Sen. Raptakis proposes bill to make it a felony to interfere with highway traffic

January 16, 2015 1:43 pm

By: Dee DeQuattro

Twitter: @deedequattro

A local senator wants to make it a felony to interfere with highway traffic.

While saying he supports free speech, Senator Lou Raptakis says that recent protests where demonstrators are marching onto the highway effectively shutting down the road way has a real potential to threaten public welfare.

“There are ways to demonstrate in a peaceful manner, and there are ways to demonstrate that can be dangerous to other members of the public,” said Raptakis. “Even though it might be unintentional, it is possible that protestors shutting down a highway can delay an ambulance on its way to a hospital, causing grave harm or even death to the individual being transported.”

Yesterday protestors in Medford and Milton caused gridlock traffic on I-93 as they sat with their arms in barrels filled with cement to protest what they called police violence against black people.

During the protest an ambulance had to be diverted due to the highway shutdown.

Under the Raptakis bill, a person who commits unlawful interference with traffic by standing, sitting, kneeling, or loitering on the highway would be charged with a felony offense punishable with imprisonment ranging from 60 days to three years.

“America was built on the right of the people to express their views, publicly and as loudly as they choose,” said Raptakis. “But impeding drivers and potentially putting other people in danger, or even at the risk of death, is not the best way to protest.”