Oklahoma House passes bill to protect drivers who hit protesters

[634-5789]

In a rare, early-morning vote, Republican lawmakers in the Oklahoma House approved legislation to grant immunity to drivers who hit protesters.

On a party-line vote Wednesday, the House passed a bill that grants civil and criminal immunity for drivers who unintentionally injure or kill protesters while “fleeing from a riot.”

House Bill 1674 from Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, is just one of a handful of GOP-sponsored bills in the Oklahoma Legislature this year designed to crack down on protests.

The bill came under fire from legislative Democrats who said the Republican majority was looking to lash out at protesters instead of taking steps to address systemic racism and police misconduct that have spurred widespread Black Lives Matter protests.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/10/oklahoma-republicans-pass-bill-protect-drivers-who-hit-protesters/6935598002/

[Thomas Hurt]

1. smells like a stand your ground law for cars.

[ret5hd]

2. "Stand Your Ground"? Or "Mow 'Em Down"?

[Rebl2]

3. So will

it go both ways? A group of trump supporters protesting in the street and someone hits one of them, does the person get away with it? Another question. Protesters in the grassy area along side a road and a car jumps the curb and hits protesters who are in the grassy area, do they get charged?

[East-A-Squared]

4. So, can a car run over a bunch of klansmen protesting?

[Dr. Strange]

6. If they're rioting and in the street, yes.

If they're on the sidewalk protesting, then no.

[Blue_true]

7. One man's protest is another man's riot.

All the situations of car ramming involved protesters that were protesting, not rioting.

So if klansmen and klanswomen are protesting in the street, a POC in a car could run them over then claim to have been fleeing out of fear - how could such a claim be disputed given the history of the klan?

It is a bad bill that is going to cause a lot of problems. And I am one that think protests are often counter-productive, determined voter registration, voter outreach, and voting are far more effective at changing society for the better, that is why republicans are attacking voter rights legislation, they fear POC voting more than they fear POC protesting in the streets (after all, they can have brutal police or murderous drivers handle that).

[MichMan]

8. Why is it necessary to block streets when protesting?

[gipper66]

5. Reginald Denny Stopped

and he was never the same. If people are banging on my car I don't know what I will do. If I have my children in the car, I'm doing my best to get out of the area without causing harm.