According to United Nations human rights investigators the right to protest is under attack. This very basic principle is fundamental to American democracy. The country was born, out of decades of civil disobedience by people angry about taxation without representation. On the heels of a fresh wave of organizing by liberals, at least 19 states have introduced measures that would criminalize peaceful protest.
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Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa, the Republican lawmakers have proposed laws that would stiffen penalties for demonstrators who block traffic. In North Dakota, GOP leaders are pushing for a bill that would allow motorists to run over and kill agitators, as long as the crash is accidental. In Indiana, conservatives want to instruct police to use “any means necessary” to remove activists from roadways.
Colorado lawmakers are considering for a big increase in penalties for environmental protesters. Activists who tamper with oil or gas equipment could face felony charges and be punished with up to 18 months behind bars and a fine of up to $100,000. A bill pending in the Virginia state legislature would dramatically increase the punishment for people who “unlawfully” assemble after “having been lawfully warned to disperse.” Those who do so could face an year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
In Missouri, lawmakers want to make it illegal to wear a robe, mask or disguise to a protest. Lawmakers in North Carolina want to make it a crime to heckle lawmakers. Together, these bills represent an “alarming and undemocratic” trend that could have a chilling effect on activism.
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“From the Black Lives Matter movement, to the environmental and Native American movements in opposition to the Dakota Access oil pipeline, and the Women’s Marches, individuals and organizations across (American) society have been mobilized in peaceful protests,” Maina Kiai and David Kaye, independent U.N. experts on freedom of peaceful assembly, said in a statement.
“The trend threatens to jeopardize one of the United States’ constitutional pillars: free speech,” the pair wrote.“One person’s decision to resort to violence does not strip other protesters of their right to freedom of peaceful assembly,” Kaye and Kiai said.
By Premji
