View Comments
In a settlement with protestors arrested at the Capitol last summer, the Iowa Department of Public Safety will no longer ban them from entering the building, and will pay them $70,000.
Five protestors sued Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens last October in U.S. District Court, arguing the blanket ban they received from law enforcement officials was illegal. The group was among 17 protestors Des Moines police arrested on charges of disorderly conduct or assault at the Capitol on July 1, 2020.
After their arrests, the protestors received letters from the Iowa State Patrol telling them they were banned from the Capitol grounds for up to a year. The agency cited a trespassing statute in state law.