Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0711
Sponsors: TERRY, KATZ, TALBOT ROSS

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018 
(4-7)  On motion by Senator CHIPMAN of Cumberland (Cosponsored by Representative 
TERRY of Gorham and Senator: KATZ of Kennebec, Representative: TALBOT ROSS of 
Portland) (Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint 
Rule 214.), the following Joint Resolution: 
S.P. 711 
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IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 
TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHTEEN 
_____ 
JOINT RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING CONGRESS TO 
STRENGTHEN LAWS AGAINST MASS VIOLENCE AND 
DOMESTIC TERRORISM, CONDEMNING THE VIOLENCE IN 
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA AND EXPRESSING THE 
COMMITMENT OF THE LEGISLATURE TO UPHOLD 
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS 
WHEREAS, on the night of Friday, August 11, 2017, a day before a white nationalist 
demonstration was scheduled to occur in Charlottesville, Virginia, hundreds of torch-bearing 
white nationalists, white supremacists, Klansmen and neo-Nazis chanted racist, anti-Semitic and 
anti-immigrant slogans and violently engaged with counter-demonstrators on and around the 
grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; and 
WHEREAS, on Saturday, August 12, 2017, ahead of the scheduled start time of the planned 
march, protestors and counter-demonstrators gathered at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville; 
and 
WHEREAS, the extremist demonstration turned violent, culminating in the death of 
peaceful counter-demonstrator Heather Heyer and injuries to 19 other individuals after a reported 
neo-Nazi sympathizer drove a vehicle into a crowd, which resulted in a charge of 2nd-degree 
murder, 3 counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit and run; and 
WHEREAS, 2 Virginia State Police officers, Lieutenant Pilot H. Jay Cullen and Trooper 
Pilot Berke M. M. Bates, died in a helicopter crash as they patrolled the events occurring below 
them; and 
WHEREAS, the Charlottesville community is engaged in a healing process following this 
horrific and violent display of bigotry; and 
WHEREAS, the State fully supports the right to free speech, the right to assemble peaceably 
and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances; however, the assembly in 
Charlottesville turned violent and it became clear that some in attendance were there to promote 
racial tensions, destroy our principles and do harm to the fabric of our nation; and 
WHEREAS, any organization that perpetuates violence and terrorism has no place in a civil 
society; and  
WHEREAS, any crimes committed by such organizations should be prosecuted to the fullest 
extent of the law; now, therefore, be it 
Tuesday, March 20, 2018 
RESOLVED: That We, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Legislature 
now assembled in the Second Regular Session, on behalf of the people we represent, take this 
opportunity to condemn the violence and the attack that took place during the events on August 
and August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia; recognize the first responders who lost their 
lives in the course of monitoring the events; offer our deepest condolences to the families and 
friends of those individuals who were killed; extend our deepest sympathy and support to those 
individuals injured in the violence; and express our support for the Charlottesville community; 
and be it further 
RESOLVED: That We reaffirm our sworn oaths to defend the Constitution of the United 
States and the Constitution of Maine and reaffirm our solemn commitment to continue to protect 
and champion the rights and liberties of Maine citizens that are guaranteed under the state and 
federal constitutions, including freedom of expression; freedom of association, including the 
right to attend meetings without being illegally monitored and the right to belong to an 
organization without fear of reprisal; freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures; and the 
right to due process protections; and be it further 
RESOLVED: That We, your Memorialists, on behalf of the people we represent, take this 
opportunity to call upon our United States Representatives and Senators to review and, where 
warranted, strengthen laws to ensure law enforcement agencies have the necessary tools to 
prevent and prosecute acts of mass violence and domestic terrorism committed within the 
boundaries of our nation, as long as the laws do not infringe upon fundamental rights and 
liberties as recognized and enshrined in the United States Constitution and its amendments; and 
be it further 
RESOLVED: That suitable copies of the resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of 
State, be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United 
States House of Representatives and each member of the Maine Congressional Delegation as 
well as the members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation. 
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