Black Lives Matter members and others gathered at the Statehouse Wednesday to voice their disapproval of a bill written by local Republican Senator James Tomes.
Senate Bill 285 would require public officials to clear blocked roadways of protesters within 15 minutes using "any means necessary."
Tomes suggested that the definition of "necessary means" would be left up to authorities.
While only one audience member was able to speak on the proposed bill, Local Government Chair Sen. James Buck (R-Kokomo) said they received "a bunch" of phone calls and requests to speak in opposition to the bill — and none in support of the bill.
The bill came in response to protests that shut down streets this summer, Tomes said.
More recently in Indianapolis, a mostly-peaceful Anti-Trump rally lasted longer than organizers had planned, and police had to start clearing streets to get traffic moving, eventually leading to seven arrests, according to police.
Although Tomes, a Wadesville Republican, did not mention the Anti-Trump rally in his address, he said the bill is intended to limit traffic disturbances and allow for emergency vehicles to get through the city.
"If (demonstrators) want to apply for a permit like everybody else does, they can do that, and then authorities know that these streets will be closed and emergency personnel can reroute and everything is OK," Tomes said. "But this idea of the spontaneous, getting out in the streets and bringing things to a halt, that just doesn’t cut it."
He added that even those who were there to voice their disapproval likely would be upset if they were stuck in traffic.
Sen. Karen Tallian, a Democrat (Portage), was concerned with the phrase, "any means necessary," and that the bill does not make a distinction between those who have requested a permit and those that are spontaneous.
She showed pictures of a Russian tank driving into Czechoslovakia in 1968 and other pictures of Civil Rights Protests in the U.S., as examples of excessive force.
"I know that you don’t mean that, but when you say by 'any means necessary,' we have history here of what that means," Tallian said. "And surely you don’t mean that."
Tomes said the definition of "any means necessary" would be up to authorities.
"When I say by any means necessary that would be up to those in charge, and it would also be up to those who are on the street. But we want the streets clear. … but you’ve got to have some way so everybody understands, look, if you got a grievance you do it like everybody else does.”
Steven Key, executive director of the Hoosier State Press Association, was the only member of the audience brought forward to express his concerns, due to time constraints.
"I think this bill has a lot of unintended consequence," he said, referencing people often have spontaneous celebrations and protests in the street, without getting a permit, after major sports team wins or national events that incite emotion.
He also worried about potential constitutional violations.
The committee chair held the bill to be voted on later, and said there would likely be amendments. He also emphasized that they would only send a bill onto the Senate floor if it was ready.
"If we can’t fix it, then it never comes out of committee," Buck said. "We have not gotten one person to testify in favor of the bill. That’s pretty indicative of what's before us."