When protesters first turned up on Capitol Hill last month to heckle Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the senators considering his Supreme Court nomination, President Donald Trump voiced amazement "that people allow the interruptions to continue."
"I think it's embarrassing for the country to allow protestors," Trump told The Daily Caller, all but suggesting that such public demonstrations should be illegal.
Trump may soon get his wish, or something like it, if the National Park Service follows through with plans to impose steep fees, waiting periods, and other new restrictions on protesters demonstrating on the National Mall and other public lands in the nation's capital. The new rules would effectively ban protests in front of the White House, give government officials broad discretion to thwart permits, and force protesters to cover the costs of barricades, fencing, police monitoring, and even damaged grass.
Such costs could run from the tens into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This will effectively squelch protests, since very few non-profits have the wherewithal to pay such fees, especially when their donations are better spent in other areas.
Forcing demonstrators to furnish the outlay is a blatant violation of the Constitutional right to protest peacefully. In addition, unscrupulous people could easily abuse such rules, such as charging lower fees for groups they like or delaying permits for groups they dislike.
This great nation was founded by protesters, and protesters have always driven social and ethical progress. If you believe in the true spirit of the USA, you will withdraw your plans to restrict peaceful protests in D.C.
