State GOP Reps Intro Flood Of Protesting Punishments

The New York Times reports:

Republican legislators in Oklahoma and Iowa have passed bills granting immunity to drivers whose vehicles strike and injure protesters in public streets.

A Republican proposal in Indiana would bar anyone convicted of unlawful assembly from holding state employment, including elected office. A Minnesota bill would prohibit those convicted of unlawful protesting from receiving student loans, unemployment benefits or housing assistance.

Republicans responded to a summer of protests by proposing a raft of punitive new measures governing the right to lawfully assemble. G.O.P. lawmakers in 34 states have introduced 81 anti-protest bills during the 2021 legislative session — more than twice as many proposals as in any other year.

Read the full article. Photo: Sen. Rob Standridge, author of the Oklahoma bill to legalize running over protesters.

No ambiguity here—this is just plain madness. (Also ask yourself, would Republicans seek to apply such anti-constitutional measures to the hundreds of people who stormed Congress on January 6?) https://t.co/CwSvQmJd6a

— Mark Follman (@markfollman) April 21, 2021