Flame throwers, stones and masks are now banned from protests and parades in Oxford.
On Tuesday, Sept. 18, the Oxford Board of Aldermen unanimously approved an ordinance amendment that would prohibit anyone in a parade or other public assembly to carry glass bottles, balloons filled with anything other than air or helium, body armor, bricks, stones or projectile launching equipment. The ordinance changes will go into effect immediately.
Oxford Police Chief Joey East wanted this amendment to be passed in response to the violence that broke out during past protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“These people (in Charlottesville) came in wearing masks, body armor, large wooden shields that were used to push crowds back, weapons, bats, stuff like that,” East said. “Why would you come to a peaceful protest wearing this unless you were coming to fight?”
The most controversial part of the ordinance, East said, is the banning of masks used to intimidate others or hide oneself because some see it as violating First Amendment rights.
“You do have freedom of speech and expression, so if I wanted to wear a Lucille Ball mask and get up there and speak, that’s one thing,” East said. “But if I want to wear a black mask with the whole purpose to hide my identity, threaten you or try to get away with something, that’s a different thing.”
East emphasized the importance of cleaning up the language of the ordinance in order to prevent violating rights.
“Nowadays, everyone looks at the language, so that’s why we presented it to an attorney,” East said. “Our goal is not to restrict First Amendment rights.”
East said his first priority is to ensure the public’s safety, so sometimes people might not realize ordinances are jeopardizing rights.
“As cops, we would probably restrict more because we’re thinking of the worst that can happen,” East said. “That’s why we have attorneys.”
In addition, the proposed ordinance gives officers the ability to arrest anyone who crosses barricades.
“We have barricades in line to keep people separated because we know that’s when people get agitated if they get close,” East said. “So anyone that’s caught going from one side to another — that’s a violation of law — we’d separate that to keep it peaceful.”
The proposal requires organizations to give the Oxford Police Department a 30-day heads up before a planned parade or protest.
“We’re a small community, so it takes a while to organize and make preparations to keep everyone safe,” East said.
Previous attempts for similar legislation were kept on the back burner because there was never a need for strict protest rules in Oxford. East said recent protest violence brought the issue to the forefront.
“We had been talking about it, but it’s like anything — we get caught up in our day-to-day business,” East said. “Then when Charlottesville happened, we knew we had to get the ball moving. When a horrible thing happens like this, it’s a learning event for the rest of us.”
Even though Oxford has not yet actually had any violence erupt during public assemblies, East knows that with the recent controversy surrounding flags and statues, it could break out at any moment.
“We’re a hot bed,” East said. “We’re Ole Miss. We have a lot of history here, so it’s good to have preventative safety measures.”
Ashkan Asghari, an Our State Flag Foundation member and student spokesman, said the foundation does not engage in protest gatherings, and individuals carrying flags in the Grove on game day are not affiliated with the organization.
“In our experience, we believe those few individuals carrying flags in the Grove before games do so just to be fans of the Rebels, supporters of Mississippi and its state flag,” Asghari said. “We’ve never done anything on the Square and would never engage in anything that could get violent or cause the harm of someone.”
Asghari said OSFF has mixed feelings toward the new ordinance.
“We are 100 percent for public safety and completely support policemen to do their jobs, but we are not for any measure that is intended to circumvent the First Amendment rights of any citizen,” Asghari said. “We will call out censorship when it is present and when it violates this inalienable American right.”
The president of the College Democrats, Jaz Brisack, said the group is not in favor of the proposed ordinance because the proposed regulations limit civil liberties and violate the First Amendment.
In addition, Brisack said the police chief’s statements do not provide enough context about the events in Charlottesville. She also found it odd that the ordinance does not ban guns.
“The police chief’s statement fails to recognize that the violence at Charlottesville was an act of right-wing terror and instead indirectly targets anti-racist groups,” Brisack said. “Even more ironically, guns are not included in the list of banned weapons — a significant omission in an ‘open-carry’ state.”
The Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, which organizes the annual Pride Parade, was unavailable for comment. College Republicans was also unavailable for comment.
