Shouldn't the American way involve a vote or some other involvement of the democratic process at some point? Is America now all about individuals just doing whatever they want, and if somebody doesn't like it, too bad?
Or when MLK asked all of the south to politely, democratically fix the whole racism thing.
Sometimes protest has to break the rules. Because protest.
You seemed, to me, to be implying that all conscientious objectors must at all times observe complete obedience to the rule of law. That approach will never keep things running sanely for long. You can clearly see throughout history that it never has. Power must always be kept in check and in support of that, some of the rules ordained by that power must always be broken.
We've tried the "trust our elected officials" approach. We got mass surveillance. Next idea?