Dear editor,

I am writing to you in regards to the recent Black Lives Matter protests and riots. I am fully for the Black Lives Matter movement. I have shown interest in going to a peaceful protest to my parents. The issue is sometimes those peaceful protests turn into not-so-peaceful-protests. I believe that a lot of the time it is the police that start making the protests not peaceful. But some of the time it is the protesters who do looting and start violence. I really would like to go to a protest but my parents fear me or my siblings getting tear gassed or pepper sprayed. An article from The Verge says the protest was peaceful then the police showed up and shot tear gas. All over the news and social media I see innocent protesters getting shot at with rubber bullets or tear gassed. I think that we, as citizens, should be able to peacefully protest without the violence. ACLU 100 Years says: Police may not break up a gathering unless there is a clear and present danger of riot, disorder, interference with traffic, or other immediate threat to public safety. A lot of the time the police are the ones who made the protest dangerous but then they’re going to go and make the protesters leave? It doesn’t seem right. I would really like to share my voice and peacefully protest. 

Sincerely,

Cailyn Johnson

Seventh-grader at Rachel Carson Middle School