Protest: a public demonstration which strongly opposes something; usually a person, policy, etc.

Riot: a violent disturbance of the peace.

See the difference? Why is it then that right-winged media networks can’t clearly differ one term from another?

News sources, like Fox News, have been publicly calling anti-Trump rioters protestors. This gives people the assumption that all those who are anti-Trump and whom openly protest (usually peacefully, might I add) are violent and hateful. In addition to giving protestors a bad rep, it also makes those who want to speak out fearful of doing so in a country where we are blessed with the freedom to speak out against figureheads and governmental authorities that we don’t agree with.

Additionally, the term protester has even been linked to near terroristic actions by these kinds of media sources. In fact, the media almost never covers peaceful protests against the current POTUS. This also gives the (unfortunately) undereducated public the impression that all those who are against Trump are pro-violence, pro-destruction, and overall bad people.

I had an older gentleman tell me that women who are marching today, the day after the inauguration, are violent and spiteful when in reality they are given the right to gather and protest peacefully by our nation’s constitution. The fact that something that is 100% peaceful and coming from a place of concern for American women has provoked the idea of violence and spite from onlookers is ridiculous and in-part due to biased news reporting.

My point? Rioters are not protesters. Rioters are rash, violent, and emotionally driven people who will use any means to destruction to get a reaction and have their message heard, often times by harming others and disrupting innocent communities. Protestors are peaceful, educated, and graceful people who peacefully and rightfully provide demonstrations to have their message heard. Protesters do not harm others and the minute their actions come from a place of malice, they are no longer protesters, they are rioters.

Please keep this very important difference in mind during the next few days following the inauguration of our new president. Not all those who protest are rioters. Keep an open mind and support those who need your support and who fight for the causes you believe in.

This country was founded upon freedom and let’s not allow rioters to take away the importance of that freedom from peaceful protestors.