Demonstrators on state-funded roadways would face fines, jail time, and felony charges Legislators in three states?Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota?have recently introduced bills seeking stricter punishments for people who protest by blocking roadways, particularly state-owned highways.
Following the election of and inauguration for President Trump, the nation has seen its public space, particularly in cities, flooded with protests. Demonstrators have swarmed the country?s open lands, city streets, and after last weekend, airport terminals. Now some states are specifically citing these protests as reasons to enact harsher consequences.
In Iowa, where a post-election protest of 100 people blocked Interstate 80 for 30 minutes, lawmakers are proposing fines up to $7,500, plus a felony charge and up to five years in jail. In Minnesota, where a Black Lives Matter demonstration blocked Interstate 94 last year for five hours, a bill was recently passed that will charge protesters with policing costs if they violate local highways. Most states do issue tickets and fines for ?impeding traffic? on highways, but these are mostly in the $100 range. In North Dakota, demonstrators have been blocking highways for months to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline. A new bill introduced by Republican state representative Keith Kempenich in early January offers chilling language that specifically exonerates drivers who hit or kill protesters in a roadway: ?A driver of a motor vehicle w...