Minnesota Republicans Move to Ban Residential Protests After Activists Target Homes
Rep. Hudson: "You don't have a First Amendment right to come into my house and start yelling at me at my bed." The DFL disagrees. #Minnesota
Minnesota Republicans Move to Ban Residential Protests After Activists Target Homes
When mobs show up at your house, scream outside your windows, and make sure your wife, your kids, and your neighbors know exactly how unstable they are, you have two choices. Accept it as the new normal. Or do something about it. Minnesota Rep. Walter Hudson chose option two.
Hudson has introduced HF 2809, a bill that would prohibit protesting "before or about the residence or dwelling of any person" in Minnesota. Violators would face a misdemeanor. Repeat offenders could be charged with a gross misdemeanor.
What HF 2809 Would Do
Over two dozen Republican co-authors including House Speaker Lisa Demuth
Protesting outside a residence = misdemeanor. Repeat = gross misdemeanor
Exceptions for meetings in common areas and residences used as businesses
Does NOT apply to governor's mansion (public meeting location)
Hudson: "It's entirely appropriate to prohibit protest at somebody's residence. I don't care who they are. This would apply to every person in Minnesota, every residence in Minnesota."
Why This Bill Exists
2020: Agitators at Bob Kroll's home smashed effigies of him and his wife
GOP State Sen. Warren Limmer's home targeted
Washington County official targeted during Kim Potter case
Even Democrat Mayor Jacob Frey targeted at his home
Hudson himself: someone publicly encouraged protesting at his home last year
Hudson: "The idea that you're going to go to their house and disturb the peaceful enjoyment of their property, and terrorize neighbors and children and family, should be completely outside the bounds of what we consider acceptable behavior in polite society."
On the First Amendment: "You don't have a First Amendment right to come into my house and start yelling at me at my bed."
The DFL Response Tells You Everything
Minnesota DFL Party: "Minnesotans protest because Republicans aren't doing their jobs. Instead of fixing that, the GOP wants to make protesting a crime."
Not "families deserve peace." Not "political violence is wrong." Just the same excuse: Republicans made them do it. That is not a defense of civil liberties. It is a defense of harassment.
Minnesotans now have a clear choice. Are private homes still private? Or are they the next battlefield for whichever activist crowd feels angry enough that week? Hudson chose to do something. The DFL's answer tells you everything you need to know about theirs.
Further Reading
• Alpha News: MN DFL Slams Residential Protest Ban
• Fox 9: Residential Protesting Could Be a Crime Under GOP Proposal