After SPIN! Video: Should protesters in the General Assembly building be charged?
Published March 6, 2018
After SPIN! "Question to Brad Crone and Rick Henderson – Since 2013 more than 1,000 protestors have been arrested in the General Assembly building. Several of the Moral Monday protestors who were arrested went to court saying that the building was the people’s building, the legislature arbitrarily set rules regarding who was allowed, where they could be and what they could do. Judge Carl Fox ruled that the legislature had that authority to set the rules and ruled against the plaintiffs. Comment on the case and the ruling."
March 6, 2018 at 9:56 am
Cornelia S Cree says:
Modern protesters tend to be unruly. I think they should be put across the street to avoid their harassing people going into the building.
March 8, 2018 at 2:43 pm
Norm Kelly says:
Yes, they should be charged. The larger the group, the higher the charge should be! More than 10 people, $10 per person. More than 20 people, $20 per person. More than 100 people, $200 per person. And then when they get unruly, and act like Demoncrats, they should be charged with disturbing the peace and preventing the people's work from being done. And then they should be charged a fee to get out of jail; help to defer the costs of their incarceration.
Unless they also destroy public property during the protest, then they should have their charges returned, and they should be let off the hook. The precedent has been set by Durham!
March 10, 2018 at 9:24 am
Connie Headrick says:
Due to Gerrymandering, Voter Suppression and Huge Donations to the politicians, the people are NOT being heard!
Why do the so called "Representatives" of the people, avoid the people? Why do they provide Lip Service to the voters and pass bills totally contrary to what the people want? If the people were being heard and Represented by the so called Legislators there would be NO REASON for the rallies and prayerful, peaceful protests.
Why do the Representatives of the People want the 'people' out of the building? Why do they move to "closed sessions"? Why won't they do the bidding of the PEOPLE?
Before you ask whether it is legal for the people to enter a building where they are supposedly represented, ask WHY the people feel and have facts to prove, that they are not being represented at all!
I have been fortunate to be able to watch these rallies and prayerful protest live on the internet and believe me, there is no reason to arrest almost 100% of the people in the building Lobby and Hallways! They are respectful. As are the Capitol Police. This is a sad time for North Carolina and do NOT be distracted by the spin of "Is it legal?". How can any kind of assembly or peaceful protest not be legal?
You can watch the rallies in Raleigh @ https://livestream.com/accounts/5188266 when they are live or from the archives for yourself.
The illegal actions of the Legislature must be stopped! There should be NO REASON that people have to take these actions at all. It is the duty of the representatives to represent the people - when they don't do their jobs, they must be called on the carpet.
Some research:
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States Congress from enacting legislation that would abridge the right of the people to assemble peaceably
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution makes this prohibition applicable to state governments.[2]
https://www.loc.gov/law/help/peaceful-assembly/us.php
