An association of Black police officers on Thursday pushed back against a Missouri bill that would allow citizens to use deadly force against protesters on private property.
The proposal, sponsored by state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Republican, would also protect motorists who run over demonstrators blocking traffic from liability for injuries.
“To think that your right to protest enables you the right to stop traffic and literally stop people’s ability to move about freely in this nation is a gross misunderstanding of our constitutional rights,” Mr. Brattin said during a hearing on Monday.
Mr. Brattin went on to say that blocking traffic stops can be dangerous if it stops first responders from getting to emergencies.
But the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers (NABLEO) decried the bill as racist.
“Not only is this legislation ill-founded, it appears, on its very face, to be directly and specifically designed to be disproportionately adverse to people of color, meaning that it has serious, intentional racially adverse overtones,” the group said in a statement.
“As well, it appears to be specifically designed to prevent the peaceful exercise of constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech and assembly,” the statement continued.
Mr. Brattin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
NABLEO urged the Missouri legislature to reject the bill, calling it “a vile attempt to again cause harm to our community and disrupt the hard-fought for relationships between law enforcement and those we protect.”
The ACLU and other civil liberties groups have also urged Missouri residents to contact their state senators and encourage them to vote against the bill.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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