Future Crimes

By Olivia Becker on Feb 23, 2017

The Arizona state Senate passed a bill that would criminally charge people and seize their assets if they’re believed to be associated with, planning, or participating in a demonstration that ends up becoming violent.

The bill, SB1142, adds rioting to Arizona’s existing racketeering laws, which are meant to target organized crime. The measure would allow law enforcement to levy felony charges on anyone suspected of planning a riot — even if they’re not directly involved or the demonstration hasn’t happened yet.

The bill also redefines a “riot” as any demonstration that uses or threatens violence that “disturbs the public peace or results in damage to the property of another person.”

Republicans said the bill was necessary to combat outside actors planning to commit chaos and violence. If SB1142 becomes law, it essentially gives police greater jurisdiction to shut down protests before they begin and arrest a wider swath of people than just the individuals actively committing violence.

“You now have a situation where you have full-time, almost professional agent-provocateurs that attempt to create public disorder,’’ Republican Sen. John Kavanagh told the Arizona Capitol Times. “A lot of them are ideologues, some of them are anarchists,’’ he continued. “But this stuff is all planned.’’

The law, however, could be seen as a crackdown on the First Amendment right to protest and potentially create a chilling effect on free speech. 

 Read the full post here:  https://news.vice.com/story/arizona-is-trying-to-pass-a-law-to-criminalize-riots-that-havent-happened-yet