Don't Stand So Close to Me -- Tom Sullivan

[erronis]

https://digbysblog.net/2026/04/11/dont-stand-so-close-to-me/

It seems Kansas Republicans have made a song by Sting and The Police into state policy:

Republican legislators overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's veto to create a 25-foot buffer around law enforcement and emergency personnel, a move the Senate leader said ensures Kansas won't become like Minnesota.

Senate President Ty Masterson said in a news release that House Bill 2372, referred to as the Halo Act, keeps "radical protesters" from interfering with law enforcement and keeps officers and bystanders safe.

Masterson referred to riots in Minnesota when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers injured and killed bystanders while detaining immigrants.

The bill makes it a misdemeanor crime to go within 25 feet of a first responder while they are working. A violation can result in a fine up to $1,000 and jail term of up to six months.

The new law would also keeps reporters 25 feet away and virtually end documentation by citizens with cell phones. They'd need cameras with long lenses and shotgun mics to record what officers are doing with (or to) detainees. Cell phones won't cut it.

Darnella Frazier, then 17, was filming with her cell phone from a sidewalk a few feet away from Minneapolis police when in 2020 they pinned George Floyd to the pavement and squeezed the life out of him. She was close enough to both see and for her phone to pick up audio of Floyd's cries of "I can't breathe" as he died.

Frazier received a special citation from the Pulitzer Prize board for documenting Floyd's murder. The board cited "the crucial role of citizens in journalists' quest for truth and justice."

Just not in Kansas.

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

[spanone]

2. K&R

JFC...and who will determine who is a 'radical protester'?

This is fucked up.