Des Moines, Iowa — Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has signed legislation that establishes tougher penalties for rioting and protests that block pedestrian or vehicle traffic.
The law also provides new legal protection to police, so they cannot be sued for most on-duty actions.
Republican legislatures in other states have passed similar bills this year. Iowa’s new law makes rioting a felony and someone convicted of unlawful assembly could be sentenced to up to two years in prison. Reynolds says amid calls to “defund the police,” this bill takes just the opposite approach.
Nearly all Democrats in the legislature voted against the measure, arguing the penalties in the bill were too harsh and that the GOP had turned its back on racial justice efforts. Representative Ruth Ann Gaines of Des Moines, a member of the House Black Caucus, says the bill sends the wrong message to people of color and young people.
Representative Ross Wilburn of Ames, the first black Iowan to be chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, says the governor’s approval of this bill is a giant step backwards.
Reynolds had asked the Republican led legislature to include proposals to track data from traffic stops and ban racial profiling in the bill, but those were left out. Reynolds says she will offer a stand alone bill in 2022 to accomplish those goals.
Democrats say they doubt Reynolds can convince her fellow Republicans to pass that bill. Governors have 30 days after the legislature concludes to sign or veto bills. Reynolds took final action on a few remaining bills Thursday, including one that provides state funding for police department equipment.
