Proposed Bill Could Label Protesters As ECONOMIC TERRORISTS

In an attempt to silence citizens and take their right to peacefully assemble away, a Washington state lawmaker is seeking to criminalize protests like the ones that have emerged against President-elect Donald Trump.

Washington Sen. Doug Ericksen is preparing a bill to be presented at the 2017 legislative session. This bill would create a new crime, economic terrorism, that would be aimed at protesters that the city believed interrupted economic development, i.e., caused a disruption in a business’s work day. It also would protect against civil disobedience and destruction of property. Ericksen stated:

“I respect the right to protest, but when it endangers people’s lives and property, it goes too far. Fear, intimidation, and vandalism are not a legitimate form of political expression. Those who employ it must be called to account.”

Now, let’s just take a look at this before we get a bunch of people talking about rioting instead of protesting. When a group of individuals destroys property, regardless of the reasons behind it, they are legally liable for that financial burden if caught.

This bill aims to give the federal and state police the right to arrest and charge protesters, even if peaceful if they disrupt any business day around them. On top of that, this Senator is attempting to brand free speech activists as terrorists, a very very dangerous accusation to make.

You cannot go around our constitutional rights to peacefully assemble and speak freely because all of a sudden it is aimed at your political party.

You cannot bring an absurd law into fruition in the attempts to silence the public and put fear in the hearts of the young protesters standing up for what is right. Doug Honig, the Communications Director of the ACLU Washington, stated:

“We’re already concerned that some of its loose terms appear to be targeting civil disobedience as ‘terrorism.’ That’s the kind of excessive approach to peaceful protest that our country and state do not need.”

If you take the DAPL peaceful demonstrations as an example of this law, every single one of the Native American water protectors could be arrested and charged with terrorism because the corrupt Sheriff has lied over and over again, regardless of video proof, and insinuated the protectors had weapons and were violent.

With the extreme abuse of power that we have already seen since President-elect Trump was chosen, coupled with the laws and regulations that are being put together as we speak, attempting to silence the masses is just another example of the dictatorship we have brought on to ourselves.

However, you can make any law you want, but the revolution will not be halted because you want to work with fear. We will keep marching, and we will keep making our voices heard.

Featured Image Via AlJazeera

I am a 30 something writer passionate about politics, the environment, human rights and pretty much everything that effects our everyday life. To stay on top of the topics I discuss, like and follow me at https://www.facebook.com/keeponwriting and https://facebook.com/progressivenomad .