much news; that catching COVID-19 would humble pandemic skeptics — my belief in an expansive right to protest has been sorely tested by these times. The ugliness on social media and the intimidation in the streets, the explosive rage over mask mandates or mail-in voting — do I really want to celebrate that as a healthy sign of “what democracy looks like?”