Found out my local city hall charges $45 for a protest permit and I had no idea

Was looking up rules for a small rally next weekend and stumbled on the city website. Turns out you need a permit for any group of 10 or more people on public property. And it costs $45. Never would have guessed that. Just thought you could show up anywhere. Has anyone else run into surprise fees like this for a protest or march?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah3201mo ago

Used to think protesting was totally free. Like, just show up with a sign and you're good. But seeing that fee makes me wonder if it's just another way to slow people down. Kinda changed my mind on the whole thing.

gavin2281mo ago

Our group ran into the same thing last year. We split into smaller groups of like 8 people each and met at different parts of the park so we didn't technically hit the 10 person rule. No one bothered us. Another time we just paid the fee and split it between everyone. Came out to like $2 a person which was nothing. Honestly the permit process was annoying but we got it done in like 15 minutes online. The fee sucked but it wasn't a deal breaker for us.

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fiona_kim1mo ago

Split my group of 15 into two bunches and we just walked like 50 feet apart through the whole protest. Nobody said a word to us. Worked way better than trying to explain the whole permit thing to everyone.