A bill that makes it a crime for protesters to damage property, including cell towers, passed the Indiana legislature and is on its way to the governor for his signature.
Indiana state Senate Bill 471 says if convicted, protesters face up to a $100,000 fine if they damage a “critical structure,” such as a power plant, water utility or cell phone tower. The measure also allows conspiracy charges to be filed against someone who provides support to the protester. Some critics say that’s applicable to anyone who drives a protester to the scene, reports The Herald Bulletin.
Supporters say the measure is critical to discouraging acts of terrorism against utility structures. “This bill isn’t about protests. It’s about willful destruction of property, and not just any property but critical infrastructure whose destruction potentially affects hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of people,” said the bill’s author, Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford.
The bill doesn’t change current Indiana law concerning trespassing but allows the penalty to be increased if infrastructure is damaged, according to The Herald Bulletin. The bill is in part, a response to recent movements like the Dakota Access Pipeline protests that began in 2016, against the construction of a pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois. Protesters camped on the route, but the pipeline was completed.
North Dakota is still trying to recover the $38 million it spent on the police it hired to handle the surge of activists that aligned themselves with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which was protesting the pipeline over pollution concerns, according to Earther. Since then, 35 states have considered some 86 bills meant to stop similar protests, according to the International Center for Not-For-Profit Law’s U.S. Protest Law Tracker. 10 of these bills have been enacted, while some 18 more are pending.
Critics say the Indiana measure is aimed at curtailing the First Amendment rights of protesters, something Koch denies. “We’re not in any way trying to hinder or prohibit somebody’s First Amendment rights,” he said. Comments? Email Us.
April 3, 2019
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