Republican Georgia Rep. Mike Collins reintroduced legislation Thursday to criminalize protests that block highways.
Collins’ Safe Passage on Interstates Act would make intentionally blocking interstate highways a crime, according to background information on the bill obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Though criminal penalties on intentionally obstructing highways exist at the state level, Congress has not yet passed a law making this conduct illegal nationwide, according to Collins’ office. (RELATED: Videos Show Massive Anti-ICE Protest Erupt As Demonstrators Take Over LA Highway)
“These needless and dangerous protests have blocked children on their way to hospitals, families traveling for holidays, and commuters just trying to get to work,” Collins told the DCNF. “Unless we impose real penalties on these protestors, American travelers will continue to be held hostage to these activists. They belong in jail, not on our highways.”
“It is irresponsible and dangerous to cede control of interstate transportation to left-wing lunatics any longer,” Collins added in a statement shared with the DCNF. “The Safe Passage on Interstates Act criminalizes these reckless acts and will make everyone who travels our highways safer.”
The bill is being cosponsored by Republican Reps. Michael Rulli of Ohio, Mark Green of Tennessee, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa and Tom McClintock of California.
Collins first introduced the bill in April 2024, but it did not pass out of the House Judiciary Committee. Secretary of State Marco Rubio introduced a Senate companion to the bill while serving as Florida’s senior senator, but the bill was not formally taken up by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Collins’ decision to reintroduce the legislation follows California protestors waving Mexican flags while shutting down a Los Angeles highway on Sunday to protest Trump’s ongoing deportation efforts. Similar protests over immigration, climate change and the Israel-Hamas war have previously caused major traffic disruptions in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.
Collins has already notched one legislative win in his belt during the 119th Congress. His bill to curtail illegal immigration, known as the Laken Riley Act, was the first bill President Donald Trump signed into law upon taking office.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="34999 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=34999">8 Comments
Put the truck in low gear .
Drive right thru them .
If they are dumb enough to lay in the road they deserve to get run over .
Take No Prisoners .
Your Honor …..I’m sorry
I was in fear of my life and for the life of my wife .
The people had surrounded our car and blocked us from driving away.
They were pulling at our doors and trying to get into our car .
I didn’t mean to hurt anyone but I thought they were going to hurt us .
I stepped on the gas and I ran right over them , their bodies made a strange sound as the car dragged them down the street .
Jury finds the defendant NOT guilty of negligent homicide in the deaths of six protestors who were blocking traffic on US Route 1 .
Moral of the story
Watch out who you F**k with
pedal to the metal
Wash them out of the roadways with a fire hose.
What a surprise, “the bill was not formally taken up by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, aka, the “Penguin”. What a poor excuse not only for a U.S. Senator but as a human being.
Hello
Just allow people held hostage by these people to hit the gas as they yell out the window “Identify this sound!”
We need to follow Florida’s example and legalize vehicular self defense for motorists surrounded and trapped by violent rioters as we saw many times in 2020.