Highway bridges are a hotspot for people exercising their First Amendment rights in Connecticut. Protestors can regularly be spotted holding signs and waving to cars below on interstates 95 and 84.
But not all of that activity has been welcomed by Connecticut State Police. Authorities say the demonstrations can become a dangerous distraction for drivers. Protestors have been cited – and in one case, arrested – this year while speaking out against President Donald Trump’s policies. Others have stopped protesting out of fear of being charged.
The incidents are now raising questions about whether police improperly stifled free speech. The Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last week filed a lawsuit against the state in federal court. The group argues state police are inconsistently enforcing state laws and infringing on individual rights.
“I have not seen any threatened police action elsewhere for peaceable sign-holding on overpasses,” said Dan Barrett, the legal director for ACLU Connecticut. “It’s a Connecticut specific thing, and it does seem to be quite recent.”
In the wake of criticism over the incidents, Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Ronnell Higgins said he has taken steps to ensure troopers get more directed First Amendment training.
They include asking state prosecutors to provide updated legal guidance to each of the 11 state police troops, and directing the Connecticut State Police Training Academy to prepare an updated bulletin about the laws governing highway protests.
However, Higgins pushed back on claims that troopers are unfairly targeting certain protestors based on their political views. In a written statement issued this week, he emphasized the need to maintain safe conditions on the highway. He noted that highway fatalities in Connecticut reached historic highs in recent years, including 366 deaths in 2022.
“I will continue to push our Troopers to use all lawful means to reduce reckless and distracted driving and to keep our highways as safe as possible,” he wrote.
Taking to the street
Hamden resident Katherine Hinds emerged as a public face of the highway protest movement after being arrested twice this year.
The 71-year-old organizes a local group known as a Visibility Brigade. Members have been protesting on highway overpasses around Connecticut for most of the year.
“We're all really passionate and committed to letting folks know that we're in trouble as a country,” Hinds said.
Overpass demonstrations are effective because the group can reach hundreds of drivers, including people who might not otherwise be exposed to their message, she said.
“You're standing on a bridge and you're seeing both sides of any kind of issue driving underneath you,” Hinds said. “You're not preaching to the choir. You're talking to everyone.”
The Visibility Brigade movement spread from New Jersey to locations around the country. Groups take to highway overpasses and other public spaces to protest. Hinds said she has organized about 45 protests around the greater New Haven area this year. Members hold signs with messages such as “Due process is the law” and “Deport Musk.”
With the protests, though, comes some personal risk. Hinds was first arrested on July 19 during a protest in West Haven. She was taken into custody after several previous encounters with state police.
Dash cam footage released by state police shows the moments leading up to the arrest.
“How many times you have been told by troopers not to be here, you need a permit, and all of that? How many times?” a state trooper asked Hinds.
“Four,” Hinds responded.
“Four times? So you have been given too many opportunities,” the trooper said.
Hinds’ attorney, Margaret Donovan, said Hinds and fellow protestors received conflicting guidance from state and local police about what they were allowed to do during a series of encounters.
“They're making every effort to follow the law here,” Donovan said. “They were not trying to cause any scene.”
A few weeks later, on Aug. 8, a trooper showed up to Hinds’ doorstep around 6 a.m. and arrested her under new charges in connection with other highway overpass protests.
In an arrest warrant, Trooper Joshua J. Jackson wrote that the protests were a “dangerous distraction to highway traffic” since they caused traffic congestion, and violated DOT regulations. The arrest warrant also mentioned that Hinds kept protesting on overpasses despite being warned against doing so.
Hinds was charged with trespassing and breach of peace. In an email, Connecticut State Police said probable cause existed to support each of the arrests.
However, Hinds and her attorneys maintain the arrests were improper, in part because Hinds previously named one of the troopers involved in a complaint she filed with state police alleging she was being harassed.
“This was a show of force,” Donovan said. “This was, 'I want to go to this woman's house, knock on her door and show her who has the power here,' and that should be extremely offensive to everybody in Connecticut.”
In response to questions from Connecticut Public, a state police spokesperson said police conducted an internal affairs investigation after receiving a complaint from Hinds.
The spokesperson said documents related to the investigation, as well as information about the agency’s policies regarding involvement by troopers in cases in which a suspect has filed a complaint against them, must be obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Highway messaging
In addition to bringing criminal charges, police cited Hinds and eight others with violating a state statute that prohibits attaching unauthorized signs to a highway bridge.
First time offenders face a fine of up to $100. Subsequent offenses are punishable with fines of up to $500.
Records reviewed by Connecticut Public show it was an exceedingly rare step. No other citations under the statute have been issued in at least a decade, according to data provided by the Connecticut Judicial Branch.
The eight others were protesting on an overpass in Fairfield when they were cited in August. Their lawyer, Ed Miller, said he believes the citations were politically motivated.
“My clients are afraid now to protest because of what state police did and I think that's a real tragedy,” Miller said.
Wayne Unger, an associate professor of law at Quinnipiac University, noted that a variety of signs can be observed around Connecticut highways, ranging from legal billboards to advertisements for power washing.
“If we aren't prosecuting for all this other stuff over here, but we're prosecuting [Hinds] for this very clearly expressive speech, well, then it certainly seems that the government is inequitably enforcing this statute,” Unger said.
He added: “Perhaps the statute is only on the books to enforce things like speech which the government disagrees with. And the government cannot do that.”
'A chilling effect'
The ACLU filed its lawsuit on Sept. 16 on behalf of two Connecticut residents, Erin Quinn, 46, and Robert Marra, 70. Both are part of Hinds’ group. The suit names Higgins and Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto as defendants.
“Streets and sidewalks and public parks are the spot where our First Amendment rights are perhaps most protected,” Barrett said. “There have been groups from all over the political spectrum using the overpasses in the last 10 years to voice their views.”
The suit references instances where signs and flags were erected on highway overpasses without any apparent consequence. Though Quinn and Marra were never arrested or cited, they have stopped going out to protest out of fear of criminal prosecution, according to Barrett.
“That is a chilling effect on my First Amendment right of freedom of expression, and that is ensconced in the constitution,” Marra told Connecticut Public.
The ACLU is asking a judge to allow people to protest on highway overpasses without the fear of being prosecuted.
In his statement, Higgins didn’t directly address the legal arguments in the case, but said he is "disappointed" it was filed.
“At no time, in words or actions, have I suggested that the Connecticut State Police’s approach to protestors be guided by any perceived political or social affiliations of the protestors or by the contents of the protestors’ message,” Higgins said.
The Department of Transportation declined to comment on the lawsuit. A spokesperson said in an e-mail that its regulations bar unauthorized highway signs.
“CTDOT is not charged with enforcing the law and defers to law enforcement as to when a probable violation necessitates an arrest be made,” the spokesperson, Eva Zymaris, said.
For now, Hinds is protesting on sidewalks instead of overpasses. She pleaded not guilty to her second arrest during a court hearing in New Haven last week.
When Hinds left the courthouse, she was met with cheers and applause from a group of supporters gathered outside. They chanted “free speech” as she walked out with her husband and attorneys.
“If English isn’t your first language, or you’re hearing impaired, or you’re in any sense weak, it’s a really scary environment,” Hinds said. “To come up and say we’re pushing back against the state police, basically, that’s even bigger."
Hinds is scheduled to appear again in court on Oct. 27.
