New N.Y. law would label road-blocking protests ‘domestic terrorism’

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A new piece of legislation would effectively label some New York protestors felons and domestic terrorists.

The bill, introduced by Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Queens), would make it a class-D felony to stage a protest intentionally blocking any class of public road, square and place. A class-D felony is punishable by up to seven years in prison.

“The purposeful blocking of bridges, tunnels and roadways which results in cars being stopped, sick people not being able to get medical attention, or any attempt to prevent innocent people from getting from Point A to Point B is not appropriate or fair – in fact it is flat out dangerous,” Pheffer Amato wrote in her justification for the legislation. “While people have the right to protest, they do not have the right to cause fear, panic and put the lives of other people in danger.”

The bill has drawn only one co-sponsor, Assemblyman Sam Berger (D-Queens), and no version in the Senate. It would also raise a host of First Amendment concerns.

Protests have long been a fact-of-life in the five boroughs, but recent demonstrations supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have blocked roads drawing the ire of local conservatives.

Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack has brought thousands out to protest the Middle East’s actions and America’s support of those actions. Several of those protests have involved blocking main thoroughfares, including the Brooklyn Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge and Holland Tunnel.

Pheffer Amato is up for re-election this year against Republican Tom Sullivan following a hard-fought 2022 campaign between the two that saw the assemblywoman narrowly secure a victory.