SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Protesters against an Ohio law criminalizing anti-pipeline protest filled the hall outside a hearing room in the statehouse Wednesday. (Photo: screenshot/Tyler Buchanan/Twitter)
Ohio Hearing on Proposed Anti-Protest Law Draws... Loud Protest
The controversial bill was passed out of committee despite demonstrations.
Jan 29, 2020
Demonstrators filled the halls near a hearing room in the Ohio statehouse Wednesday to make their opposition to a bill criminalizing protest that ultimately passed through the state House Public Utilities Committee and is now headed to the floor.
"You aren't the people's government! You're the oil and gas industry's government!"
--Ohio demonstrator
The legislation, Senate Bill 33, institutes stiff penalties for demonstrations that cause damage to infrastructure--a standard that the bill's opponents say is aimed at stopping protests against pipelines and other fossil fuel projects.
"It's meant to intimidate us into not using our voice," Rev. Marian E. Stewart of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus told the Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday.
As the Dispatch reported, the legislation is part of a pattern in states looking to curtail the right to protest fossil fuel infrastructure:
Ten states so far have enacted similar laws, starting in the wake of 2016's protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota to which Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched. It would make it a first-degree misdemeanor to "knowingly enter or remain on" pipeline rights of way even when they're on public land or when protesters have property owners' permission to be there.
It also would make it a third-degree felony to "knowingly destroy or improperly tamper with" a pipeline or other critical infrastructure. But its supporters in October wouldn't define "tamper."
Further, the bill would subject groups to which people committing such felonies belong to fines of up to $100,000 -- an amount that could devastate nonprofit environmental groups and churches, the bill's critics say.
Protesters in the hearing room voiced their disapproval.
"You aren't the people's government," shouted one demonstrator. "You're the oil and gas industry's government!"
The demonstration continued outside of the hearing room.
The bill passed out of committee largely along party lines with Republicans in favor of the legislation.
Advocates hope to pressure the full state House to reject the bill.
"We the people have the right to protest," said one opponent of the bill.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Demonstrators filled the halls near a hearing room in the Ohio statehouse Wednesday to make their opposition to a bill criminalizing protest that ultimately passed through the state House Public Utilities Committee and is now headed to the floor.
"You aren't the people's government! You're the oil and gas industry's government!"
--Ohio demonstrator
The legislation, Senate Bill 33, institutes stiff penalties for demonstrations that cause damage to infrastructure--a standard that the bill's opponents say is aimed at stopping protests against pipelines and other fossil fuel projects.
"It's meant to intimidate us into not using our voice," Rev. Marian E. Stewart of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus told the Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday.
As the Dispatch reported, the legislation is part of a pattern in states looking to curtail the right to protest fossil fuel infrastructure:
Ten states so far have enacted similar laws, starting in the wake of 2016's protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota to which Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched. It would make it a first-degree misdemeanor to "knowingly enter or remain on" pipeline rights of way even when they're on public land or when protesters have property owners' permission to be there.
It also would make it a third-degree felony to "knowingly destroy or improperly tamper with" a pipeline or other critical infrastructure. But its supporters in October wouldn't define "tamper."
Further, the bill would subject groups to which people committing such felonies belong to fines of up to $100,000 -- an amount that could devastate nonprofit environmental groups and churches, the bill's critics say.
Protesters in the hearing room voiced their disapproval.
"You aren't the people's government," shouted one demonstrator. "You're the oil and gas industry's government!"
The demonstration continued outside of the hearing room.
The bill passed out of committee largely along party lines with Republicans in favor of the legislation.
Advocates hope to pressure the full state House to reject the bill.
"We the people have the right to protest," said one opponent of the bill.
Demonstrators filled the halls near a hearing room in the Ohio statehouse Wednesday to make their opposition to a bill criminalizing protest that ultimately passed through the state House Public Utilities Committee and is now headed to the floor.
"You aren't the people's government! You're the oil and gas industry's government!"
--Ohio demonstrator
The legislation, Senate Bill 33, institutes stiff penalties for demonstrations that cause damage to infrastructure--a standard that the bill's opponents say is aimed at stopping protests against pipelines and other fossil fuel projects.
"It's meant to intimidate us into not using our voice," Rev. Marian E. Stewart of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus told the Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday.
As the Dispatch reported, the legislation is part of a pattern in states looking to curtail the right to protest fossil fuel infrastructure:
Ten states so far have enacted similar laws, starting in the wake of 2016's protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota to which Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched. It would make it a first-degree misdemeanor to "knowingly enter or remain on" pipeline rights of way even when they're on public land or when protesters have property owners' permission to be there.
It also would make it a third-degree felony to "knowingly destroy or improperly tamper with" a pipeline or other critical infrastructure. But its supporters in October wouldn't define "tamper."
Further, the bill would subject groups to which people committing such felonies belong to fines of up to $100,000 -- an amount that could devastate nonprofit environmental groups and churches, the bill's critics say.
Protesters in the hearing room voiced their disapproval.
"You aren't the people's government," shouted one demonstrator. "You're the oil and gas industry's government!"
The demonstration continued outside of the hearing room.
The bill passed out of committee largely along party lines with Republicans in favor of the legislation.
Advocates hope to pressure the full state House to reject the bill.
"We the people have the right to protest," said one opponent of the bill.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.