this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2026
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Organizers of the upcoming “No Kings” rally in Helena say that a new state rule banning permits for weekend rallies on the Capitol grounds violates their First Amendment rights. State officials countered that the new rule, quietly instituted just last month, was intended to save money.

The update to permitting guidelines on the Montana.gov site, which has not been previously reported, states that public events requiring a permit “may only occur on weekdays and between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., excluding holidays.”

The revisions apply to all state-owned or leased spaces or grounds at the Capitol Complex. The policy requires a permit for any public event that uses “state resources, requires setup of any structures, materials, displays, or requires clean-up.” A public event is defined as “any event that is open to the public and to which the public will have full access.”

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[–] LemmyBruceLeeMarvin@lemmy.ml 15 points 8 hours ago

Go on, make peaceful protest impossible. I'm begging you.

[–] BillCheddar@lemmy.world 12 points 8 hours ago

Conservatives hate democracy.

They always have and they likely always will.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 21 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

All those people who keep telling us protesting is useless please explain why republicans in power keep trying to suppress protests. What are they scared of?

[–] DrSoap@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago

And how they're so under reported lately.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 10 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

IOW, you can only protest on days and at times when most people are at work, therefore less people will protest.

[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 2 points 9 hours ago

Hey, gotta save some Cheddar so we can target you know... Things I'm Cuba probably.

[–] minorkeys@lemmy.world 39 points 12 hours ago

If you don't want to pay for the permitting costs or organizing public protest through a permit system then people get to publicly protest without getting permits. You don't get to eliminated a constitutional right over a budget reduction. Like wtf, these leaders are a threat to basic rights.

[–] switcheroo@lemmy.world 27 points 12 hours ago

Yeaaaah that ain't gonna work. Protesting the government only when they allow it? Nah fuck all the way off with that.

Stand up Montana! They are trying to stomp on your rights!

[–] betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world 118 points 17 hours ago (2 children)
[–] LillyPip@lemmy.ca 63 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

That’s literally the point of these protests.

We won’t listen to their authoritarianism.

Obviously they won’t sanction your protests. Like that should matter. If Nazis say they don’t want opposition, are you just going to say okay, we won’t protest without a permit?

That’s insane.

[–] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 17 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

I have been the person on multiple occasions who goes to the State Capitol and the City Police and puts his name on the documents that says we're going to have a large gathering please give us a permit.

It's a reasonable thing to require, when they're being reasonable -- for example, the city might want the big Pro-Racism rally to be on a different day than the Armed Antifa rally.

But if they're obviously doing it Because They Can:

  1. You get lawyers and start filing motions
  2. Average people can always show up, local laws apply but it will be hard to stop random people from, eg, walking around the block on a public sidewalk
  3. Local officials will escalate and further violate peoples' rights. Make sure people know to keep calm, and record everything for the judge to view later .
[–] grue@lemmy.world 7 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

Frankly, I think the very first time any government started to demand a "permit" or designate a "free speech zone," it should've triggered massive protests that were pointedly unpermitted and outside the zone.

Your job should not exist, as a matter of principle.

[–] GlendatheGayWitch@lemmy.world 7 points 10 hours ago

Just tell everyone to leave their signs at home, clean up after themselves, and walk the capitol grounds and/or the surrounding areas chanting/yelling phrases in unison. Hard to drown out the unified voices of 1,000 people. That way they don't use state resources, and don't set up any structures, materials, or displays.

[–] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 70 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

Revolution is not done with scheduled permits.

[–] Asafum@lemmy.world 56 points 16 hours ago (8 children)

"may only occur ~~on weekdays and between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., excluding holidays.~~ when you have to be at work."

[–] brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

That's what I got out of this. Only when the majority of people wouldn't be able to easily attend.

It's suppression, no doubt about it. And the "requires cleanup" provision can apply to anything. Hell, one person who litters "requires cleanup.'

[–] tomiant@piefed.social 2 points 13 hours ago

And they claim it is to "save money"! 🤣

[–] MrVilliam@sh.itjust.works 9 points 12 hours ago

So they want a general strike in addition to this protest? Interesting strategy.

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[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 64 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

A protest with a permit is a parade.

[–] EmpireInDecay@lemmy.ml 14 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

So far all they've been is parades

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 10 points 14 hours ago

We will not have change without enough people realzing that enough other people are willing to stand up for that change.

Online discussion is the foundation for protests, and protests are the foundation for change. We need to build on those. They are useful for those reasons, but people are correct that they themselves will not effect the change we need.

[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 15 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

If they can’t do it legally, they will do it illegally. Making it difficult just incentivizes resistance.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 4 points 9 hours ago

Those who make peaceful protest impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 30 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I heard there IS one, but the location keeps changing. People should have their gear handy and take their signs and see which one is up and running. Just walk between all the rumoured locations (safely using crosswalks, of course) all day.

You're not gathering in protest: you haven't found the venue yet. But you'll tell everyone to go home when you get there. Thank you officer.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

Well montana is big. I would guess it would be in multiple locations.

[–] FartMaster69@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 16 hours ago

Permitted protest is just controlled opposition.

[–] EmpireInDecay@lemmy.ml 22 points 16 hours ago

If you need permission it isn't a right

[–] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 13 points 15 hours ago

You dont ask for rights, you take them.

[–] MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 12 points 15 hours ago

Fuck you!

Rally it up bitches!

[–] cmbabul@lemmy.world 3 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

I highly doubt my state will follow suit, but if they do I will go from thinking the NoKings deals are pressure release valves to keep folks under thumb to attending every one with bells on

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 8 points 16 hours ago

Duh, in the USA, speech that is free of government interference is only permitted in the Freeze Peach zones, and only on Freeze Peach days within the Freeze Peach times.

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago

The movie ran through me

The glamour subdue me

The tabloid untie me

I’m empty please fill me

Mister anchor assure me

That Baghdad is burning

Your voice it is so soothing

That cunning mantra of killing

I need you my witness

To dress this up so bloodless

To numb me and purge me now

Of thoughts of blaming you

Yes the car is our wheelchair

My witness your coughing

Oily silence mocks the legless

Now traveling in coffins

But on the corner

The jury’s sleepless

We found your weakness

And it’s right outside our door

Now testify

With precision you feed me

My witness I’m hungry

Your temple it calms me

So I can carry on

My slaving sweating the skin right off my bones

On a bed of fire I’m choking on the smoke that fills my home

The wrecking ball rushing

My witness your blushing

The pipeline is gushing

While here we lie in tombs

While on the corner

The jury’s sleepless

We found your weakness

And it’s right outside your door

Now testify

Mass graves for the pump and the price is set

Who controls the past now controls the future

Who controls the present now controls the past

Who controls the past now controls the future

Who controls the present now?

Now testify

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