Oklahoma proposes legislation to protect drivers who hit protesters in traffic

Stevicus · Feb 23, 2021

New legislation would protect drivers who hit protestors

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — When massive demonstrations against racial injustice erupted across the nation last summer, protesters used an increasingly common tactic to draw attention to their cause: swarming out onto major roads to temporarily paralyze traffic.

This method sometimes resulted in searing images of drivers plowing through crowds, causing serious injuries and in some cases, deaths.

Now, Republican politicians across the country are moving to stop the road-blocking maneuver, proposing increased penalties for demonstrators who run onto highways and legal immunity for drivers who hit them. The bills are among dozens introduced in Legislatures aimed at cracking down on demonstrations.

Increased penalties for demonstrators who run onto highways and legal immunity for drivers who hit them.

“It’s not going to be a peaceful protest if you’re impeding the freedom of others,” said Rep. Kevin McDugle, the author of an Oklahoma bill granting criminal and civil immunity to people who drive into crowds on roads. “The driver of that truck had his family in there, and they were scared to death.”

He referred to an incident in July in which a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer drove through Black Lives Matter protesters on Interstate 244 in Tulsa. Three people were seriously injured, including a 33-year-old man who fell from an overpass and was left paralyzed from the waist down.

This raises questions about how far protesters should be allowed to go and what people are allowed to do to counter them or protect themselves.

Tumultuous demonstrations by left-leaning and right-leaning groups have stirred new debate about what tactics are acceptable free speech and which go too far. In addition to blocking roads, Black Lives Matter demonstrators have taken over parks and painted slogans on streets and structures, while right-wing groups have brandished firearms and stormed capitol buildings. Local authorities’ responses have wavered as they try to avoid escalating conflicts.

Now legislators in Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah and about a dozen other states have introduced new counterprotest measures.

The traffic-blocking tactic has attracted the most concern because of the obvious hazard.

In one particularly chilling incident in Minneapolis, a large tanker truck drove at high speed through thousands of protesters gathered on a closed highway. Remarkably, no one was seriously hurt, though a criminal complaint says at least one protester suffered abrasions.

Mark Faulk, a longtime Oklahoma activist who was arrested last year for blocking a roadway, said dramatic tactics are necessary to get people’s attention.

“The idea of escalating it to the point where you disrupt the convenience of the citizens and of the status quo, you have to do that sometimes to make a point,” Faulk said.

But Carmyn Taylor, 20, recalled the sight of a pickup truck bearing down on protesters spread across the six-lane I-244 in Tulsa.

“The most vivid thing I remember is when I got pulled to the ground. I remember seeing both sets of wheels run over my legs, which was a little traumatizing,” said Taylor, who suffered a broken leg and a sprained ankle. “For the first two weeks after the accident, I couldn’t walk.”

In Seattle, Summer Taylor, 24, was killed and another person was seriously injured in July when a man drove his car into protestors on a closed Seattle freeway. A graphic video posted on social media showed the car swerving around several parked cars and slamming into the two protesters, sending them flying into the air.

In an incident in St. Louis in May, a 29-year-old man was dragged to his death beneath a tractor-trailer that drove into a sign-carrying group on a road.

The charges were dropped against the driver in Tulsa, since several people attacked the vehicle with the man's children inside. I can imagine it can be rather frightening, to just be driving along and all of a sudden, you're in the middle of a crowd of angry protesters who start attacking anyone who happens to drive by.

A bill granting drivers immunity for hitting protestors easily cleared an Oklahoma Senate committee recently on a 8-1 vote. Two others are pending in the state House.

But critics say the proposals are only designed to intimidate people, not to solve a problem.

“The biggest concern is that they chill speech and they chill folks gathering to protest,” said Nicole McAfee, policy director for the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

I don't see how it intimidates people. All they have to do is stay out of the road.

About 50 people were arrested during several days of protests in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Most of the arrests were for disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, and rioting, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. At least two men accused of burning a sheriff’s van were charged under the state’s anti-terrorism law, a felony that carries a sentence of up to life in prison. Those cases are pending.

Proposals in Oklahoma would increase the criminal penalties for blocking a roadway, including one making it a felony punishable by up to two years in prison, and making it more difficult for those arrested to be released from jail. Another bill would add participating in unlawful assemblies to the state’s racketeering act aimed at organized crime.

State Rep. Emily Virgin, the Democratic leader in the Oklahoma House, said she wishes her Republican colleagues would focus on the underlying issues of police brutality and systemic racism instead of seeking ways to punish protesters.

“It seems that some of my colleagues took the wrong lesson from the demonstrations we saw this summer,” Virgin said.

Subduction Zone · Feb 23, 2021

Well it would make protests a heck of a lot more interesting. Personally I can see leaving things as they are in protection for drivers. But a protest is violent once the rights of another group are significantly affected. Blocking traffic may help get the point across but it needs a proper punishment to go along with it. Civil disobedience is rather meaningless if there is not a healthy chance of being prosecuted for one's actions.

Brickjectivity · Feb 23, 2021

Subduction Zone said:
Well it would make protests a heck of a lot more interesting. Personally I can see leaving things as they are in protection for drivers. But a protest is violent once the rights of another group are significantly affected. Blocking traffic may help get the point across but it needs a proper punishment to go along with it. Civil disobedience is rather meaningless if there is not a healthy chance of being prosecuted for one's actions.

Yes, make it an automatic fine such as a parking fine or some misdemeanor but not a felony. Also if you apply a fine for protest then provide a loophole that can be surpassed with much effort. For example consider providing a humorous caveat such as "If the person is fluent in French then the fine shall not apply and there shall be no misdemeanor." The idea of a caveat is to provide a way for those who are in extreme circumstances to press beyond the limitations. Most people are not going to try to protest when the going gets tough, but desperate people might. If someone is protesting in desperation then we don't want the law suppressing them. In this case they can make their protest in French in order to escape the fine. If French is too popular you can pick some other language such as Navajo or Portuguese or something rare.

sun rise · Feb 23, 2021

I can just imagine what will happen when someone on the left drives a 'death car' (think Animal House) into a MAGA protest.

Subduction Zone · Feb 23, 2021

sun rise said:
I can just imagine what will happen when someone on the left drives a 'death car' (think Animal House) into a MAGA protest.

The subject this thread is about protesters that illegal blocking of roads. Usually the MAGA sorts do get permits and stick to the routes, at least that is what I have seen. Well, except for the insurrection on January 6 of course.

Irate State · Feb 23, 2021

Some folks really be yearning for the wild wild west out there.

Twilight Hue · Feb 23, 2021

Death Race 2000

Shadow Wolf · Feb 23, 2021

Subduction Zone said:
Well it would make protests a heck of a lot more interesting. Personally I can see leaving things as they are in protection for drivers. But a protest is violent once the rights of another group are significantly affected. Blocking traffic may help get the point across but it needs a proper punishment to go along with it. Civil disobedience is rather meaningless if there is not a healthy chance of being prosecuted for one's actions.

Yes. Death and severe injury is lunacy. It's a dire and severely shameful of society that you can be killed with impunity for protesting. On the road or not, inconveniencing others or not, it should not be a death sentence and there most definitely should not be blanket immunity.

Stevicus · Feb 24, 2021

Subduction Zone said:
Well it would make protests a heck of a lot more interesting. Personally I can see leaving things as they are in protection for drivers. But a protest is violent once the rights of another group are significantly affected. Blocking traffic may help get the point across but it needs a proper punishment to go along with it. Civil disobedience is rather meaningless if there is not a healthy chance of being prosecuted for one's actions.

I agree it might make protests more interesting. I can understand it if someone is in fear for their life, as was the case in Tulsa last summer. People should be able to drive down the road without being attacked by a mob, and why did the mob attack them anyway? That's what I don't understand. What kind of protesters just attack random passers by, instead of targeting their protest against the government?

fantome profane · Feb 24, 2021

Can a bill saying it is legal to shoot them be far behind?

9-10ths_Penguin · Feb 24, 2021

Stevicus said:
New legislation would protect drivers who hit protestors

Increased penalties for demonstrators who run onto highways and legal immunity for drivers who hit them.

This raises questions about how far protesters should be allowed to go and what people are allowed to do to counter them or protect themselves.

The charges were dropped against the driver in Tulsa, since several people attacked the vehicle with the man's children inside. I can imagine it can be rather frightening, to just be driving along and all of a sudden, you're in the middle of a crowd of angry protesters who start attacking anyone who happens to drive by.

I don't see how it intimidates people. All they have to do is stay out of the road.

Seems to me that it would be more consistent with their existing "castle doctrine" and "stand your ground" laws to give the protestors the right to shoot any drivers if they feel that they're at risk of being hit.

Stevicus · Feb 24, 2021

9-10ths_Penguin said:
Seems to me that it would be more consistent with their existing "castle doctrine" and "stand your ground" laws to give the protestors the right to shoot any drivers if they feel that they're at risk of being hit.

Possibly, although one could also argue that a man's car is his castle.

Twilight Hue · Feb 24, 2021

Just create an assault car ban with background checks before purchase.

9-10ths_Penguin · Feb 24, 2021

Stevicus said:
Possibly, although one could also argue that a man's car is his castle.

The man in the car isn't the one about to be run over.

Stevicus · Feb 24, 2021

9-10ths_Penguin said:
The man in the car isn't the one about to be run over.

No but if he's surrounded by an angry mob hellbent on killing him and his family (for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time), then he may not have any other choice.

9-10ths_Penguin · Feb 24, 2021

Stevicus said:
No but if he's surrounded by an angry mob hellbent on killing him and his family (for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time), then he may not have any other choice.

A protestor - or even many protestors - merely stepping out onto the street does not necessarily imply a threat to the driver's life.

OTOH, a driver bearing down on someone standing on the road - if they aren't slowing or moving to avoid a collision - does imply a threat to the life of the person standing on the road.

Edit: how does this hypothetical driver know that the people in front of him are "an angry mob hellbent on killing him and his family (for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time)"? That's a lot to put on a picket sign.

Stevicus · Feb 24, 2021

9-10ths_Penguin said:
A protestor - or even many protestors - merely stepping out onto the street does not necessarily imply a threat to the driver's life.

OTOH, a driver bearing down on someone standing on the road - if they aren't slowing or moving to avoid a collision - does imply a threat to the life of the person standing on the road.

Edit: how does this hypothetical driver know that the people in front of him are "an angry mob hellbent on killing him and his family (for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time)"? That's a lot to put on a picket sign.

Well, if they're angry and yelling at him and banging their fists on his car, possibly holding rocks or other potential weapons, then it would probably be a rather tense and frightening situation for the driver. In the incident in Tulsa, they didn't just "step into the street." They were on an interstate highway, where pedestrians aren't allowed to be and where it's not easy to get to on foot.

They don't need to be on an interstate highway. That does not help their protest. They need to direct their focus at government buildings and government officials - and no one else.

Mister Emu · Feb 24, 2021

I don't think blanket immunity is warranted, or even sane. But, some protection to drivers expecting a roadway seems proper. Knowingly plow into a protest at speed? Not a fan. Bump your way through a protest after slowing down? That's on the protestors.

Stevicus said:
That's what I don't understand. What kind of protesters just attack random passers by, instead of targeting their protest against the government?

Protestors that have been told it is civilization, society, and their countrymen that are the cause of their problems.

Subduction Zone · Feb 24, 2021

Stevicus said:
I agree it might make protests more interesting. I can understand it if someone is in fear for their life, as was the case in Tulsa last summer. People should be able to drive down the road without being attacked by a mob, and why did the mob attack them anyway? That's what I don't understand. What kind of protesters just attack random passers by, instead of targeting their protest against the government?

Yes, there still need to be consequences when protesters break the law and threaten others. Perhaps not a bill is needed so much as an education that what protesters are doing is illegal and if a person in his car is stopped by illegal protesters and fears for his life he already has the right to run them over if need be.

In fact that happened recently in Tacoma Washington with a cop car. He ran over some people that surrounded him. They were not protesting. They were enjoying people illegally racing on the public streets and they did not like the cops breaking it up. Unfortunately you know what the reaction to that event was from the uber liberal Puget Sound area.

Tacoma man hit by police car that drove into crowd says he feared for his life.

9-10ths_Penguin · Feb 24, 2021

Stevicus said:
Well, if they're angry and yelling at him and banging their fists on his car, possibly holding rocks or other potential weapons, then it would probably be a rather tense and frightening situation for the driver.

When someone is approaching a group of people on the road and deciding whether to brake or not, nobody would be banging on their car.

Also: you mentioned "potential weapons;" what about actual weapons? A lot of MAGA protests have had people openly carrying firearms.

In the incident in Tulsa, they didn't just "step into the street." They were on an interstate highway, where pedestrians aren't allowed to be and where it's not easy to get to on foot.

While I'm not an expert in Oklahoma law, in most places, that would be a traffic offense, not even a crime.

How much delay to a driver do you think warrants killing the people causing the delay?

They don't need to be on an interstate highway.

Technically, nobody needs to be on an interstate highway.

That does not help their protest. They need to direct their focus at government buildings and government officials - and no one else.

It seems rather presumptuous to say for others what actions would help their cause or not.

It also seems irrelevant. The question of whether you consider a protest effective or inconvenient doesn't affect the person's right to protest.

Oklahoma proposes legislation to protect drivers who hit protesters in traffic

Should drivers be immune from prosecution if they run over protesters blocking the road?

Yes

No

No need for this law, as each case can be judged individually

I don't know

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