Free speech becomes a challenge at Minneapolis’ Free Speech Work Group

Minneapolis’ Free Speech Work Group was founded last year to address free speech concerns during the Republican National Convention in September, but protesters say that their voice is not being heard while the group pushes a city ordinance that would hamper free speech and association this fall.

Minnesota Public Radio reports on a meeting of the Work Group on Wednesday that denied RNC protesters an opportunity to speak out against an ordinance that would require protest groups of 25 or more to register with the city in advance. Organizers say a registration system would create legal, financial and administrative roadblocks.

Continued: Click “Read more” “There are already laws in place to do things to prevent people from blocking sidewalks or blocking thoroughfares and so forth, and those laws are already in place,” said Michelle Gross, one of the meeting’s attendees. “We don’t need additional laws that target protesters. There’s no reason for this.”

City Council member Paul Ostrow says that upcoming meetings will allow for public input, but the meeting still left protesters, who held signs demanding they be allowed to speak, wondering why a “free speech” group would demand silence from those voices of the community for whom the group professes to protect.