Welcome back to the final week of Robertson’s Reportings for the 2019-2020 school year! This week has been a hard week for the nation. After the death of George Floyd, protests and riots dotted the nation in major cities such as Minneapolis, Atlanta, Cleveland, and even Greensboro. Floyd, a black man, was killed by a white police officer. Floyd’s arrest and killing was caught on video. A police officer holding him down put his knee on Floyd’s neck, resulting in his death. The reason for riots and protests are as a result of police brutality like this situation. In Greensboro, protests turned to riots, as buildings in the downtown area were vandalized. A curfew was set for multiple days in the week, beginning on Tuesday. People were asked to stay in their homes from eight at night to six in the morning. Amid COVID-19 and these protests, it seems like the nation can begin to reopen. Mass gatherings of protesters seem no better than people eating in a restaurant or shopping in a department store. Another idea that has arisen over the past few months is the government overstepping their power. For example, the First Amendment gives many freedoms, including freedoms relating to religion. The curfew put into place includes church services, so when the government wants to it can simply put restrictions on the First Amendment? Additionally, with COVID-19, many church services were banned in various places because of the large gatherings that would take place. While this seems to be for the safety of the nation, it violates the First Amendment. This has been addressed, and some restrictions relating to church services were lifted.

On a better note, 48-year-old Navy Veteran Michael White, who was held hostage in Iran for 683 days, will finally be returning back to America. Iran’s State Department’s Special Representative stated, “Michael White’s a pretty tough guy. He’s a cancer survivor. He has now survived two years in Iranian prison where he was beaten in prison. He then contracted in COVID and survived.” White was sentenced to 10 years in prison for claims that he assaulted Iran’s leader and posted private photos to the internet. He was arrested in July of 2018 while he was visiting his girlfriend in Iran. On Thursday, June 4, President Trump tweeted, “I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas!”

See you next year on Robertson’s Reportings, coverage you can count on!