Oppose the Halo Bill, Protect our Right to Hold Police Accountable

As a concerned citizen and advocate for civil liberties, I strongly oppose SB669 (Gregory) and HB1297 (Cook), which criminalize “interference with a first responder” under dangerously vague and overbroad terms while imposing an unjustifiable financial burden on Missourians. These bills undermine civil liberties under the guise of protecting first responders, and their inclusion of a fiscally irresponsible death benefit expansion compounds their harm. The bills allow first responders to issue verbal warnings and arrest individuals who approach within 25 feet, even if no harm occurs. This arbitrary distance restriction ignores real-world scenarios: journalists documenting police conduct, bystanders filming arrests, or distressed family members seeking answers during emergencies could all face Class A misdemeanor charges under this arbitrary standard. Such a provision chills First Amendment rights and shields first responders from public scrutiny, eroding trust in institutions. If enacted, Missouri could join states like Arizona and Florida, where similar “buffer zone” laws face legal challenges for violating free speech. The bill’s reliance on ambiguous terms like “emotional distress” and “legitimate purpose” grants excessive discretion to police. These terms lack legal precision, inviting discriminatory enforcement. For example, during the 2020 protests in St. Louis, officers labeled chants of “Hands up, don’t shoot” as “distressing.” Under this law, such speech could be grounds for arrest. By equating emotional reactions with criminal intent, these bills risk silencing dissent and normalizing punitive responses to lawful criticism. SB669 includes a provision to remove the 2025 sunset clause and increase annual death benefits for first responders’ families from $25,000 to $100,000. This provision exploits the death of first responders to obscure the bill’s draconian policies and forces taxpayers to subsidize a benefit that far exceeds reasonable standards. Police departments—not the public—should bear the cost of life insurance for their employees. Private-sector workers rely on employer-provided accidental death policies, typically capped at 1–10 times their salary. SB669’s $100,000 annual payout—effectively a multi-million-dollar lifetime obligation per family—is unprecedented and unsustainable. Combining these unrelated policies is a cynical attempt to silence dissent. Legislators are exploiting sympathy for first responders to smuggle in a provision that would fail on its own merits. SB669 and HB1297 are a solution in search of a problem. Existing laws already penalize genuine threats or obstruction. These bills, however, transforms routine interactions into criminal acts, prioritizing convenience over constitutional rights, while the bloated death benefit sets a reckless financial precedent. I urge you to reject this dangerous legislation and protect Missourians’ freedoms to observe, question, and hold power accountable.