A bill to clarify and strengthen penalties for those who commit crimes during violent riots is now on its way to the full Senate.  Senate Bill 806, creating the Oklahoma Citizens’ Protection Act, by Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, was approved on Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“Peaceful protest is a right under our Constitution, but this bill is about violent riots that put life and property at risk,” Weaver said. 

The measure strengthens penalties for crimes including assault of a law enforcement officer, details penalties for those who refuse orders to disperse and for those who block or obstruct traffic on public highways or streets, as well as those who deface or destroy property during riots.

Weaver, former head of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, said he was especially shocked by the destruction of private property during riots in Oklahoma City last summer, including the burning of a nonprofit called Dress for Success, which provides disadvantaged women with appropriate clothes, assistance with resumes and other services to help them find jobs.

A bill that would expand the definition of incitement to riot and provides protections for motorists fleeing a riot passed the Judiciary-Criminal Committee.

House Bill 2215, authored by Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, makes it unlawful and an incitement to riot for a person to obstruct an exit or entrance into a private business or to obstruct any street, road, highway or thoroughfare that is used by the public.

Additionally the bill provides that a motor vehicle operator who unintentionally causes injury or death to an individual is not criminally or civilly liable if the injury or death occurred while the motor vehicle operator was fleeing from a riot.