Trump proposal for D.C. public spaces could squelch protests

Donald Trump’s presidency has inspired massive protests, with hundreds of thousands of women marching on the National Mall and scientists swarming the White House fence.

But now the Trump administration is seeking to restrict protests by effectively blocking them along the north sidewalk of the White House and making it easier for police to shut them down. A National Park Service proposal also opens the door to charging organizers for the cost of erecting barricades or reseeding grass.

The proposed regulation could curtail demonstrations on some of Washington’s most iconic staging grounds for protests, including the National Mall, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech in 1963. It also includes Lafayette Square, across from the White House, and the Penn sylvania Avenue sidewalks in front of the Trump International Hotel.

The initiative dovetails with Republicans’ increasingly heated campaign rhetoric over “mob rule” and the boisterous protests against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Trump has also been antagonistic toward protesters, once waxing nostalgic about how it used to be socially acceptable to assault them.

“When you think about petitioning your government for redress of grievances, this is the nation’s capital — this is where you come to do it,” said Mara VerheydenHilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which opposes the effort.