Commonwealth Policy Center

Protestors trespassed into Kentucky Attorney General’s Daniel Cameron’s yard and demanded that he take action with the Breonna Taylor death at the hands of Louisville police. Protestors did the same at Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Louisville home last year. Many businesses in downtown Louisville are now boarded up in order to protect their property. The right to assemble and protest are cherished freedoms guaranteed by our First Amendment. But the right to trespass, intimidate, and destroy property is not. Such actions are incompatible with a free society. Clearly there are limits to protest. A better way to change society is through dialogue, robust debate, and political action. It’s a more difficult path, but if we wish to remain civil and safe, its the only path for us to take.