I’m a big fan of the right to protest. It’s one of our fundamental freedoms here in the West, and especially in the United States. But we’ve all seen protesters who get a little too unruly, if not downright violent. In fact, there are several recent examples for you to peruse right here on this very site. My thing is, if you’re beating on my car when I’m trying to peacefully leave the scene of an event or protest, you’re liable to get run over. I wouldn’t do it on purpose, but I’m not going to hang around and let antifa scum drag me out of my vehicle and enact mob violence against my person. The gas will be pushed to the floor, let the chips fall where they may.

Luckily, some states are moving to protect people trying to get away from thuggish protesters. The first one to make a move was North Dakota…

It may soon be legal to run over protesters with your car in North Dakota. But only if you do it accidentally. Lawmakers in that state are set to vote Friday on a bill that would legalize accidentally running over protesters in the road, one of several new measures across the country that aim to discourage disruptive protests. Rep. Keith Kempenich introduced the North Dakota bill, which states that if a driver “unintentionally” causes injury or death to someone blocking traffic on a roadway, then the driver will not be liable for damages. Kempenich said he was spurred to act after Dakota Access Pipeline protesters last year moved to block public roadways, scaring some of his constituents. “It turned from a protest to basically terrorism on the roadways, and the bill got introduced for people to be able to drive down the roads without fear of running into somebody and having to be liable for them,” he told CNN.

Now, Tennessee (the state of my birth) has also moved to protect peaceable drivers who want to get away from mobs unharmed (thanks for the tip, Goose)…

As introduced, provides civil immunity for the driver of an automobile who injures a protester who is blocking traffic in a public right-of-way if the driver was exercising due care. – Amends TCA Title 19; Title 20; Title 29, Chapter 34; Title 54 and Title 55.

It’s pretty much the same bill as in North Dakota. This doesn’t make it legal to target people for flattening, but it does indemnify those who do it by accident. Of course, if someone is beating on your car and you hit the gas to get away due to a threat to your safety, you are exercising due care. The ones at fault would be the rioters. As it should be.

We need to see this sort of provision in as many states as we can. The recent rise in violence from the left could get worse if unchecked. Once these idiots know they can legally be run over, maybe they will think twice before escalation. Then again, maybe they won’t. Either way, laws like this one protect normal citizens and that’s what we need to focus on.