KCH vaccine mandate protesters

Close to 50 individuals stood outside Knox Community Hospital's main entrance, protesting the COVID-19 vaccine mandate put in place by the hospital in 2020. KCH released a statement later saying it would no longer require employees to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 1, as previously stated, but would require unvaccinated employees to "participate in routine COVID testing and enhanced adherence to personal protective equipment such as the wearing of N95 masks."

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MOUNT VERNON — Do citizens need to fill out a so-called “permission” form to protest on public property in Mount Vernon?

We’ve received many versions of this question and we’re ready to answer.

We spoke to the Law Director about protesting on public property in Mount Vernon, specifically the downtown square, and what is required/allowed and vice versa.

Mount Vernon Law Director Rob Boeren said there isn’t a requirement for somebody to get city permission to have a protest on the public square.

“There is a request to use the public square if you wish to use it exclusively or to use electricity (…) if you need to use city electricity, loudspeakers or amplifiers.

“Sometimes people who choose to protest on the square do fill out a request for permission so that they can use that exclusively or that they can use electricity to power amplifiers or loudspeakers,” though there isn’t a legal requirement to do so, Boeren said.

If there was someone who wished to demonstrate with a purely political message they would probably be able to use it, assuming it was peaceful, Boeren added. A commercial group could not then come up and set up while someone had a valid permit to use the entire square.

A commercial group would be an organization like the Mount Vernon Farmer’s Market.

“The city does not discriminate against viewpoints about people who protest,” Boeren said. “They are legally allowed to do that as long as they’re not disruptive.”