The Mackinac Bridge refers to prompt security for prompt laws for strict crimes

The current criminal penalty for violating on the Mackinac bridge is just a crime.

That easy punishment, the parliamentarians say, does not match the significant safety, security and economic problems caused by any disturbance of the strong Mac operations.

This is why a group of Bipartidian parliamentarians aims to raise criminal sanctions because it entered the bridge from the current 30 -day offense to a criminal offense with up to four years in prison.

“This essential and iconic structure is a symbol of identification of our state,” said on Monday, February 24, the state senator of Bill, the state senator. “We had some situations in recent history and this designation would have helped a lot with the criminal prosecution of the evil actors.

“This is not only in the interest of our residents here, in Michigan, but throughout the country as a symbol of national defense. My draft law will ensure that the bridge is granted the protections that it deserves correctly. “

The legislation introduced earlier this month will label the Mackinac bridge as a “key installation”, placing it along with other critical infrastructures, such as water treatment stations, power plants, fuel and dangerous waste storage, yards and ports, chemical manufacture and more.

The Mackinac Bridge, which is the only land link between the lower peninsula and the upper peninsula and has registered over 4.5 million vehicle crossings in 2024, is not currently on this list.

“Every article in this list is something that is so dangerous that an attack would cause a serious harm to our state or that it is so critical for the continuous functioning of our state,” said Damoos. “Again, these are things we cannot live without and the Mackinac bridge should definitely be on this list.”

The draft law has the support of the Transport Department of Michigan and Mackinac Bridge Authority (MBA), the independent state agency that supervises the bridge operations. The draft law is expected to receive an initial vote at the next The meeting on civil rights, judiciary and public safety of the Senate.

The legislation of stiffening of the penalties for violating the bridge comes from a 2021 bomb threat that has closed the bridge for hours and, more importantly, the failed attempt to prosecute the charges against a person. who climbed one of the bridge towers in 2020 and posted photos of the stunt on social networks.

“Both these incidents forced us to consider how much our state is based on the Mackinac Bridge,” Damoose said. “If something happened, we would be literally divided into two years. And it would cause serious danger, not only on the economy of our state, but also on the national economy. “

During an early morning in November 2020, an Ohio man climbed on the bottom of the Mackinac bridge and then above one of the bridge towers, the director of the MBA bridge, Kim Nowack, testified during the Civil Rights Committee, the Judicial System and by public safety safety.

Later, the man posted photos and videos about climbing on social networks, Nowack said.

At that time, the MBA believed that the Mackinac Bridge was already listed among the critical infrastructure considered a “key installation”, and the charges of crime under the law were brought against the man, said Nowack.

However, a judge subsequently decided that the draft key law cannot be applied due to a gap on the southern part of the bridge that is not considered closed. Nowack said the charges were returned to crime offenses.

According to the judicial documents of the Cheboygan District, the case was rejected. Nowack said the man has already spent 30 days in prison – the maximum admitted sentence for the crime – while waiting for the cases to be resolved, because he was sought in other states.

Nowack said a civil trial and has reached an undisclosed solution, Nowack said.

MBA President Patrick “Shorty” Gleason said the consolidation of the law will help to discourage people to consider trying to scald the bridge towers or it will drive other stunts.

Damoose has presented similar invoices in the last two sessions.

The first time, in 2021, the draft law received almost unanimous support in the state chamber, but never received a final vote in the Senate.

The last session, the draft law never left.