After months of nonviolent, constitutionally protected demonstrations in support of Black Liberation, some members of McLean County government are getting fed up with people’s calls for justice.
On Tuesday, August 18th, 2020, at a Stand-up1 Meeting of the McLean County Property Committee, a sneaky little ordinance was scheduled to be voted on regulating & limiting the use of county property or highways for the purpose of exercising every American’s first amendment rights. An ordinance on Parades, Public assembly and Other gatherings.
The ordinance declares it will be illegal for any person to march or host an event on county property or highways without first acquiring a permit from the County to do so. This ordinance would effect any demonstration at the McLean County Museum of History, the Law & (In)Justice Center, the Government Building, or the McLean County Detention Center including the sidewalk around such buildings; it would make any un-permitted demonstrations illegal & punishable. This ordinance would NOT include the streets surrounding these buildings as those are owned by the City of Bloomington; however, the ordinance would regulate demonstrations on County owned Highways.
In order to obtain a permit, the organizer’s must submit in writing:
“the proposed date and time of the public assembly, the anticipated number of walking groups or other units which will be in the public assembly, the name of the sponsoring organization, the name of the person in charge of organizing the public assembly, and the address and phone number where such person may be contacted.”
This must be submitted at least 60 days prior for any event held on County property (e.g., rally, vigil, protest, celebration) or 30 days prior if the event will merely travel at some point across county property (e.g., marches, parades). The claim is these time limits are needed to properly prepare for the safety.2
If approved, the ordinance would also allow the County administration to regulate the route of any march or parade for the specific purpose of limiting “interference with pedestrian” or vehicular traffic. This means the county could force a demonstration to only exercise their rights in a manner that is least visible and has the least impact on the public.
Not only this, but the ordinance states the preferred protest area is the old courthouse a.k.a. the McLean County Museum of History. The ordinance states:
“demonstrations shall be constrained to the grounds of the Old Courthouse unless good cause can be shown to the County Administrator why the Old Courthouse grounds are inadequate for the purposes of the demonstration.”
Of course, it’s the executive arms of the County (Board Chairman, Administration, State’s Attorney, and Sheriff) that get to determine whether you have “good cause” to demonstrate elsewhere. Do you want to protest outside the jail to bring attention to injustices occurring there? Too bad. Your demonstration might “rile up the inmates” so you have to do it two blocks away. In all the recent protests I’ve been to at the jail, we’ve never once stopped any person from entering the jail lobby; but frequently when we do protest there, the Sheriff Deputies often refuse entry to anyone thereby preventing people with legitimate jail business from entering. It’s the Sheriff’s themselves that decide they shouldn’t have to do their jobs because people outside are disagreeing with them.
That’s not the end of it either. The ordinance also declares it illegal:
to organize or participate in a parade, demonstration, public assembly or other gathering which concludes without returning the property of the County of McLean to the state in which it was found prior to the parade, demonstration, public assembly or gathering.”
Did you forget a couple of water bottles on the ground before you left? Did some children use water-soluble chalk to draw on the sidewalk? $250 fine for every single person there, including the children! We already know the Sheriff’s deputies have no problem enforcing this. At the Black Liberation Celebration, audience members were encouraged to chalk up the plaza at the Law & (In)Justice Center, and Sheriff’s deputies threatened to arrest children & their parents for the audacity of exercising their First Amendment rights. They later tried to find the organizers and threaten them with fines if the organizers didn’t clean up all the chalk.3
What happens if you dare to refuse get such a permit? If you organized the event, $500 fine plus right of refusal to offer permits for future actions! If you just participated, $100 fine for every individual present! The ordinance even allows protesters to be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. What if you refuse to leave after being fined? The ordinance doesn’t say you can be arrested, but in the past sheriff deputies have threatened to arrest peaceful protests who didn’t leave with the paradoxical crime of resisting arrest.
Make no mistake, this is an attempt to limit & discourage people from exercising their 1st Amendment rights in ways that have the most impact on the public. This ordinance’s requirement to register for a permit would assist the government in surveilling activist organizations for the purpose of countering their message politically; it would help the government identify the leaders of protest movements, which could lead to individuals being harassed by the state. This ordinance would allow the state to punish nonviolent protesters from letting their voices be heard in ways the state disagrees with.
The Sheriff and other County executives claim they have no problem with peaceful protesters. But, their definition of “peaceful” is predicated on the action not being disruptive. We see reactionary voices make the ludicrous claims that blocking traffic, riling up inmates, chalking up sidewalks, etc. are somehow violent actions that de-legitimize protesters turning them into the dreaded rioters.4 Well, people like Sheriff Sandage and State’s Attorney Don Knapp wear the very boots the reactionaries salivate so profusely over. The ordinance claims to be content neutral, meaning both a socialist & fascist could receive permits as long as they protest the way the County wants them too. The reality is this ordinance would give the County the power to decide what kind of protesting is permissible, what protests are consider peaceful, and what protests are deemed illegitimate.
The Property Committee chose to table the ordinance for their regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, September 3rd, 2020 at 4:45 PM.
This article was originally published on Strangecornersofthought.com.
- Stand-up meetings are short meetings prior to full County Board meetings to handle last minute business.
- Most activists in BloNo don’t rely on the government for protection and provide their own March marshals, security, & surveillance.
- The organizers let nature clean it up with a good rain.
- Forgetting the fact this country was built on rioting.
