The First Amendment safeguards our rights to free speech. Now, the Trump administration and Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke are proposing to take those free speech rights away. Until October 15 the National Park Service is taking comments — comments they must consider before they can make any change to the regulations. More than 10,000 people have commented on the plan and there is still time.
The regulations would affect all public lands and crucial free speech gathering areas in Washington DC: the National Mall, White House sidewalks, the Lincoln Memorial, Freedom Plaza, Pennsylvania Avenue.
It would:
Impose steep fees and costs on demonstrations in Washington, D.C
Effectively ban protests on the White House sidewalks
Force protesters to pay the costs of barricades erected at police discretion, park ranger wages and overtime, and harm to grass from standing on it
Need a permit? You’ll have to wait and the government is not obliged to to promptly process or approve permits.
Restrict and suppress spontaneous demonstrations that respond to breaking events
Create hair-triggers allowing police to end protests for the most minor of issues
Restrict sound and staging
Ban long term vigils or protest presencesMake protesters pay for expensive "turf covers"
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