MN House Approves New Penalties For Airport, Freeway Blockers

The Minnesota House passed an omnibus public safety and security finance bill by a vote of 92-35 Tuesday that includes a controversial provision adding new penalties for freeway and airport protesters.

Under current Minnesota law, someone who intentionally blocks traffic on a freeway or at an airport can be charged with a misdemeanor. The bill approved in the Republican-controlled House this week would increase the crime to a gross misdemeanor.

A number of House Democrats, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, accused the provision's supporters of trying to stifle free speech.

"Not one single County Attorney, Chief of Police, or City Official has testified in support of intensifying penalties for people exercising their peaceful right to protest in public," Omar said in a statement.

"That is because this is a bad idea. Yet, Republicans continue their attempt to silence voices and to criminalize the very type of non-violent protest that African Americans used to bring about the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960’s."

Republicans said the increased punishment is aimed at deterring illegal behavior, not free speech.

“If you’re standing out on a freeway or closing an airport, I don’t care if you’re pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, if you’re fighting for indigenous rights or racial justice, I don’t give a rip,” said Farmington Republican Rep. Pat Garofalo, according to Session Daily.

"You’re standing in the middle of a freeway. You’re closing down an airport. It doesn’t matter what the cause is. You’re shutting down critical important transportation corridors that affect commerce and save lives."

The bill now heads to the Senate where Sen. Warren Limmer, a Republican from Maple Grove, is the sponsor.

Top photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images