Act out at a protest tantrum, you deserve to be identified and prosecuted. From The Seattle Times:
Wearing masks, hoods at protests could become crime under new bill
Protesters wearing masks or hoods during demonstrations could be charged with a crime, if one GOP state senator has his way.
The bill by state Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, arrives as similar laws are being considered in other states, including Georgia, Missouri and Montana.
SB 5941 would make it illegal for someone to stand on a sidewalk, road or any public ground with their face covered, unless that person was exempted for religious or myriad other reasons spelled out in the bill.
And the reason for this bills genesis:
Introduced Monday, Honeyford’s proposal is aimed at “a small but dangerous group of individuals who conceal their identities while committing illegal acts under the guise of political protest,” SB 5941 says.
Honeyford said he first considered such legislation after Seattle’s tumultuous 1999 World Trade Organization protests.
But recent May Day demonstrations in Portland and Olympia prompted him to draft the bill, which would make it a gross misdemeanor to wear a mask or hood. Several demonstrators wore masks at those protests, where violence erupted.
Cue the Peanut Gallery:
The exemptions show the bill is designed to target protesters, which is unconstitutional, argued Elisabeth Smith with the ACLU of Washington.
“The First Amendment actually protects people’s right to wear a mask in public” at demonstrations, said Smith, a legislative director for the organization.
“It’s clear that the impetus is to criminalize protest behavior,” Smith added.
Elisabeth - here is the text of the First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
First of all, you are addressing the wrong venue as stated by the Tenth Amendment:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
The bill is being brought before the Washington State Congress and only concerns WA State Citizens.
Second, I take this line from the First Amendment:
...the right of the people peaceably to assemble...
Those people acting out did not arrive at the tantrum to peaceably assemble - they came with the intent to do harm to property and people. Elisabeth, you are doing the legal equivalent of flinging poo on the walls and hoping that some of it sticks.
This is a good bill and it will go a long way to reduce the damage from these tantrums. Sure, let them do their thing but they should know that they will be held personally responsible for their actions and there will be people recording their activities.
Want to peaceably assemble? Try it - you might find that you get more traction over the other 99.999% of us citizens trying to get on with our lives...
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