CLEVELAND — Community members and clergy gathered at Public Square for a "Protest While You Can in Cleveland" rally Saturday afternoon.
Similar events were happening all across Ohio today, with groups condemning what they believe are anti-protest bills in the state's General Assembly. Activists called out several proposed pieces of legislation they feel will limit their First Amendment rights.
Bills specifically taking heat were:
- Senate Bill 33: Creates higher fines and felony convictions for public witnesses at "critical infrastructure" sites
- House Bills 109 and 22: Create higher fines and felony convictions for individuals involved in actions deemed to be a riot; increase penalties for "diverting the attention" of a law enforcement officer
- Senate Bill 16: Increases fines and felony convictions for individuals involved in a protest where first responders are harassed, intimidated, or injured and would apply to nonviolent attendees
"What I'm seeing are laws that would have made the civil rights movements of the '60s...illegal," Rev. Anthony Makar, senior minister of the West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Rocky River, told 3News. "Those folks would have been sent to jail."
"Some Ohio legislators are pushing back against the powerful BLM and pipeline demonstrations of the past few years by trying to sneak through unconstitutional state legislation," Ariana Wilin of End Poverty Now in Cleveland added. "Blocking a sidewalk during a protest should not result in a felony. Throwing confetti or flowers at a march should not result in 1 year of jail time and a $1000 fine."
Supporters of the bills say they're simply designed to keep order in the community and to prevent protests from getting out of control. None have passed the General Assembly so far, and it is unknown if Gov. Mike DeWine would even sign them into law.