Title 38, Chapter 2, Section 303
( 38-2-303)
(a) Before using any military force in suppression of any riot,
rout, tumult, mob, or other lawless or unlawful assembly or
combination, it shall be the duty of the officer in command of the
force, or some person deputed by him, to command the persons
composing the riotous or unlawful assembly or mob to disperse and
return peaceably to their abodes and businesses. In no case shall it
be necessary to use any set or particular form of words in ordering
the dispersion of any riotous, tumultuous, or unlawful assembly, nor
shall any command be necessary when the officer or person, in order
to give it, would be put in imminent danger of bodily harm or loss
of life or where the unlawful assembly or mob is engaged in the
commission or perpetration of any felony, in assaulting or attacking
any civil officer or person called to aid him in the preservation of
the peace, or is otherwise engaged in actual violence to person or
property. (b) Any person or persons composing or taking part in any riot,
rout, mob, tumult, or lawless combination or assembly who, after
being duly commanded to disperse as provided in subsection (a) of
this Code section, willfully and intentionally fail to do so shall
be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five
years. |