Republican lawmakers have reintroduced a bill to make blocking roads and highways during protests a federal crime. Dubbed the “Safe and Open Streets Act,” the measure would amend title 18 of the United States Code to introduce a penalty for blocking public roads.
“I’ll be reintroducing the Safe and Open Streets Act to make sure activists who resort to these reckless tactics are prosecuted by the federal government and held accountable for endangering public safety,” tweeted the bill sponsor, North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis.
If passed, individuals convicted of blocking roads or causing intentional traffic would face fines or a federal prison sentence of up to five years. Leftist groups, such as Black Lives Matter (BLM), pro-Hamas agitators, Antifa, and now anti-ICE rioters, are notorious for blocking roads.
“The emerging tactic of radical protesters blocking roads and stopping commerce is not only obnoxious to innocent commuters, but it’s also dangerous and will eventually get people killed. It needs to be a crime throughout the country,” Tillis told Fox News Digital. Senators Tillis and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) had introduced the same bill, S. 3492, in January 2024 in response to pro-Hamas protesters.
“The Safe and Open Streets Act is in direct response to radical tactics of pro-Palestine protestors who have intentionally blocked roads and highways across the country,” Tillis said.
“I’m proud to introduce the Safe and Open Streets Act so radical activists who resort to these reckless and dangerous tactics are held accountable under the full weight of the law for endangering public safety.
North Carolina’s Durham Freeway witnessed one of the worst traffic blockages by pro-Hamas protesters in November 2024.
In April of the same year, pro-Palestine protesters blocked roads leading to O’Hare Airport in Chicago, while others closed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.
“These activists are not only intentionally creating a dangerous situation for themselves, but perhaps for a citizen who is awaiting an ambulance or a hard worker who will lose their job for being late.
The Safe and Open Streets Act is critical to stopping this reckless behavior, particularly by Hamas sympathizers, in our U.S. cities,” said Senator Blackburn.
Recently, anti-ICE protesters were recorded blocking and mocking a Black working mom who begged them to let her get to work so she would not lose her job to be able to take care of her child.
In 2024, Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC-7) also introduced a companion bill, H.R. 6926, in the U.S. House of Representatives. However, the bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee and never moved forward in the then-Democratic-controlled lower chamber.
“It is not fair to the millions of law-abiding Americans who need to care for their families or commute to work to be held up on public roads their tax dollars maintain,” said Congressman Rouzer.
“The recent behavior by radical protestors who have intentionally blocked major roadways across the country should not be tolerated.”
It remains unclear whether the left, which seemingly condones and encourages lawlessness, will support the measure. Democrats have characterized the ongoing anti-ICE riots as “mostly peaceful” despite widespread vandalism and looting.
The only thing the law should say is that drivers will be defended by the federal legal system if they run over someone blocking the streets during protests.
And liberal AGs will decline to prosecute. And liberal judges will dismiss the charges or give slap on the wrist sentences. The best solution is to declare open season on activists and protesters who are in a street. If they are not on a sidewalk or other off street space, they ought to be targets of opportunity for motorists.
The left freaks out over someone praying in the vicinity of an abortion mill, and passes federal laws against that. How much more significant is blocking traffic to hundreds or thousands of people who aren’t even the targets of the leftist rage?