Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is warning protesters against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to keep their demonstrations peaceful.
“There is a time, place, and manner for legitimate protest activity protected by the right to free speech,” Bailey told Missourinet. “But if you cross that line and commit criminal offenses, you will be apprehended, an investigation will occur, and you will be prosecuted.”
Protests against federal immigration enforcement tactics in Los Angeles are starting to spread to other parts of the country. Unlike the violent clashes within that city, Tuesday night’s march through Kansas City was mostly peaceful, with only one scuffle and no arrests reported. Demonstrations are being planned for other Missouri cities.
While Bailey emphasized that peaceful protests are protected by the First Amendment, he said chaos and anarchy go too far.
“There are outside agitators, radical activists who seek to exploit situations like this, and we have to be on guard to ensure that those individuals aren’t coming into this state and again, taking advantage of a situation and turning what should be a peaceful protest into an attack on law and order,” he said.
Bailey is also reminding protesters that it’s a crime to block highways and thoroughfares, and that destroying property valued at $750 or more is a felony.
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