Proposed Missouri Bill Would Authorize Deadly Force Against Protesters, Provide Immunity for Those Who Run Over Protesters

The death cult that is the Republican party has struck again. A member of the self-proclaimed “pro-life” party has proposed a bill in Missouri that would authorize deadly force to be used against protesters on private property.

According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin introduced the bill on Monday as a response to the protests that broke out in the state last summer following the death of George Floyd. “To think that your right to protest enables you the right to stop traffic and literally stop people’s ability to move about freely in this nation is a gross misunderstanding of our constitutional rights,” Brattin said during the Monday hearing.

Traffic? We talkin’ ‘bout traffic? Not unarmed Black people being killed by the cops. Traffic? Come on, now.

Brattin’s proposal, which is basically the dude dropping the Hard-R through legislation, would make it a felony to block traffic as part of a protest, provide immunity for those who run over protesters blocking traffic, and would make it a misdemeanor to cause emotional distress as a result of protesting

“People can’t even go have a nice meal without being harassed, run out,” Brattin said. “I wanted to ensure that people are able to go and enjoy their freedoms and liberties just like anyone else should be able to.”

I, like many Black people, would like to enjoy my freedoms and liberties without concern of a racist-ass Karen or scary-ass cop ruining my day or possibly killing me. If they get to work on actually addressing those concerns, they might be surprised to find that people won’t feel the need to protest them.

I know, it’s a totally wild concept. I’m just saying it might work, you never know.

Obviously, local civil rights leaders ain’t with the nonsense Brattin has been spewing. Rev. Darryl Gray told lawmakers at the hearing that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. faced similar backlash against the way he protested but “those same methods that you seek to criminalize are the same methods that helped to destroy Jim Crow laws, segregation and destroyed centuries of hatred and bigotry.”

“If this bill is enacted it would vilify nonviolent protesters,” Gray said. “I don’t believe that any members of this body would deliberately seek to shield drivers who willfully choose to run over protesters.”

I’m going to have to disagree with Gray here. I completely believe that there are Republican lawmakers that would deliberately seek to shield drivers who run over protesters. The fact that Kyle Rittenhouse allegedly shot and killed two protesters in Kenosha, Wisc., and was celebrated by the party kind of clued me in to where the party is currently at.

The proposed bill would also cut state funding for any city that makes cuts to the police force that are deeper than cuts to other services; a direct shot at calls to defund the police. If a government employee is convicted for participating in an unlawful assembly they could lose their job and be stripped of government benefits.

So basically, Brattin’s proposal should be called the “Shut Up and Take It Bill of 2021”

A vote on the bill has yet to be scheduled by the Senate committee, and hopefully, never is.