ALABAMA – Rioting, looting and other violence similar to what was seen in Birmingham over the summer would become felony crimes under legislation that will be introduced when state lawmakers return to Montgomery next week.
State Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, is proposing new crimes and penalties for those who incite or participate in riots and also provide additional protection for police officers and other first responders when such situations take place.
“I spent 31 years in law enforcement and the events that happened not only in Birmingham but across the country this past summer made me realize that the laws that were on the books were not sufficient enough to address some of the issues,’’ Treadaway told AL.com Wednesday.
“For example, some of the individuals arrested in Birmingham faced a $300 cash bond and, in those cases, they can make bond and rejoin the fray, putting not only law enforcement officers but our citizens in danger as well as the businesses that were damaged, looted and set on fire. We have to address this issue in a way that creates a real deterrent.”
Dozens of people were arrested during protests in Birmingham following the police killing of George Floyd. The riots erupted Sunday, May 31, following a peaceful Floyd rally earlier in the day.
Protesters that Sunday night began trying to tear down a Confederate monument in a downtown Birmingham park that was subsequently removed.
Later, the protest turned violent as demonstrators turned and attacked several members of the media, including from AL.com. At least one TV reporter was struck in the head with a bottle.
The monument withstood attempts to bring it down before Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin asked the crowd to leave before police were to step in. The Thomas Jefferson statue at the Jefferson County Courthouse, adjacent to the park, was damaged after someone set a fire at its base and several windows in the courthouse were broken by rocks thrown in the demonstration.
Police moved into the park minutes later and demonstrators moved a block south of the park on Sixth Avenue North at 20th Street North where they burned a flag on a pole at the Wells Fargo building. Demonstrators also spray-painted windows and broke out windows on the ground floor of the skyscraper where some entered the building.
Windows were also broken out of the neighboring Harbert Plaza as the protesters continued marching south. Demonstrators also broke out windows at the Alabama Power building at 18th Street and Sixth Avenue North and entered the building.
Early Monday, firefighters responded to a blaze at California Fashion Mall store at 1901 3rd Ave N. There were several other businesses along Third Avenue that had windows smashed.
Later in June, city officials announced that more than two dozen people arrested during the protests would not be prosecuted. Birmingham City Attorney Nicole King said more than 70 people were arrested between June 1 and June 7 on charges ranging from failure to disperse, curfew violation and disorderly conduct. Of those arrests, King said, 27 were Birmingham residents whose cases would not proceed through the court system.
Treadaway, who was Birmingham’s assistant police chief at the time of the riots and retired months later, said he began drafting the legislation over the summer following the riots in Birmingham. “Officers were in the middle of that, trying to take control of a very bad situation where bricks and bottles were thrown at them,’’ he said. “It could have been very nasty.”
“Because the freedom of speech is so important, our founding fathers made it the first enumerated right in the U.S. Constitution, but when protest turns to violence, that liberty no longer applies,’’ he said. “We must protect Alabama businesses, public property and first responders from the kind of mob rule that took over the streets of Birmingham this summer and my legislation establishes a firm first step toward achieving that goal.”
Among the provisions of Treadaway’s legislation are:
• A person who is arrested for knowingly participating in a riot would be placed on a 24-hour hold before becoming eligible for bail, and, upon conviction, would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 days in jail and an order of restitution. [The 24-hour hold requirement in this and other sections will require passage of an accompanying constitutional amendment.]
• A person who knowingly participates in the new crime of “Aggravated Riot,” which requires bodily or property damage to result, would also be held for 24 hours before becoming eligible for bail, and, upon conviction of the Class C felony, would face a mandatory minimum sentence of six months and an order of restitution.
• Those convicted of Riot, Aggravated Riot, or Inciting a Riot would become ineligible to hold public office in Alabama.
• The crime of Assault Against a First Responder in the first and second degrees are created and those arrested for the offenses are initially held for 24 hours before becoming bail eligible. A first-degree conviction, which would be a Class B felony, results in at least one year in jail, a $15,000 fine, and an order of restitution, and a second-degree conviction, classified as a Class C felony, carries a minimum six-month jail sentence, a $5,000 fine, and a restitution requirement.
• Any government entity in Alabama that defunds a local law enforcement agency would lose eligibility for any state funding, grants, revenues, or other forms of aid. In addition, any entity that defunds a law enforcement agency would become civilly liable for any violent crime that result from the action.
• The crime of purposely blocking an Interstate would become a felony with accompanying fines
Treadaway said his legislation is in no way aimed at peaceful protests. “I’m 100 percent for that,’’ he said.
“Let’s be really clear here what we’re talking about. We’re talking about when those peaceful protests become violent, when they’re hijacked as the case in Birmingham by outsiders who are involved in trying to incite the crowd and start smashing windows, looting stores, throwing bricks at law enforcement officers,’’ he said. “I think, I would hope, that everyone would agree that at that point it’s no longer peaceful. Society, not just public safety, needs tools to address that and that’s what I’m attempting to do with this legislation.”
“In Birmingham it could have gotten way out of hand. Individuals had come into our city and planted gasoline, sledgehammers, bricks, incendiary devices and they were used,’’ he said. “Had it not been for some of our buildings’ fire suppressant systems, we would have had a real mess out there.”
“For whatever reason, nobody faced these charges. It’s my understanding all of these charges have been dropped,’’ he said. “This can’t happen. We cannot have folks descend on any American city, start rioting and looting and setting places on fire and not have the proper tools to deter it.”
