Protest is an invaluable way to speak truth to power. Throughout history, protests have been the driving force behind some of the most powerful social movements, exposing injustice and abuse, demanding accountability and inspiring people to maintain hope for a better future. Unfortunately, this precious right is under attack around the world, including here in the U.S., as we have seen in the last few days.
Ahead of this weekend’s military parade in Washington, planned protests across the country, and an increase in ICE raids and enforcement actions, President Trump warned that protests will be met with “very heavy force.”
As a human rights organization with experience monitoring protests around the world, including right here in the U.S., we have been getting a lot of questions, especially most frequently, “Can authorities do that?” So, here are our answers to some of those most frequently asked questions:
1. Is protest a human right?
When taking part in a protest, a person is exercising a variety of universally recognized human rights. As well as the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, this includes other rights that are essential to enable peaceful protest, including the right to life, to freedom of association, to privacy, and to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention, and from torture and other ill-treatment or punishment.
Therefore, rather than being codified under a single law or treaty, the right to protest is protected under international human rights law by provisions enshrined in various international and regional treaties guaranteeing each of these distinct yet mutually reinforcing rights. Taken together, they provide protestors with comprehensive protection. So yes, protest is a human right.
2. Can military forces be deployed to police civilian protests?
Military forces are not meant to police civilians. Deploying military forces or using militarized policing tactics sets a terrifying precedent, escalates tensions by creating an atmosphere of intimidation and fear, and can lead to unnecessary violence and suppression of peaceful protests. It also increases the chances for human rights violations, including excessive use of force and arbitrary arrests of protesters.
Military forces are organized, trained and equipped for war and have no place at a protest, where police should be trained in de-escalation, mediation and keeping people safe. Military personnel are not trained in crowd control or de-escalation and should not be used for these purposes. Similarly, ICE officers and other federal law enforcement agents who are engaged in immigration enforcement lack this type of training or experience. You don’t need to go back very far to remember this – just look back to the response to Black Lives Matter protests after the murder of George Floyd.
Military forces are generally not suitable for carrying out law enforcement tasks and should not be deployed to conduct law enforcement duties unless under exceptional and temporary circumstances, based on a clear needs assessment as to their added value in a specific situation. In such a deployment, they are bound by the legal framework applicable to law enforcement, including international and domestic human rights law, and may carry out law enforcement functions only if they are properly instructed, equipped and trained to do so in a lawful, human rights-compliant manner. Importantly, they should be subject to civilian command, control and oversight at all times.
It is important to note that in the case of Los Angeles, President Trump’s move to mobilize the National Guard and U.S. Marines is not about public safety, it’s about creating fear and silencing dissent.
3. Can authorities use rubber bullets against protesters?
Rubber bullets, foam rounds or other Kinetic Impact Projectiles (KIPs) are not to be used unless as a last resort when there is an imminent threat of serious harm, but the use of rubber bullets to suppress peaceful protest has become increasingly commonplace in the U.S.
Amnesty International has documented numerous instances where the misuse of rubber bullets and other KIPs in the U.S. and around the world has resulted in severe injuries and deaths among protesters. These weapons are often deployed indiscriminately, targeting individuals’ heads or fired at close range, leading to permanent disabilities such as blindness, skull fractures, and internal injuries.
4. Can police forces use tear gas against protesters?
Tear gas or other chemical irritants should never be used against people who are peacefully protesting.
We are led to believe that tear gas is a safe method of dispersing participants of violent protests. Today, it is a part of many security forces’ arsenal of so-called less-lethal equipment – weapons that are alternatives to firearms. These weapons are called “less-lethal” rather than “non-lethal” as, although they are not designed to kill, there is still the possibility of lethal effect. The availability of tear gas can mean police avoid having to resort to the use of more harmful weapons. But in practice, police forces use tear gas in ways that it was never intended to be used, often in large quantities against largely peaceful protesters, by firing projectiles directly at people or deploying it in confined spaces or in situations in which people have difficulty dispersing.
In some instances, the use of chemical irritants can cause severe injuries or constitute torture or other ill-treatment. Read about our investigation into tear gas here.
5. What if protests turn violent?
The violence of a small number of people should not result in peaceful protesters’ right to assemble being violated. If a small minority tries to turn a peaceful assembly into a violent one, law enforcement officials should protect the peaceful protesters and not use the violent acts of a few as a pretext to restrict or impede the exercise of the human rights of a majority. It should be noted that people who are advising people of their rights or peacefully disrupting civil immigration enforcement are not inherently violent, and these actions fall within people’s right to protest.
Where a small group within a larger peaceful protest commits acts of violence and vandalism, communicating and working with protest organizers can help law enforcement identify those who are committing violent acts and targeting those individuals for those acts.
The decision to disperse an assembly should be taken in line with the principles of necessity and proportionality, only when there are no other means available to protect public order from an imminent risk of violence. When a (lawful) decision has been taken to disperse an assembly, the order to disperse must be clearly communicated and explained, to obtain, as far as possible, the understanding and compliance of the demonstrators. Sufficient time must be given to disperse.
Force should not be used to punish the (presumed or alleged) non-compliance with an order nor simply for the participation in an assembly. Arrest and detention should be carried out only in accordance with procedures established by law. They should not be used as a means to prevent peaceful participation in a public assembly nor as a means of punishment for participation.
6. Can President Trump invoke the Insurrection Act?
The Insurrection Act would allow for the deployment of federal troops for so-called “immigration enforcement” or to suppress protests. Invoking the Insurrection Act is not about national security; it is about consolidating power, creating fear and intimidation in communities across the country, and crushing dissent.
Since day one, President Trump has spread dangerous and false rhetoric, including the white supremacist lie that there is an “invasion” at the southern border. There is no invasion. There is no war. Immigrants and people seeking safety are our families, friends, and neighbors; they make our communities more vibrant, and they come to the U.S. to seek safety, security, and a better life.
The Insurrection Act has a long and painful history tied to the suppression of enslaved people, Native American tribes, and civil rights movements. It was last used in 1992 during the Los Angeles uprising after the acquittal of officers in the Rodney King beating. Using it now continues this legacy of targeting marginalized communities with state violence.
7. What is Amnesty International doing?
Amnesty International is monitoring these protests and the response to them by authorities across the country and from the federal government. Our team of experts combine individual witness testimonies with geolocation data, photos and videos from news sources and social media, remote sensing, crowdsourcing and data science to investigate human rights violations and piece together the hidden truth.
Following the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Amnesty International documented 125 separate incidents of police violence against protesters in 40 states and the District of Columbia, committed by members of state and local police departments, as well as by National Guard troops and security force personnel from several federal agencies in just the first ten days after George Floyd was detained, tortured and extrajudicially executed by Minneapolis police officers. Among the abuses documented were beatings, the misuse of tear gas and pepper spray, and the inappropriate and at times indiscriminate firing of “less lethal” projectiles, such as sponge rounds and rubber bullets against protesters, journalists, legal observers and street medics.
As part of that effort, we called on all law enforcement agencies to revise their policies and practices for the policing of protests, and to comply with international human rights standards, and issued a Best Practices for Law Enforcement Officials Policing Demonstrations document.
8. What can you do?
The right to peacefully protest is a human right. But this moment is about more than any one protest. It’s about refusing to let fear silence us. It’s about protecting the right to seek asylum and defending our neighbors from ICE raids and mass detention. It’s about rejecting this administration’s actions to militarize policing to crush dissent.
We must act now to defend the right to peaceful protest and stop these abuses from becoming the new normal. If it’s safe for you to do so, join a protest this weekend in your town or city. Use your voice. Bring others with you! Share this Q&A with friends and family and discuss the right to protest, ICE raids, and what Amnesty is doing.
Here are three simple ways you can make a powerful impact:
1. Demand direct action from Congress to withdraw military troops from our communities. Your lawmakers need to hear that you want them to immediately block the deployment of the National Guard and the Marines to protests, an unnecessary and dangerous escalation by the Trump administration.
2. Call your Senators at (646) 248-6236 and tell them to reject Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” The bill will give ICE and CBP over $150 billion in a blank check that will be used to silence dissent like we have already seen in our communities. Sign our online petition to stop the bill.