RI ACLU sues Gov. McKee over protest restrictions at State House

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The ACLU of Rhode Island has filed a lawsuit against Governor Dan McKee, alleging his office directed state and Capitol Police to block protesters from entering the Rhode Island State House rotunda and upper floors ahead of his January 2025 State of the State address.

According to the complaint, the protest, organized by the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project and activist Harrison Tuttle, then president of the now-dissolved Rhode Island Black Lives Matter PAC, was scheduled to take place in the rotunda an hour before the governor’s speech. When Tuttle and others arrived, police allegedly told them they were barred from entering on orders from the governor’s office.

The ACLU claims other individuals were permitted access to those same areas, while the protesters were redirected to the “Bell Room,” a small and less visible space on the first floor of the State House. Records cited in the lawsuit show the rotunda was marked as “reserved” from 4:30 to 10 p.m., but the governor’s office did not officially reserve the space until 4:39 p.m.

In its statement, the ACLU argues that the rotunda, traditionally used for demonstrations, remained empty during the event and that the decision to block access was intended to suppress the protesters’ First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly.

The official statement reads: “In any event, despite being ‘reserved,’ the rotunda was not used for any purpose during that timeframe. The lawsuit argues that the Governor’s reservation of the space and the Capitol and State Police’s actions were undertaken to stifle the protesters’ exercise of their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.“