‘Recipe for murder’: Missouri bill says it’s OK to run over protesters with a car
Encouraging a driver to run down a protester is bad public policy.
Why would the Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 99 back legislation that gives motorists the green light to run over pedestrians if a protest is deemed an unlawful assembly?
With full support from the union that represents police officers in Kansas City, Missouri state Sen. Rick Brattin introduced legislation this week that would guarantee motorists a Get Out of Jail Free card if they run their vehicle into protesters.
The bill was filed in response to a series of protests over the summer decrying police brutality. It includes language that would exempt the drivers of vehicles who injure demonstrators who block traffic in public streets, so long as the driver “was exercising due care and was not grossly negligent.” And protesters who are hit could even be charged with a felony themselves.
Assault a police officer or a first responder during a protest, and the alleged culprit would be ineligible for bond and could have their probation or parole revoked. Municipalities that reduce their police budget by a certain amount would be cut off from state funding. A protester causing “emotional distress” would be subjected to misdemeanor harassment charges.
Brad Lemon, president of the Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police, declined to comment.
Brattin, a freshman Republican senator from Harrisonville, did not return a message seeking comment. But as a former state representative, he should know better. The punishment for civil disobedience should not be bodily injury or even death.
Expanding the use of deadly force to people outside of law enforcement is “a recipe for murder,” said the Rev. Darryl Gray, chair of the Social Justice Commission of the Missionary Baptist State Convention of Missouri.
Gray vehemently opposed Senate Bill 66 during a public hearing held Monday in the Missouri Senate Judiciary Committee.
“This bill does nothing to stop violence or deter it,” Gray told The Star Editorial Board.
The measure has not been placed on the Senate calendar. As it shouldn’t. Misguided and potentially unconstitutional legislation has no business being debated on the Senate floor.
Any measure that seeks to criminalize protesters is a deliberate attack on democracy, and the right to freedom of speech and assembly, Gray said.
“Police continue to be anti-Black Lives Matter and this is another example from Kansas City police,” he said.
Between May and September, at least 104 demonstrators were hit by cars nationwide, Gray said. Of those incidents, 96 were committed by civilians and eight by police. At least 43 people have been charged, most of whom were accused of having malicious intent.
“To think that your right to protest enables you the right to stop traffic and literally stop people’s ability to move about freely in this nation is a gross misunderstanding of our constitutional rights,” Brattin said during Monday’s hearing
But Brattin’s proposal is punitive and reactive. Ironically, it would achieve the opposite of its intended goal of keeping people safe during protests.
The measure is a direct assault on free expression and should not see the light of day. A one-size-fits-all piece of legislation is never a good idea. More fundamentally, there is no need to legalize vigilante justice against people who exercise their First Amendment right to assemble. It’s un-American. We cannot support a bill that would allow a person to hit someone with a vehicle with impunity.