Protesters Threaten L.A. Lawmakers during Vote to Ban Homeless Encampments Near Schools
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Protesters barged into a Los Angeles City Council meeting Tuesday and threatened lawmakers voting to expand a ban on homeless encampments near schools.
Before the council could decide the measure, protesters who argued it would disenfranchise the city’s homeless population breached a security barricade and upset the meeting, forcing the members to call a recess. Police arrested two activists, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The council then resumed the meeting and voted 11-3 on a bill to extend an existing prohibition on building homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian, who represents the Second District, confirmed that some activists intimidated lawmakers with verbal threats and were combative with law enforcement.
“In yet another attack on constitutional democracy, for the second time in a week, a small mob of extremists today again shut down a public meeting of the City Council,” Krekorian said in a statement. “In the process, they breached a security barrier, physically threatened the Council, and attacked police officers. One of them was arrested two feet from my desk.”
One sergeant and two Security Services Division officers on watch at the meeting were hurt during the disruption. Some protesters were particularly unruly, with one female shouting and jumping over the bench separating members of the public and city council members. She was detained by police shortly after, LAPD said.
Law enforcement implied they were met with resistance when they tried to arrest and detain some protesters and calm the commotion.
“Officers were involved in a minor use of force while attempting to make the arrests,” LAPD said. Protesters were kicked out and order was restored so the meeting could continue.
“The unlawful assembly was declared at 11:07 a.m., and the crowd was given 30 minutes to disperse. The crowd dispersed as ordered while the Media remained. At approximately 11:40 a.m., Council reconvened, voted and approved 41.18 LAMC,” the police statement reads.
A city council meeting last week was also disrupted by about 100 angry audience attendees, it notes.
“There can never be any excuse or rationalization for this kind of anarchic lawlessness,” Krekorian said. “The people of our nation cannot tolerate raging extremists entering public buildings and threatening public officials with the intent to shut down the government, no matter what their viewpoints may be.”
Opponents of the bill claim it ostracizes homeless people by making them uproot their living situations. However, proponents of the bill claim it protects children who attend the school in the area and whose safety is risked when they walk by the homeless encampments where some individuals openly use drugs and are mentally deranged.
Many residents living in major California cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco complain that crime, homelessness, and drug abuse have spiraled out of control. Progressive prosecutors who’ve championed “soft-on-crime” policies and accommodative approaches to homelessness have been dealt much of the blame. After San Francisco voters recalled former district attorney Chesa Bourdin, Los Angeles County district attorney George Gascon may be next on the chopping block given growing discontent with his leadership. A June poll of Long Beach voters found that nearly half support the recall of Gascon, with 32.4 percent rating homelessness as the top issue and 18.7 percent rating crime as the top issue.
