2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
LRB-2156/1
CMH:kms
2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 70
February 27, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives SPIROS, BEHNKE, CALLAHAN,
DITTRICH, DONOVAN, EDMING, GREEN, KITCHENS, MOSES, MURPHY, MURSAU,
NEYLON, PENTERMAN, PLUMER, RETTINGER and ROZAR, cosponsored by Senators
WANGGAARD, BALLWEG, CABRAL-GUEVARA, JAMES and MARKLEIN. Referred to
Committee on Judiciary.
1 AN ACT to create 947.065 of the statutes; relating to: participation in a riot and
2 providing a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill makes it a Class I felony to urge, promote, organize, encourage, or
instigate others to commit a riot and a Class H felony to intentionally commit an act
of violence while participating in a riot.
The bill defines a “riot” as a public disturbance that involves an act of violence,
as part of an assembly of at least three persons, that constitutes a clear and present
danger of property damage or personal injury or a threat of an act of violence, as part
of an assembly of at least three persons having the ability of immediate execution of
the threat, if the threatened action constitutes a clear and present danger of property
damage or personal injury.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,
the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a
report.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
3 SECTION 1. 947.065 of the statutes is created to read:
4 947.065 Rioting. (1) In this section:
 2023 - 2024 Legislature -2- LRB-2156/1
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ASSEMBLY BILL 70 SECTION 1
1 (a) “Incite” means to urge, promote, organize, encourage, or instigate other
2 persons. “Incite” does not mean to advocate, orally or in writing, ideas or expressions
3 of belief that do not involve urging, promoting, organizing, encouraging, or
4 instigating or to assert, orally or in writing, the rightness of, or the right to commit,
5 an act.
6 (b) “Riot” means a public disturbance involving at least one of the following:
7 1. An act of violence by one or more persons that are part of an assembly of at
8 least 3 persons, that results in or constitutes a clear and present danger of damage
9 to the property of any other person or injury to another person.
10 2. A threat of the commission of an act of violence by one or more persons that
11 are part of an assembly of at least 3 persons having, individually or collectively, the
12 ability to immediately execute the threat, if the performance of the threatened act
13 of violence constitutes a clear and present danger of damage to the property of any
14 other person or injury to another person.
15 (2) Whoever intentionally incites another to commit a riot is guilty of a Class
16 I Felony.
17 (3) Whoever intentionally commits an act of violence while participating in a
18 riot is guilty of a Class H Felony.
19 (END)