State Rep. Allen Treadaway (R-Morris) said he’s planning to bring up an “anti-riot” bill sometime this legislative session.

In 2022, Treadaway tried to pass a bill that required mandatory jail time for people arrested under a new definition of rioting, but the law failed to make it through the State Senate.

The bill would have redefined riot as “The assemblage of five or more persons engaging in conduct which creates an immediate danger of and/or results in damage to property or injury to persons.”

Treadaway discussed the need to pass a similar bill during a recent appearance on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal.”

“It was a need that I believed then, and more so now because of what we’re seeing in this country,” Treadaway said. “The bill got out of the House two years in a row. I did not bring it last year. I think there’s a need to bring it back because we’re starting to see these protests at colleges, we’re starting to see them at parades, and law enforcement has to have an additional tool to help them keep the public and themselves safe.”

The lawmaker said he wants to make some changes to the way the bill is written before he introduces it this year.

“I’m looking at it and trying to address some things in the bill,” he said. “There were some concerns on both sides of the aisle. And hopefully we can come up with something that gives law enforcement the tools, so you can probably expect it later this session.”

RELATED: Anti-rioting bill strengthening crimes against first responders passes Alabama House (2022)

Treadaway addressed some of the critics of the bill who argue it would interfere with peaceful protests and infringe on freedom of speech.

“If you look at the bill, it only kicks in when you start looting stores, setting them on fire, or assaulting public safety or other folks on the scene,” he explained. “That’s the only time it kicks in. So no part of that is peaceful. But emotions run high and we’re going to try to bring the bill again and then address those areas and define them because what I’m trying to do here is protect the citizens and public safety here.”

He also encouraged his colleagues to actually read the legislation before they raise any objections.

“And if you read the bill completely, and I tell folks that when they are opposed to it because of what they hear, but when you read it, when they come back to me they don’t find a problem with the bill,” he said. “So we’re not talking about peaceful protests, we’re talking about folks who are violating the law and putting lives in danger before this bill even kicks in.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee