Interpreting the First Amendment: Regulating protest in Minnesota
Crowd: Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot!
Speaker 2: I watched my friend take his last breath. I watched him take his last breath on Facebook Live. I watched him.
I'm supposed to be out here protesting. I'm supposed to be in there, banging on your desk, telling you to make sure that this don't happen to another person. I'm supposed to be out here.
So, for you to penalize me, for you to punish me, for you to fine me, do you think I care? Do you think I care? If you think blocking the highway is an inconvenience, what do you think murder is?
Nick Zerwas: I had several constituents had contacted me, that were caught up in some of these protests. And individual that tried to catch a flight, they had a parent that was in their last moments, and they called me up and said, "I couldn't get to the airport, it was closed. I wasn't there for their last moments. I wasn't ... My whole family was there but me."
What this is a response to is a number of groups and individuals that have decided, whenever they have something to say, they're gonna block the freeway. There's a multitude of groups that have decided to employ this tactic, a tactic that our constituents, overwhelmingly, have said is not okay.
Robin Wonsley: So, updates. Is everyone up to speed on where the anti-protest bill stuff is at?
Oluchi Omeoga: If you wanna just go over it.
Speaker 6: It's may ninth, is-
Oluchi Omeoga: We're talking about things that are killing people. We are talking about police brutality. If getting to the hair salon in a certain point of time is more important than the killing of black people, than your priorities are definitely ... up.
Hey, hey, ho, ho, this protest bill has got to go.
Crowd: Hey, hey, ho, ho, this protest bill has got to go.
Robin Wonsley: What we constantly get is, "You're not doing it the right way. We need to have a consensus process. You need to all be at the table," and they fail to acknowledge that we've done those tactics. We've done that time and time again and, at this point, it has yielded nothing.
Raymond Dehn: This has nothing to do with public safety. This has everything to do with trying to take the voices of people and making sure that they stay silent.
Robin Wonsley: Formation of a democracy wouldn't have even come to be without [inaudible 00:03:26].
Speaker 8: ... More than riot gear. You can't tear gas
Nick Zerwas: We're not saying, don't go on marches, don't protest. We're saying that every right that we have, we also have responsibility, and the idea that you have freedom of speech also means there's repercussions if you yell, "Fire," in a crowded movie theater.
There's a way that you can express first amendment rights what are not illegal activity.
If you're under the misperception that you have a constitutional right, or a first amendment right, to pull your vehicle perpendicular in the middle of a freeway, and get out and hold a sign, you're mistaken. That is not constitutionally protected free speech, and I think you should go to jail.
Speaker 9: We must love each other and support each other!
Crowd: We must love each other and support each other!
Speaker 9: We have nothing to lose but our [inaudible 00:04:16]!
Crowd: We have nothing to lose but our [inaudible 00:04:16]!
Speaker 9: It is our duty to fight for our freedom!
Crowd: It is our duty to fight for our freedom!
Oluchi Omeoga: I am going to have a black, trans youth speech right now, okay? And I need y'all to listen to that. Come up if you wanna come up.
Crowd: Yeah!