About two dozen civil rights protesters were demonstrating today outside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s residence, demanding that he veto revisions to the city’s municipal code that make it easier to seize and destroy homeless people’s belongings.
The Los Angeles Community Action Network, the Downtown Women’s Action Coalition and other civil rights activists planned to continue their protest at the mayor’s residence until at least noon, and they might go to City Hall this afternoon, said LA CAN’s Pete White.
The protest was peaceful, with no arrests as of 9:30 a.m., the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
The protesters contend two ordinances recently approved by the City Council includes discriminatory provisions making compliance impossible for homeless residents, people with disabilities, street vendors and others. The ordinances become law July 7 if not vetoed by Garcetti.
“These changes impact anyone resting their bag on the ground at a bus stop or someone with a small cart of goods to sell, but, primarily, they will cause unhoused individuals to be targeted by law enforcement simply because they do not have a home of their own to store their property,” said Cynthia Ruffin of the Downtown Women’s Action Coalition.
Garcetti announced last week he would not sign the ordinances, which can become law without his signature, and that he would block enforcement until the City Council eliminates the misdemeanor penalty for violations and removes medicines and documents from the list of items that can be seized.
“This is not an acceptable approach,” Ruffin said. “We have no guarantees they won’t be enforced or that they will ever be amended.”
White, co-executive director of LA CAN, also pressed the mayor to veto the ordinances.
“We can’t ignore the racial dynamics and ongoing institutional racism at play here,” he said. “It’s time for Mayor Garcetti to demonstrate leadership that shows that black lives matter, instead of just empty words.”
He urged the mayor to “veto these changes instead of allowing bad law to move forward even though he knows it’s wrong.”
