Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is spearheading a new bill that would make road blocking a federal crime in an effort to hold “radical protestors accountable.”
Tuberville joined four other Republican senators on Monday to introduce the Safe and Open Streets Act in response to immigration protests that erupted across the U.S., sparked by a string of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles earlier this month.
The legislation would make it illegal to compromise the free flow of commerce by purposely blocking a public road or highway: a tactic deployed by thousands of anti-ICE protesters who flooded the 101 Freeway in downtown LA on June 8.
It would also make it illegal to “attempt or conspire” to block roads intentionally.
If passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law, offenders could be punished with fines or face up to five years in prison.
Tuberville, who previously called for the arrest of California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, accused the pair of sitting “on their tails” and doing “nothing” to quell unrest.
While the First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech and peaceful assembly, Tuberville argues that it does not extend to blocking roads.
“For nearly a week, we watched as domestic terrorists assaulted ICE and law enforcement officers, set fire to cop cars, and blocked streets in Los Angeles and in other blue cities across the country.”
“The First Amendment gives us the right to freedom of assembly, but it doesn’t give the right to block our streets and put American lives at risk,” he continued. “I’m proud to join the Safe and Open Streets Act that restores law and order by holding radical protestors accountable.”
Senators Thom Tillis and Tedd Budd of North Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana are co-sponsoring the bill in a bid to curb disruptions to road systems.
Tillis called the blocking of roads both “obnoxious” and “dangerous,” claiming that, without the legislative change, people would be killed.
Blackburn added in a statement that the passing of the bill “is critical to stopping this reckless behavior, particularly by Hamas sympathizers, in our U.S. cities.”
