ST. GEORGE — Due to increasing issues with some special events and high-profile situations drawing protests to St. George in recent years, city officials are considering the creation of a “free speech zone.”
Council members debated the issue during a work meeting Thursday. The designation of defined free speech zones would become a part of the city’s special event permitting process if an event has drawn protests in the past or has a strong potential to once underway.
It also requires the location and area covered by the special event to be expressly defined so event attendees and protesters know exactly who can set up where.
The establishment of the free speech zone may also require that police officers provide security at extra costs to the event.
The proposed zones will allow protesters a place to conduct their opposition toward a particular event without worry of being threatened with removal. It is also seen as a way to help keep disruptions to a minimum at the event being protested.
“It’s hard to hold an event if you think an event’s going to be ruined,” Councilwoman Danielle Larkin said.
Parts of St. George have experienced various protests by different groups in recent years.
Deputy City Attorney Jami Brackin mentioned a protest at the City Hall during the controversy of the renaming of Utah Tech University that blocked access in and out of the building, while others recalled the recent downtown protests connected to the trial of two animal rights activists around the 5th District Courthouse in October. Also considered are the disruptions caused by protesters at the Southern Utah Pride Festival in September.
More recent acts of protest have involved the Downtown Farmer’s Market in Vernon Worthen Park.
Larkin attended the Pride event and said protesters were getting in the middle of the festival’s activities and holding up signs in front of a stage where performances were taking place, harassing people who attended the event and generally being obnoxious.
If St. George had a free speech zone set off as a part of its special event permit, the protesters would be relegated to that spot for the duration of the festival. Protesters who leave the zone could find themselves subject to removal by police depending on the circumstances.
Protesters only would be able to use handheld signs minus poles or wood to hold them aloft, as those might be used to hit others if the protest somehow took a violent turn.
They also could not set up tables or booths to hand out informational material or have anything in the way of amplified music. At that point, the city would see the protesters as setting up a special event of their own, which would require a permit.
“It makes me very uncomfortable to have these restrictions,” Councilwoman Michelle Tanner said. “It feels like an infringement to me.”
Tanner said there are already laws in place that address people harassing others and causing a ruckus via protesting and what the city was doing could be a violation of someone’s freedom of speech.
Councilman Jimmie Hughes said he wondered if the city wouldn’t just end up inviting more protests due to the creation of the proposed free speech zones.
The city manager also expressed some hesitation. While Willis said he appreciates the desire to keep events and the people who attend them safe and free of disruption, he also said he had concerns about possible overreach in this case.
Councilman Gregg McArthur was more optimistic about the ordinance’s potential.
“This creates a safety net for the city,” he said, adding that having the ordinance will give the city way to protect itself from protesters who might go after the city for violating their freedom of speech otherwise depending on the circumstances.
However, McArthur also said language regarding the freedom of speech zones needs to be narrow and expressly defined.
Willis said the ordinance could be up for adoption by the City Council in its next regular meeting set for Thursday, Jan. 19.
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