Cancellation of Summit's #Wear Orange Rally - Why?

This year National Gun Violence Awareness Day, otherwise known as #Wear Orange Day, fell on June 7, 2024. In March 2024, local, NJ state and national gun violence prevention advocates, all non-profits, began planning a #Wear Orange Rally for the Summit Village Green. They contacted the City of Summit Clerk’s office, who directed them to speak to the Summit Police Department. Communications between the organizers and the Summit police in March and April resulted in the police preparing a detailed operational plan to ensure the safety of rally goers and the public at large.

The purpose of the Summit #Wear Orange rally, and thousands of others like it across the state and country, was to renew public awareness to the US epidemic of gun violence – gun violence now is the number one cause of death for children in the US - to honor the lives lost and the lives tragically changed forever to gun violence, and to alert elected officials and those running for office to the public’s demand for legislative and policy action to end gun violence. The Summit 2024 #Wear Orange Rally would be one of many expressive, First Amendment rallies held on the Summit Village Green, a public space, and other Summit city property over the past several years. On January 6, 2024, a Rally to Protect the Democracy was held on the Summit Village Green. Approximately, 50 people were in attendance. The speakers included Congressman Andy Kim, City of Summit Councilman Greg Vartan, Winn Khuong of Action Together NJ, and Summit resident Amanda Greenblatt. The organizers, as has been the practice, took it upon themselves to notify the Summit Police Department in advance of the rally. The Summit Police Department prepared an operational plan to protect the safety of those in attendance and the public. Appropriately, the city did not impose non-expressive requirements on this First Amendment rally. Neither a Hold Harmless Agreement nor a Certificate of Insurance were required. In June 2022, over 500 people attended the #WearOrange Rally in Summit. Just like this year, the organizers informed the City Clerk’s office and the Summit Police Department well in advance of the rally. No property use restrictions intended for non-expressive activity were imposed by the City on the Rally. On August 21, 2020, a Rally to Support the US Postal Office was held on the Summit Village Green. This rally was organized in a matter of days in response to a nationwide effort to protect the US Postal Service from political interference. The organizers notified the Summit Police Department immediately after deciding to hold the rally. At no time did the City of Summit require the organizers provide a Hold Harmless Agreement or Certificate of Insurance, conditions intended for non-expressive events. On a Tuesday afternoon in June 2020 more than 1,500 concerned citizens gathered peacefully at Summit's Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School in response to the killing by police officers of George Floyd. Again, consistent with the law, the City did not require the organizers provide a Hold Harmless Agreement or Certificate of Insurance, conditions intended for non-expressive events.

These are a sampling of Summit First Amendment protected rallies where no property use restrictions intended for non-expressive activities were imposed by the City of Summit.
On June 4, 2024, the Clerk of the City of Summit relayed to the rally organizers that the rally could not proceed unless and until they submitted an executed Hold Harmless agreement and a Certificate of Insurance, conditions imposed on non expression rallies. The local representatives of the non profit sponsors attempted to meet the City’s demands despite their onerous nature on protected speech. By mid day Thursday, June 6, none of the national and local sponsor organizations would sign the Hold Harmless Agreement. After many discussions, two organizations were willing to provide a certificate of insurance. The organizers went back to the City Clerk with this new information. The answer was still no. The rally could not proceed without a Hold Harmless Agreement. The rally was canceled.

The question remains. Why now in connection with the #Wear Orange 2024 rally did the City decide to regulate an expressive, First Amendment rally, restricting free speech?

The month of June is #Wear Orange month. Organizers now are seeking to reschedule the #Wear Orange rally for later this month in another municipality. The goal again is to bring renewed awareness to the uniquely American epidemic of gun violence, to honor the lives lost and the lives tragically changed from gun violence, and to demand that elected officials and those running for office make it a priority to enact common sense gun violence prevention legislation consistent with the Second Amendment.

To the public, your VOTE is your weapon.