Eight states have passed laws cracking down on protest activity since Black Lives Matter protests erupted across the United States last summer, according to the International Center for Not-For-Profit Law, which tracks such legislation. Similar bills are pending in 21 states, according to the PEW Charitable Trust.
New laws enacted in Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma
and Tennessee this year increase penalties for blocking traffic, tearing down
monuments and other unlawful behavior during a protest or riot. The bills
typically define “riot” as a gathering of three or more people that threatens
public safety.
New Arkansas, Kansas and Montana laws increase penalties for
protesting near oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure. And an Alabama
law will allow cities in Lauderdale County, where protestors called for the removal of a Confederate
statue, to control where protests occur and to charge protest organizers permit
fees.
Republican bill sponsors and police groups say increasing
penalties for crimes committed during a protest will help prevent violence and protect law enforcement officers.
But civil rights groups and Democrats say the heightened penalties will chill
First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful assembly, and could be used
to disproportionately arrest people of color.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed his state’s
new law in April surrounded by GOP lawmakers and law enforcement officers.
“We wanted to make sure that we were able to protect the
people of our great state, people’s businesses and property against any type of
mob activity or violent assemblies,” he said then, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
But Democratic state Sen. Shev Jones told the Times that
DeSantis’ “press conference spectacle was a distraction that will only further
disenfranchise Black and brown communities.”
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