US: Kentucky legislature moves to make taunting police a crime

It could become a crime to taunt a police officer in Kentucky, under a bill that passed the state Senate.

The measure was filed months after Louisville, the state’s largest city, became the site of huge protests in the wake of the police killing of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman, after officers entered her apartment on a so-called “no-knock” warrant.

The bill passed the Republican-dominated Senate 22-11 on Thursday and now awaits House input.

Under the legislation, anyone who “accosts, insults, taunts, or challenges a law enforcement officer with offensive or derisive words, or by gestures or other physical contact, that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response” would be guilty of a misdemeanour and face up to 90 days in jail and fines.

The proposal also increases penalties for rioting. For instance, those charged with rioting would be required to be held for a minimum of 48 hours. Another provision would criminalise aiming “a light, a laser pointer, an activated horn or other noise-making device towards the head” of a first responder.

BREAKING: The Senate just passed #SB211. It would make it illegal to say "offensive or insulting" things to police officers and enhance some protest-related charges. This extreme bill is designed to intimidate free speech following the 2020 racial justice protests. #KYGA21 pic.twitter.com/25x4VYi43k

— ACLU of Kentucky (@ACLUofKY) March 11, 2021

Several Republican senators who voted against the bill shared concerns that some parts of it would violate First Amendment rights and strain the judicial system. Nevertheless, they signalled support for the bill if some parts of it were amended in the House.

State Senator Danny Carroll, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said he filed the proposal in response to last summer’s Louisville protests against police brutality and racial injustice.

‘Designed to intimidate free speech’

Demonstrations – some of which turned violent – were a frequent occurrence, as protesters called for charges to be brought against the officers involved in Taylor’s death. Many gathered peacefully in Jefferson Square Park in downtown Louisville for weeks. Dubbed “Injustice Square” by protesters, it became an impromptu hub during months of demonstrations.

Taylor, a Black woman, was shot in her Louisville home multiple times by police during the botched drug raid. A grand jury indicted one officer on wanton endangerment charges in September for shooting into a neighbour’s apartment, but no officers were charged in connection with her death.

Police had a no-knock warrant but said they knocked and announced their presence before entering Taylor’s apartment, a claim some witnesses have disputed. No drugs were found in Taylor’s apartment.

are the police officers of #Kentucky so triggered, such snowflakes, so untrained that it's necessary to criminalize this? i doubt it. https://t.co/UtwheDVAre pic.twitter.com/sOD9y8hgUU

— David Kaye (@davidakaye) March 12, 2021

Republicans hold supermajorities in Kentucky’s House and Senate.

The Senate passage of the legislation was swiftly derided by free speech advocates, with David Kaye, a former UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, tweeting “are the police officers of Kentucky so triggered, such snowflakes, so untrained that it’s necessary to criminalise this? I doubt it”.

The American Civil Liberty Union of Kentucky called the bill “extreme” and said it is “designed to intimidate free speech following the 2020 racial justice protests”.

Democratic legislators echoed that concern, saying the proposal could be used to unfairly target peaceful protesters.

State Senator Gerald Neal, a Democrat who represents Louisville, called the legislation “unnecessary” and “unreasonable.”

“This is a hammer on my district,” Neil said. “I personally resent it. This is beneath this body.”