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Police in St. Petersburg, Fla., said they will start fining protesters who block traffic during demonstrations this week following tense and dangerous standoffs between activists and drivers around the country.
Officers will be enforcing laws already on the books – and the St. Petersburg Police Department said Wednesday it would first begin a public awareness campaign by issuing warnings and handing out flyers.
After a few days, the department will begin issuing fines of $62.50, according to a news release.
The relevant state laws require pedestrians to use the sidewalk when possible and to obey traffic signals. They also prohibit the obstruction or hindrance of traffic.
The department cited incidents around the country in which vehicles have struck protesters in the middle of the road as well as complaints about blocked streets making residents late for work and first responders being delayed on their way to answer emergency calls.
A wave of protests against police misconduct have taken place around the country since the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Many of them have been peaceful. Some resulted in violence.
In Provo, Utah, last week, a protester allegedly shot a 60-year-old man as he was driving through the city. Police said a mob surrounded the victim’s vehicle before someone shot a handgun through the window, striking the driver – who then hit the gas.
That protester, identified as 33-year-old Salt Lake City resident Jesse Taggart, also allegedly broke the window of another vehicle before police took him into custody.
Emergency workers tend to an injured person on the ground after a driver sped through a protest-related closure on the Interstate 5 freeway in Seattle, authorities said early Saturday, July 4, 2020. (James Anderson via AP)
On Saturday, 27-year-old Seattle driver Dawit Kelete allegedly struck two demonstrators while heading the wrong way up an Interstate 5 exit ramp – killing one and seriously injuring the other. Video shows protesters screaming as a Jaguar XJL speeds toward them – swerving slightly before fatally striking Summer Taylor, 24, and injuring Diaz Love, 32.
SEATTLE DRIVER WHO ALLEGEDLY HIT 2 PROTESTERS, KILLING 1, CHARGED WITH FELONIES
Kelete faces charges of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless driving. His lawyer, John Henry Browne, said his client, who is Black, did not intentionally hit the protesters.
And in Huntington Station, N.Y., a 34-year-old man was charged with two counts of third-degree assault for allegedly striking two protesters with a vehicle during a Black Lives Matter protest on Monday.
Suffolk County police later said they had charged one man for falsely reporting that he had been struck by a vehicle during the protest.
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Two days later, the department also announced it would enact new procedures to try and keep traffic flowing as demonstrators exercise their First Amendment rights, warning that anyone who ignores lawful orders pertaining to the flow of traffic on public roads “may be subject to enforcement action.”
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
