Illegal mass protests fuel state efforts to bill protesters, crack down on traffic blockages

Protesters shutting down freeways and blocking public spaces have cost Minnesota taxpayers millions in the past 18 months, and state Rep. Nick Zerwas wants activists to start picking up the tab.

“We’ve spent $2.5 million on extra police and state troopers because these guys want to break the law and don’t want to follow the rules,” Mr. Zerwas said. “Instead of arresting them and giving them a $100 fine, my thought was, ’Let’s arrest them, give them a $100 fine, and then give them a bill.’”

His legislation allowing local governments to seek reimbursement for additional law enforcement costs from convicted protesters was approved Tuesday in a House committee, inciting a debate over free speech rights faster than you can say “First Amendment.”

At the hearing, a packed room of demonstrators erupted after the 9-6 committee vote in favor of the bill, drowning out lawmakers and forcing the panel to recess briefly with shouts of, “Shame!”

“The fight is not over. There are more opportunities to shut down this bill and we will be pushing back every step of the way,” said the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, which testified that the bill “would allow the government to pick and choose who to punish for exercising their rights.”

Mr. Zerwas, a Republican, accused opponents of “just flat out not being honest about what the bill does,” saying the measure would only apply to activists arrested and convicted of illegal activity, not those exercising their First Amendment rights lawfully.

“You have to be convicted of a crime. You have to be arrested, charged and convicted,” Mr. Zerwas said. “And after your conviction, that local unit of government has the option to do a separate civil action to recover costs of the law-enforcement action that you caused by breaking the law.”

He’s not alone. At least a half-dozen states are considering tougher penalties for illegal activism in response to an increasingly entrenched, generously funded protest culture willing to cross the line in order to gain attention for any number of causes.

In Indiana, state Rep. James Tomes, a Republican, introduced a bill Jan. 9 that would direct authorities to “use any means necessary” to clear road blockages, which ran into an immediate dispute over civil rights.

“[T]he ’use any means necessary’ makes it sound like he wants law enforcement to go all Kent State on people for blocking traffic,” said columnist Doug Masson, former counsel for the state Legislative Services Agency.

Protesters who blocked highways and rail lines last year in Washington prompted state Sen. Doug Ericksen, a Republican, to introduce last month a bill increasing penalties for “economic disruption” and allowing prosecutors to charge those who fund or sponsor such activity as accomplices.

In Iowa, state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican, said he plans to introduce legislation to crack down on protesters who illegally block roadways, the Iowa State Daily reported.

In Minnesota, last year’s police shooting of Philando Castile, 32, triggered multiple Black Lives Matter demonstrations, but the focus of the mass protests runs the gamut as they become what Mr. Zerwas described as the “go-to move.”

“We had roads shut down when nurses went on strike. We had roads shut down and freeway occupied when people felt they needed to get paid $15 an hour for a minimum wage,” he said. “We had roads shut down when the presidential election didn’t go their way. They occupied the freeway for an evening.”

Minnesota’s costs are nothing next to its neighbor North Dakota, where thousands of Dakota Access pipeline protesters have run up a $22.3 million law-enforcement tab in Morton County by trespassing onto private construction sites and blocking roads and bridges.

North Dakota prosecutors have attempted to recoup some of those costs by asking judges to require protesters to pay their court-appointed defense attorneys, prompting howls from pipeline foes. So far, about 624 arrests have been made, primarily for trespassing and rioting by out-of-state activists.

In nearly all cases, however, activists have bailed out almost immediately with funds raised by the protest movement on crowdfunding sites and elsewhere, a catch-and-release scenario that has done little to deter unlawful activity.

One reason is that today’s protest culture enjoys considerable financial backing. For example, the Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundations have donated millions to the Movement for Black Lives, while the Democracy Alliance directs funding to groups such as People’s Action and Organizing for Action.

The result is that the benefits of flooding a freeway in terms of attention outstrip the costs.

“If they get charged at all, they’re going to get a slap on the wrist. So there’s no disincentive, and they get a ton of media coverage,” Mr. Zerwas said. “When you have a couple hundred people stop a freeway for four hours, you’re going to get news helicopters above you, and you’re going to get a lot of coverage. And it’s not a First Amendment right to shut down a freeway.”

He decided to take action after a constituent told him that she had waited three months for a medical appointment at the Mayo Clinic, only to miss it after the highway was blocked by protesters for more than two hours. It took her another three months to see the doctor.

“So she ended up waiting six months to go to the hospital and see a specialist because someone believes their rights are more important than hers,” Mr. Zerwas said. “And that is crap.”