Arizona GOP Wants Felony For Protesters Who Damage Statues

Republicans in the Arizona Legislature are reacting to last year’s wave of damage to Confederate monuments by civil rights protesters by trying to make it a felony to damage any public or private monument.

Rep. John Kavanagh supported his proposal at a Senate committee hearing Thursday by saying public monuments are a statement by the community that demand more protection. Democrats call Kavanagh's an effort to criminalize protests against pro-slavery statues. The House passed Kavanagh's proposal on a party-line vote opposed by minority Democrats last month and it now awaits action in the GOP-controlled Senate.