Penalties for Protesting in Traffic

I’m sure many of you have seen videos of people protesting in the streets and blocking traffic, and back in the BLM Riots people were assaulting/lynching drivers and things as well. There are also videos of these protestors getting run over in the street because they were standing in the highway.

This activity is not simply a nuisance, and potentially dangerous because it may block emergency vehicles, but its also dangerous for the protestors as well as drivers and their property.

If people can block traffic, they can damage your vehicle, drag you out of that vehicle, and assault you. If you keep driving through them, not only might you hurt or kill them, but more importantly, you might scratch your vehicle.

I’m not sure what the penalty should be, but I am in favor of steep penalties because that’s the only way to deter the behavior. A $100 fine isn’t going to cut it. It may be a good idea to increase utilization of community service. Maybe a month or two in jail, maybe more, depending on if any damage was caused. And if someone dies as a result of their actions, they should be charged with manslaughter, or a similar crime.

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I personally had to deal with this during COVID. Protesting not only in traffic but in my construction zone on a busy tourist highway. Police would do nothing. Three of our crew were almost killed due to the distraction of the protestors. They didn’t leave until one of the crew that was almost killed threatened their lives for such activity in a construction zone.

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