Su m m ar y: DC Riot s
At 8 pm on a cool, spring night in 1968,
the people of Washington were headed
home when news came in of MLK's
assassination (Rindler and
Emamdjomeh). This sparked an uprising
four days long that would change the
city forever.
Riots are a form of disobedience in
America. Rioters are passonate and want
change, but their tactics cause
su per f icial an d per m an an t dam age to
a city. Another form of disobedience
used by passionate Americans is protest.
Protesters are similar to rioters but use
non-violent, civil tacticts to show their
point. Acts of disobedience such as riots
and protests should be used as a
m et h od t o expr ess on e?s belief s about
how a system is functioning and changes
that should be made.
Leffler
POL I TI CAL
Ruane DI SOBEDI ENCE
"Congress shal l make no I n Washington DC
l aw... prohi bi ti ng the f ree
exerci se thereof ... or the right
of the peopl e peaceabl y to Nat an Kimelman-Block
assembl e, and to peti ti on the Avi Kedia
Government f or a redress of Bobby Padmore
gri evances." (US Const. Amend. I )
The first amendment in the Bill of Rights
gives the people the freedom of speech,
religion, press, petition, and to peaceably
assem ble. However, w h en r iot s occu r ,
t h e law n o lon ger su ppor t s t h em as they
are no longer peaceful. Protests are used as
a vehicle for people to express their
opinions within the law. Some believe that
protest don't affect anything. Whether
people believe protests influence policy or
not, it still remains a constitutionally valid
method of expr ession t o cr it icize
gover n m en t .
Ask You r self ...
Why do protesters protest?
Do protests cause pol icy change?
How can protests and riots permanentl y
change a city?
What pol icies have actual l y changed
because of protests?
Downing

Österstam
Pr ot est er s
Protesters believe they are catalysts for
bringing awareness to an issue. By
turning passion into action these people
have done everything from storming the
capital to dismantling the streets and
shops of DC.
"I t is better to protest
than to accept i nj usti ce."
- Rosa Parks
In one way or another, ever y pr ot est er
an d r iot er is polit ically in volved and
while acts of disobedience may not
immediately produce policy change, it
allows citizens an outlet to express beliefs
and views to the government. A study
researching if political protests matter
revealed that the mass of motivation in
protesters caused a significant social
impact which eventually allowed for policy
change (Madestam et al.).
Th ose Opposed To Pr ot est
Many people argue that disobedience
doesn't change any policy. They argue that
pr ot est s can't ch an ge polit ician s m in ds
an d r iot s on ly r esu lt in dam age t o t h e
cit y.
After the Charlottesville riots, the Unite
the Right, white supremacist group
wanted to rally again one year after. They
planned on rioting in D.C. but their
turnout was below 50 people, and they
were considerably outmatched by
counter-protesters, making their
movement seemingly redundent (Heim et
al.). Furthermore after Kavanaugh?s
nomination, followers of the #MeToo
Killen
Zigler
People of Wash in gt on
The business owners, police department,
and citizens of Washington are most
effected by the disobedience in the city.
In t h e Riot s of 1968 1,200 f ir es bu r n ed
r esu lt in g in $13 m illion s of dam ages
(Muller). The money lost in damages was
never fully paid back. Washington is still
facing the consequences of the riots.
Protests on the other hand effect less of
the physical buildings in the city and
more of the culture.
Washington, as the capital of the United
States, is where many protests occur.
Because of the constant protests in
Washington, It has become an incredibly
political city, w it h 1 in 3 Wash in gt on ian s
h avin g pr ot est ed Tr u m p (Swartzman
and Guskin). The People of Washington
are always being effected by the type of
disobedience in their city.