Post by Optimus on Feb 12, 2017 14:52:34 GMT -5
I'm all for peaceful protesting. But, if you're protesting and start marching down or otherwise congregating in the street (without a permit closing off that street) and blocking traffic, GTF back on the side walk and off the road.
It's already illegal in most states to march down the road (without a permit) but lately it seems like cops are just letting it go. This is stupid and dangerous for several reasons. Most importantly, it blocks emergency workers (like ambulances, fire trucks, and police) from getting where they need to go. Someone being transported by ambulance to the hospital could literally die because dumbasses are blocking the streets. Also, it prevents people from getting to work, or home, or pick their kids up from school, etc.
Recently, several states have passed laws or introduced bills to crack down on this shit.
Tennessee legislators introduced a bill this week protecting motorists who accidentally hit/injure protesters who are (stupid enough to be) blocking roadways.
The idiots jumped on the person's car hood in order to prevent them from legally driving down the street. The driver drove to the Tiger Mart so the people would get off the car. If it were me, I would've stepped on the gas and then slammed my brakes. If they'd gotten hurt, oh well. I wouldn't shed a tear. Their fault for attacking me by getting on my car.
But, the main issue I see with these laws is that it might give anti-protester wackos the idea that it's perfectly fine to intentionally plow through crowds of people in the road. The laws, from what I can tell (and I have not read them in detail), don't seem to give much guidance on how you can determine whether a person hit someone intentionally or unintentionally. A malicious nutjob could intentionally injure or even kill a protester with their car and then claim that they didn't mean to. So, even though something needs to be done to clear the streets, laws like these could potentially set a dangerous precedent if they're not carefully written (and, I don't have faith that much attention to detail is put into a lot of our laws).
I mean, this could all be solved if they stayed the fuck out of the road in the first place.
I'm all for peaceful, non-violent protesting. But don't do it in the streets illegally. That's dangerous to the public at large and also dangerous to the person standing in the middle of a public road. If a protest group wants to march down a road, then they can apply for the same permit that parades need in order to do the same thing.
But, if they really want to march down the street, they should at least march down to the voting booth.
Voting will always be the most effective form of protest.
It's already illegal in most states to march down the road (without a permit) but lately it seems like cops are just letting it go. This is stupid and dangerous for several reasons. Most importantly, it blocks emergency workers (like ambulances, fire trucks, and police) from getting where they need to go. Someone being transported by ambulance to the hospital could literally die because dumbasses are blocking the streets. Also, it prevents people from getting to work, or home, or pick their kids up from school, etc.
Recently, several states have passed laws or introduced bills to crack down on this shit.
In North Dakota, motorists who run down demonstrators on public streets could be exempt from prosecution, even if someone is injured or killed, as long as the motorist did not purposely hit the victim.
In Minnesota, demonstrators who break the law could be billed for the cost of law enforcement.
And in Iowa, blocking traffic on a highway could be a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
In Minnesota, demonstrators who break the law could be billed for the cost of law enforcement.
And in Iowa, blocking traffic on a highway could be a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Tennessee legislators introduced a bill this week protecting motorists who accidentally hit/injure protesters who are (stupid enough to be) blocking roadways.
A bill filed in the Tennessee General Assembly would make drivers immune from civil liability if they hit a protester.
The bill, filed Thursday by Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, reads:
"A person driving an automobile who is exercising due care and injures another person who is participating in a protest or demonstration and is blocking traffic in a public right of way is immune from civil liability for such injury."
If a driver intentionally hits a protester or acts in an otherwise careless manner, they will not be immune from civil liabilities, according to the bill.
Recent protesters in Nashville have clashed with traffic as demonstrators close or block parts of major roadways. During a recent protest in front of the Nashville offices of Tennessee Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander Metro Nashville Police responded to an incident where several demonstrators ended up on the hood of a passing SUV.
"Five or six protesters were on the hood of an SUV," Nashville Police Capt. Greg Blair told The Tennessean. "The driver drove about 100 feet to a TigerMart (gas station)."
The bill, filed Thursday by Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, reads:
"A person driving an automobile who is exercising due care and injures another person who is participating in a protest or demonstration and is blocking traffic in a public right of way is immune from civil liability for such injury."
If a driver intentionally hits a protester or acts in an otherwise careless manner, they will not be immune from civil liabilities, according to the bill.
Recent protesters in Nashville have clashed with traffic as demonstrators close or block parts of major roadways. During a recent protest in front of the Nashville offices of Tennessee Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander Metro Nashville Police responded to an incident where several demonstrators ended up on the hood of a passing SUV.
"Five or six protesters were on the hood of an SUV," Nashville Police Capt. Greg Blair told The Tennessean. "The driver drove about 100 feet to a TigerMart (gas station)."
The idiots jumped on the person's car hood in order to prevent them from legally driving down the street. The driver drove to the Tiger Mart so the people would get off the car. If it were me, I would've stepped on the gas and then slammed my brakes. If they'd gotten hurt, oh well. I wouldn't shed a tear. Their fault for attacking me by getting on my car.
But, the main issue I see with these laws is that it might give anti-protester wackos the idea that it's perfectly fine to intentionally plow through crowds of people in the road. The laws, from what I can tell (and I have not read them in detail), don't seem to give much guidance on how you can determine whether a person hit someone intentionally or unintentionally. A malicious nutjob could intentionally injure or even kill a protester with their car and then claim that they didn't mean to. So, even though something needs to be done to clear the streets, laws like these could potentially set a dangerous precedent if they're not carefully written (and, I don't have faith that much attention to detail is put into a lot of our laws).
I mean, this could all be solved if they stayed the fuck out of the road in the first place.
I'm all for peaceful, non-violent protesting. But don't do it in the streets illegally. That's dangerous to the public at large and also dangerous to the person standing in the middle of a public road. If a protest group wants to march down a road, then they can apply for the same permit that parades need in order to do the same thing.
But, if they really want to march down the street, they should at least march down to the voting booth.
Voting will always be the most effective form of protest.
