Bellevue City Council bans targeted protests outside private homes

The Bellevue City Council last week banned targeted protests outside private homes in response to past demonstrations at residences, including those of elected leaders like U.S. House Rep. Adam Smith.

The City Council voted 6-1 to approve the ordinance, which bars four or more people from protesting together in a way that is "targeted, directed or focused" at a particular person inside a home, or at the household itself. The ordinance makes "targeted residential protest" a gross misdemeanor.

Council members and city officials said the ordinance is meant to curb harassment and intimidation of the person being targeted by a demonstration, as well as others in their home and neighborhood. Councilmember Naren Briar, the sole "no" vote, called the ordinance too broad. Opponents who spoke at last Tuesday's council meeting expressed concern about the ordinance infringing on First Amendment rights.

Other cities in recent years have enacted policies aimed at protests outside private homes. The Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance in 2021 banning targeted protests within 300 feet of a residential dwelling. In 2022, the Vancouver, Washington, City Council approved an ordinance after seeing an increase in demonstrations outside the homes of city officials, employees and volunteers.

Bellevue didn't mention Smith, a Democrat who represents Washington's 9th Congressional District, by name, but the lawmaker confirmed he spoke with city officials about his concerns with protests outside his Bellevue home. In 2023, his house was vandalized by people advocating for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. In other instances, groups - he called them "screaming lunatics" - shouted outside his home in the middle of the night.

"Threatening, intimidating, harassing the families of elected officials in their private residences is a direct threat to our representative democracy," Smith said in an interview.

Bellevue City Manager Diane Carlson said multiple protests have targeted people where they live, with residents being "captive audiences" subjected to offensive speech. With nothing in the Bellevue City Code addressing these types of protests, the city had little authority to mitigate impacts to residents, she added.

"We believe this is balancing and reconciling the rights of protesters to express their views and the rights of residents to enjoy privacy and tranquility in their homes," Carlson said at the City Council meeting.

The ordinance doesn't ban protests in residential neighborhoods outright and doesn't apply in commercial or mixed-used districts, City Attorney Trisna Tanus said. She cited the Supreme Court case Frisby v. Schultz, which ruled ordinances banning protests in front of residential homes are valid under the First Amendment if they are content-neutral and serve a legitimate government interest in protecting residents' homes.

Councilmember Claire Sumadiwirya said the ordinance brought up hard topics, because she believes deeply in the right to protest, and she also remembers when, soon after she was appointed to her seat, someone called her personal phone number and her young child picked up the phone.

"That was scary," she said. "I want to share this with our audience, because I see you. I understand you. But as a mom with three young children, it is a very scary place to be. Even with somebody just calling me. I cannot imagine if they showed up at my door … I just believe that home should be your sacred place. That's where you protect the people you love the most."

Councilmembers spoke about their own experiences of feeling harassed or intimidated, while public comment testimony focused primarily on demonstrations outside Smith's home. Joseph Ostheller, a member of Seattle Against War, said the congressman was inaccessible through other avenues, which Smith emphatically denied.

"The escalation to be at his house is because he leaves us no other option," Ostheller said during the meeting. "The ordinance would be another fence put between those in power and those who are impacted by his decisions."

In an interview, Smith said there are "1,000 different ways" to contact his office and he's been accessible throughout his career.

"If they don't think that I'm being sufficiently responsive, then go organize a (expletive) campaign, all right?" he said.

Tanus said the city will create an implementation plan to train police officers on the new policy.

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