Los Angeles leaders directed city attorneys to draft an ordinance Tuesday that would prohibit protests within 300 feet a target’s home. The 13-1 vote, with Nithya Raman dissenting, followed a raucous demonstration against proposed vaccine mandates in the city.
“I’m just completely done,” said the motion’s sponsor Councilwoman Nury Martinez, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times. On Sunday, anti-vaccine protesters gathered outside her home, disturbed her neighbors, and used a bull horn to shout obscenities outside her daughter’s window. Earlier this year, protesters vandalized her car.
At Sunday’s protests in Santa Monica, one man held up a sign with the home addresses of the city’s council members and threatened civil war. If a vaccine mandate is implemented, “get your guns,” he told a crowd.
For 18 months, officials across the state have endured an unprecedented level of harassment from members of the public. COVID-19 health measures and police accountability have been the most polarizing issues. Similar demonstrations have impacted the lives of officials in Sacramento and San Jose, which has an ordinance similar to the one being considered by Los Angeles leaders.
A new ordinance may not be necessary, however. Los Angeles already has a law on the books prohibiting “targeted demonstrations” within 100 feet of a private residence. Councilwoman Raman said she would prefer to see stronger enforcement of the existing limits.