SAINT PAUL, MN – Tuesday night, State Rep. Ilhan Omar (DFL – Minneapolis) responded to the inclusion of language that would criminalize non-violent protest in Minnesota communities in the Republican Public Safety omnibus bill (HF 2856) with the following statement:
“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. 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. Every Minnesotan has the right to peacefully assemble and assert their rights until their elected leaders listen. Republicans should be lifting up our constitutional rights and encouraging freedom of speech, not stifling freedom and instilling fear in Minnesotans who are peacefully fighting for fair wages, police accountability, better schools, transit, air and water in our communities today.”
###