Republican State Rep. Kevin West told “The Faulkner Focus” Friday that there was a “bit of disruption” when Black Lives Matter activists stormed the Oklahoma Capitol building yesterday over the anti-riot bill, forcing the House of Representatives into lockdown.
STATE REP. KEVIN WEST: It was absolutely a bit of a disruption. We have people come in all the time to the Capitol and they’re in the gallery. This particular group, we were just starting to vote on the bill and they started chanting. I really couldn’t hear exactly what they were chanting, and then from there, it just started escalating. So basically what we did, we exited the chamber and we had the Highway Patrol was there and they came in and escorted everybody out of the gallery.
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Well, in any time that you’re being disruptive, I feel like that hurts your cause. The First Amendment clearly establishes the right of free speech, the right to peaceably assemble and also grants the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. This actual bill, what it deals with is in riot situations.
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I went specifically into the existing riot laws that we have on the books and expanded that just a little bit to include if you’re unlawfully blocking the road, you can be charged with a misdemeanor that can be jail time and or fines, and then because of some events that happened in the Tulsa area over the summer, I added in a part where if you’re in a motor vehicle and you’re caught in one of those situations and you’re in fear for your life, you can get out of that situation.
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What we did was we put in safeguards. It protects people who are peacefully protesting and it also protects drivers if you’re in fear for your life. It very closely mirrors our Self Defense Act and just extends to if you’re in that type of a situation in your vehicle.
