Last week, Republican state senator Sonny Borrelli offered a rather disturbing solution to the many recent protests that had turned violent since the election. He proposed SB1142, a bill that would give the police unprecedented powers to quell protests. It would allow cops to arrest anyone at a protest that had turned violent, regardless of their involvement in the violence.
SB1142 would also allow the police to use racketeering laws to investigate and infiltrate protests in the planning stages, and the government could hold organizers liable for damages that occur during their protest, even if they had nothing to do with it. The police could then seize the property of protest organizers.
So essentially, the bill would open the door for the government to crack down on peaceful protesters, because of the actions of violent rioters. And though it hasn’t been said by the media, obviously this bill would create an incentive for people who disagree with a protest to shut it down by inciting violence, and it would make it very easy for the government to shut down a protest through false flags.
Fortunately SB1142 has been killed by House Speaker J.D. Mesnard who said that he won’t allow the bill to move forward. “People believed it was going to infringe on really fundamental rights. The best way to deal with that was to put it to bed.” There was widespread outrage over the bill when it passed the senate with unanimous support from Republicans. SB1142 was also widely believed to be deeply unconstitutional.
However, J.D. Mesnard tried to defend the bill’s sponsor, by suggesting that he didn’t really have bad intentions. “I’m certain the sponsor wasn’t trying to infringe on anyone’s First Amendment rights. I want to stand up for him a little bit – he’s being criticized, and I don’t know if that’s entirely fair.”
Does anyone really believe that?
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