Governor should veto anti-protest bill

It is unnecessary, vaguely written and quite likely a violation of our civil rights. But Wisconsin lawmakers passed a bill to crack down on what they consider riots. They didn’t like what they saw in Kenosha or Madison when people took to the streets to protest social injustice following the death of George Floyd and the Kyle Rittenhouse shootings. So they crafted legislation designed to make sure they don’t have to see such protests again. Under the bill now before Governor Evers, someone at a protest, even just passing through, could be charged with a crime if a riot were to break out there. That is without regard for whether a person actually behaved criminally. Or even if they were aware that violence had broken out. Talk about guilt by association. Anyone who attends what lawmakers consider a riot could be fined and jailed. Essentially this bill would allow police to pick and choose who they arrest, perhaps even based on their ideological views. That doesn’t sound like America, where we have a tradition of lawful protests designed to promote change. This bill casts too wide of a net, and Governor Evers should reject any legislation that seeks to chill lawful dissent.