Psychology in the "Right".

Psychology in the "Right".

By Tom Reger on Mar 23, 2018

A car plows into pedestrians and vehicles as anti-“Unite the Right” counter-protesters march through downtown Charlottesville. The driver backed up and fled the scene. Jeremiah Knupp—Special to The News Leader-USA Today Network/Sipa USA

"The basic idea of expressive association is that a group is eligible for constitutional protection only to the extent that its purposes and activities further some other First Amendment interest, like speech, press, or religion. The Supreme Court has put it this way: “implicit in the right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment” is “a corresponding right to associate with others in pursuit of a wide variety of political, social, economic, educational, religious, and cultural ends.”

The freedom to assemble and the freedom of speech have resurfaced again after the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, N.C.  The results of this rally, are one person dead and nineteen injured.  Protests resulting in injury or death brings questions of, worth of the cause to was this the intention.  Americans have the freedom to speak out in defense of what they believe, but are they truly speaking out or inciting a riot; are they trying to strike fear into those opposed or are they peacefully protesting and someone goes too far?  Can the results be the opposite of the intention?

Violence from protests has cause horrible effects as well as changed this country for the good.  Protests of The Stamp Act of 1765 which led to mobs ravaging the homes of British officials. The Boston Tea Party in 1773, brought on the Revolutionary War which led to our independence. The riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., against King's beliefs, led to compromises and more public equality of African-Americans and Caucasians. On the flip side of the coin, the Detroit Riot of 1967, where 43 people were killed and 1,189 were wounded, ultimately had a negative effect on the community and has been said to have contributed to the steady decline of Detroit's population and employment opportunities. Not to compare the Unite the Right Rally with the monumental accomplishments in our nation's history, but the loss of life in a protest can often inspire others.  This does not fare well for acts commited by groups being blamed for killing people.

In cases of rioting and extreme behavior, most of the time the message that the demonstrators are trying to rally support for is rejected.  The group is seen as violent and does not have a cause worth getting behind.  In a NPR interview of Rob Willer, sociologist and psychologist at Stanford University, speaking about the protests at the Donald Trump campaign rally, said that, "What we found was that the extreme protest tactic led people to report increased support for Trump. So this would be consistent with the idea that exposure to an extreme protest event risks creating a public opinion backlash where people actually turn away from your cause even if they might have supported it otherwise."

When there are large groups of people gathered together, sometimes it only takes one person or a few to begin a violent situation that can escalate when protesters see people on their side being attacked.  Also,  "Crowd psychology" may also play into how protests grow into riots, and how those riots expand to other cities.  When you are in a crowd, you are more likely to behave as others do, even if it is against your own personal belief system. And others' behavior can be contagious--people get "wrapped up" in the behavior.  Those with ulterior motives (looting, for example) take an opportunity in the midst of chaos to commit an anonymous act. 

Specific rules may need to be added to what constitutes a peaceful protest.  A peaceful protest should not have words of hatred or malice toward another group or race.  It can have hateful words toward the subject, but not against the person or persons that disagree.  Can this be considered infringement on the rights of people to speak freely?  Can there be anything added that would not negate the freedom of speech?

In a case of violence, who then is at fault, or should be held liable for a death at a rally. There are cases where someone influencing another to do something illegal can also be held liable. In ost cases, however, a person is responsible for their own actions.  What about in the case of the young demonstrator in Charlottesville?  The person driving the car, James Fields.  Even though a tweet from the rally organizer called her a "communist" and that her death was "payback", unless proof comes forward that Fields was instructed to do so by the Unite for the Right group, they should not be held liable.  No matter what seems right or wrong, there are laws in place to protect whom is deemed innocent and to prosecute those deemed guilty and we have the right to protest these.