State-imposed limits on activists’ access to the Kentucky Capitol violated the law, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) said in a legal opinion on Monday.

Activists from the Poor People’s Campaign, a national campaign that focuses on poverty, labor rights, housing and other issues, were denied entry into the Kentucky statehouse multiple times in June. Uniformed guards at the Capitol told activists that only two people from the campaign could enter at a time. But in the opinion, Beshear (D) said Gov. Matt Bevin’s (R) administration broke the law by denying them access.

On June 11, the second time activists came to enter the Capitol, a guard told activists, “I am following my protocol to only let two people in at a time” and suggested they contact Kentucky state police. Activists then sat down in front of the metal detector and shouted “Let us in!” Media outlets such as WUKY and the Courier-Journal did not get responses from Kentucky state police or the governor after activists’ first attempt to enter the building.

Democratic state lawmakers wrote to Beshear to find out why activists were not permitted inside the building. Poor People’s Campaign activists asked for more information on which regulations the governor used to justify denying them access.


The Kentucky State Police and administration did not set up a procedure for limiting the number of protesters that went through the normal regulation process, the attorney general’s opinion stated, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The opinion read, “Although we recognize that the KSP and the Finance Cabinet must have the flexibility and discretion to respond to imminent threats to the security and welfare of persons working or otherwise using state-owned buildings, this is not a case involving such an imminent threat that the promulgation of administrative regulations was impossible.”

Poor People’s Campaign refused entry to KY Capitol again. The sit down in lobby and block entrance. pic.twitter.com/ayrMSOaJms — Joe Gerth (@Joe_Gerth) June 11, 2018

Attica Scott, one of the Democratic state lawmakers who wrote to Beshear questioning the state’s limit on access to the statehouse, said the attorney general’s opinion is a “major tool” for the campaign to use in a court challenge, according to the Herald-Leader. Scott also tweeted in response to the news, “If anyone should have access to petition their government, it’s people living in poverty who have the least representation.”


The Poor People’s Campaign said Kentucky is the only state that did not allow them full access to the statehouse. Just months ago, teachers flooded the statehouse to demand for better pay and more education funding.

Rev. Dr. William Barber and the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign, said in a statement released to ThinkProgress, “It should also be a message to all governors, state legislators and members of Congress. These buildings are the people’s houses. The laws passed in them affect everyone, especially the poor. Any political leaders who refuse to listen to the people they represent cannot pretend to defend democracy or the inalienable rights our history has always called us towards. We won’t be silent anymore.”

In other states, such as South Carolina, North Carolina, California, New York, Kansas, and Ohio, activists from the Poor People’s Campaign were arrested during their demonstrations.