The city of Los Angeles passed an ordinance on Tuesday that would prevent the homeless from camping near schools and daycare centers, triggering demonstrations from members of Antifa and advocates for the homeless who broke through barricades and threatened council members.
The bill expands on a measure previously passed that prevents homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers.
Immediately prior to the vote, the council went into recess when several Antifa protesters blew past the temporary barricades to enter the chamber.
Los Angeles #Antifa militant Ricci Sergienko was arrested at the Los Angeles city council meeting today. Far-left extremists are trying to prevent the city from voting to ban encampments around schools & daycare centers. pic.twitter.com/70FOgGnrFS
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) August 9, 2022
The protesters claim the initiative would further isolate and negatively impact the homeless community.
Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian, who represents the Second District, described the protest as an “attack” that included verbal threats against the lawmakers.
“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 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.”
During the incident, one sergeant and two Security Services Division officers who are responsible for the safety and security of City buildings were injured.
This is a different angle of the Antifa attack.
The Los Angeles City Council is voting to expand 41.18- an ordinance which pretty much outlaws homelessness. https://t.co/aVWTBlbuBI
— Notorious TDB (@TinaDesireeBerg) August 9, 2022
As usual, there were good ideas coming from Twitter.
Protesters should invite the homeless to go camp out at their homes and not on the streets. https://t.co/DGX7s12eAh #FoxNews
— Brad Peters (@the_brad_peters) August 10, 2022
Does this qualify as an insurrection?https://t.co/jqJX09K16p
— All Things Considered (@bis_in_die_420) August 10, 2022
Hard to argue with this.
This is exactly how sick these people are – they are more concerned with "isolat[ing] and negatively impacting the homeless", than protecting the children from the filth, drug use, and criminality.https://t.co/Rljx78jnn4
— Unedited (@UneditedView) August 10, 2022
Antifa isn’t serious about protecting the right of the homeless to piss, crap, puke, and rant anywhere they wish. Its goal is disruption; its methodology is mayhem. It doesn’t matter what the issue is as long as Antifa members can afflict the comfortable.
“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.”
Tuesday’s vote expanded on a provision that cleared the chamber last week, also by an 11-3 vote, that initially barred homeless encampments to schools and day care centers specifically identified by the council. Protesters similarly interrupted last week’s city council meeting on Aug. 2.
“There can never be any excuse or rationalization for this kind of anarchic lawlessness,” Krekorian added. “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.”
The solution to the homeless problem will never be enacted because it involves involuntarily housing the mentally ill. The vast majority of homeless people have mental problems, and for many, self-medication is their only treatment. Ordering them into treatment facilities where they will be encouraged to take their medication and attend counseling is the only practical solution, although it probably runs afoul of the Constitution.
The days are long gone when we could simply lock these people away and forget about them. But the solution of homeless advocates — let them roam free and treat them “on the fly” — doesn’t work either. Until both sides of this debate recognize the flaws in their arguments, the homeless problem is only going to get worse.
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