This page is about protests. For alternate uses see
Demonstration (disambiguation) A demonstration is the public
display of the common opinion of an activist group, often
economically, political, or socially, by gathering in a crowd,
usually at a symbolic place or date, associated with that
opinion. The purpose of a demonstration is to show that a
significant amount of people are for or against a certain issue,
person, law, etc. A demonstration is usually considered more
successful the more people participate. A growing trend in the
United States has been the implementation of "free speech
zones," a fenced-in area which is often far-removed from the
event which is being protested; critics of free-speech zones
argue that they are unconstitutional by their very nature and
that they lessen the impact the demonstration might have
otherwise had. Some demonstrations and riots turn, at least
partially, into violence against things (like cars and shops),
bystanders and the police. These acts of destruction against pr