LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — After last weekend's "No Kings" protest in Downtown Las Vegas, organizers took to social media to voice their frustrations — particularly about some red tape they say they encountered during the organization process.
WATCH | 'No Kings' protest organizers voice concerns with Metro, City of Las Vegas
Another demonstration was held this Saturday at Boca Park. I met up with Beth Osborne from Indivisible Las Vegas, the organizers behind the previous "No Kings protest," to get their perspective on those concerns firsthand.
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"We are very committed to being transparent to our members and our community about this journey about free speech in Las Vegas," Osborne said.
She tells me that this is the reason for a letter recently posted to their website detailing several concerns.
Indivisible Las Vegas' main focus is on the conflicting messages they say they received from Metro and the City of Las Vegas about required insurance policies for large events and protests that close off streets.
"There's insurance from Metro and the City, but this was never discussed or defined, and if you look at the special events book from the city it says certificate of insurance singular," Osborne said. "... You'd think, oh the City and Metro are together. So, Metro did waive it, but 48 hours before we found out that the City wasn't going to, so that would be an additional $16,000 dollars."
We reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) and to the City of Las Vegas via email on Friday for a response on the organization's claims. LVMPD has not gotten back to us but the City did.
A spokesperson for the City of Las Vegas told us in a statement that "The City clarified that [the City and Metro] are separate entities... and that the City could not waive [their] insurance requirement for an event impacting the public right of way."
They also shared that rates were set by the insurance company not the City itself. You can read their responses to some of the concerns presented below.
"The sidewalks in the city of Las Vegas are free speech areas.
There are fees for insurance for large scale events and protests that may cause road closures etc. there is a permitting process through the government jurisdiction and Metro Police Special events. The insurance amount varies depending on what it is the event organizer wants to do.
The amount is set by the insurance company they are using not the city of Las Vegas. In the case of this protest the organizer was speaking with Metro, and they offered to waive insurance. The organizer thought that Metro was speaking on behalf of themselves and the city. The city clarified that we are separate entities and that city could not waive our insurance requirement for an event impacting the public right of way."
At the end of it all, Osborne said that Indivisible Las Vegas ended up paying $25,000 to stage their protest last weekend, which they believe creates a barrier to free speech.
"If you want to express that, no matter what it is or what your complaint is against the government, you should be able to do that in a place that is not so cost-prohibitive or so narrow in scope that it dilutes everything that you'd be able to do," Osborne voiced.
We took this concern as well to the City, with the spokesperson telling us in response that "the sidewalks in the City of Las Vegas are free speech areas."
Osborne says they want to see more than that, which is why they're working on hosting more events at parks and amphitheaters in the future — though those locations require their own permits too.
Indivisible Las Vegas organizers tell me that they hope to sit down with the City of Las Vegas and LVMPD soon. In the meantime, they'll keep planning demonstrations throughout the valley.
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