The Washington D.C. Council on Tuesday set temporary limits on how people can protest in residential areas across the city, where demonstrators have frequently used their proximity to power to host early-morning “wake-up calls” outside decision-makers’ homes, the Washington Post reports. The legislation restricts demonstrators from using amplified sound to target a home in a residential neighborhood during those hours and bans the throwing of any projectiles at residences as a form of intimidation. Council members, many of whom have experienced protests outside their own homes over the years, debated the legislation at length Tuesday, with some expressing concerns about fast-tracking a proposal related to First Amendment rights without formal public input. Outside the Wilson Building, demonstrators erected mock gravestones symbolizing what they saw as the death of constitutional protections.
“I don’t know if we ought to dictate how people should exercise their First Amendment rights. Is it fair to tell someone, anyone, how to express their pain, particularly in the nation’s capital?” White said before voting against the measure. “I’m concerned that we are moving too fast without having the proper hearing and input from everyone.” The legislation was fast-tracked on an emergency basis and passed 9-2, and will be in effect for 90 days after Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) signs it. Bowser signaled support for the bill, which delivered more modest restrictions than an earlier version that sought to prohibit protests of any specific home between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m. The legislation passed Tuesday empowers police to issue dispersal orders if demonstrators use amplified noise during restricted hours, and it’s a misdemeanor crime to disobey police dispersal orders.
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