The statewide DFL Party has slammed a Republican piece of legislation that would prohibit protests that take place outside a person’s private residence.
The bill, HF 2809, is authored by Rep. Walter Hudson and has over two dozen co-authors, all of whom are Republican. The bill was originally introduced in March of 2025, but is scheduled for a hearing later today.
According to the bill, anyone who “who protests before or about the residence or dwelling of any person, except when the residence or dwelling is used as a place of business,” would be guilty of a misdemeanor. Repeat offenders would be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
The bill “does not prohibit the peaceful protesting of the place of holding a meeting or assembly on premises commonly used to discuss subjects of general public interest.”
Speaking to Jon Justice on Twin Cities News Talk radio Tuesday, Hudson said “it’s entirely appropriate to prohibit protest at somebody’s residence; I don’t care who they are. This would apply to every person in Minnesota, every residence in Minnesota.”
Elaborating, the second-term Republican said, “There are plenty of other ways in the year 2026 to make your voice heard and to register your dissent from whatever it is you feel people are doing that you disagree with.
“The idea that you’re going to go to their house and disturb the peaceful enjoyment of their property, and terrorize neighbors and children and family, should be completely outside the bounds of what we consider acceptable behavior in polite society,” added Hudson.
In recent years, Minnesota has seen several protests take place outside the private homes of public figures.
Among them was the 2020 protest outside the home of then-Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll. At that protest, dozens of agitators harassed neighborhood residents and smashed effigies of Kroll and his wife, Liz Collin.
Left-wing protests have occurred outside GOP State Sen. Warren Limmer’s home and the home of a Washington County official involved in the Kim Potter case. Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s home has also been targeted by protesters.
Last year, Hudson said an individual was publicly encouraging people to protest outside his home.
The Minnesota DFL Party reacted to Hudson’s bill on Tuesday, saying, “Minnesotans protest because Republicans aren’t doing their jobs. Instead of fixing that, the GOP wants to make protesting a crime.”
Speaking about his bill Tuesday, Hudson said, “It has no encroachment whatsoever on the First Amendment. You don’t have a First Amendment right to come into my house and start yelling at me at my bed; same thing goes with my property more generally.”
Alpha News reached out to Hudson’s office to ask if his bill would prohibit protests that occur outside the governor’s mansion in St. Paul. Protests at that location have become more and more frequent in recent years.
“My understanding is that the bill would not prohibit protest at the governor’s mansion due to its status as one of our ‘meeting/assembly locations open to public discourse,'” Hudson told Alpha News. “The governor’s mansion is more than a residence.”
“That said, I would not be opposed to a broader interpretation,” he added. “I do not believe any residence should be subject to disruption.”
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
