Beverly Hills To Consider Demonstration Restriction

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The City of Beverly Hills will consider an ordinance to restrict demonstrations around schools and students in response to Wednesday's anti-vaccine protest, according to Councilmember Lili Bosse.

Anti-vaccine protesters followed Hawthorne Elementary School students and parents on their walk to school Wednesday while holding signs and yelling about California's recent student vaccine mandate. The protest has become the focus of local and national conversation, and Beverly Hills personnel continue to speak out against the tactics used in the demonstration.

The ordinance would prohibit demonstrations within 300 feet of a middle or elementary school during the school day with buffer time for drop-off and pickup. The ordinance would also prohibit demonstrators from following students to or from school and interfering with a permitted event or protest, according an agenda report from the City Attorney.

The ordinance will be considered in two forms: as an urgency ordinance, which would become effective immediately with a majority vote, and as a regular ordinance, which would require a second reading and would become effective 30 days after the second reading.

Tomorrow, the Beverly Hills City Council will consider an ordinance banning demonstrations within 300 feet of elementary and middle schools, according to Councilmember Lili Bosse. This comes after a contentious anti-vaccine mandate protest at Hawthorne Elementary on Oct. 6. pic.twitter.com/hDgdIH0YUs
— The Beverly Hills Courier (@BHCourier) October" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/BHCourier/... 12, 2021

The ordinance will be considered at a special city council meeting held virtually Tuesday at 7 p.m. The meeting can be viewed live or on demand on the City's website. Members of the public can submit public comment via email to cityclerk@beverlyhills.org before 12 p.m. Tuesday, via phone at 310-288-2288 or during the public comment portion of the live meeting.

Police, Firefighters Respond

Beverly Hills Police Chief Dominick Rivetti addressed Wednesday's anti-vaccine protest at Hawthorne Elementary School, and the Beverly Hills Firefighter's Association expressed its disapproval of the protest after initially promoting it.

The Beverly Hills Firefighters' Association, a labor representative for most of the Beverly Hills firefighters, posted a flyer for the protest on its Instagram story. The post was "extremely disappointing" to the city, Beverly Hills' chief communications officer Keith Sterling said.

The association was under the impression the protest would be peaceful, association President Victor Gutierrez wrote in an Instagram post Sunday. When they realized the protest might be disruptive, they removed the flier and told their members not to support the event, Gutierrez said.

"We did not have a single member or supporter at the event and we do not support any group that encourages intimidation or fear. We care deeply about our community and our top priority is to re-establish the level of service that they deserve from the City," Gutierrez said on Instagram.

The statement was posted as a caption to a screenshot of criticism from Beverly Hills council member John Mirisch.

"BHFA has made it clear that its leadership stands with people who harass and scare our schoolchildren and their parents. I never thought the level of self-entitlement and disrespect for our Community could reach such lows," Mirisch wrote on Facebook.

The Beverly Hills Police Department will review footage from the protest to check if any violations of the law occurred, Rivetti said in a letter to the community Saturday. There were BHPD officers present at the protest.

"While we respect the rights of all to exercise their first amendment rights, the tone expressed in the presence of young children and families participating in the walk was most unfortunate," Rivetti said in the letter.

BHPD will continue to work to ensure the safety of students and parents walking to school, Rivetti said. This will include having more police officers present during a demonstration and creating a distanced area for protesters near the school.

Rivetti will speak about the protest at Tuesday's Beverly Hills Unified School District board meeting.

Background

California became the first state to mandate vaccines for all eligible students on Oct. 1. The move proved controversial, and protesters have since spoken out against the mandate across Los Angeles and the state.

Many Beverly Hills parents walked their kids to school Wednesday as part of a national Walk to School Day along with Mayor Bob Wunderlich and Rachelle Marcus, president of the Beverly Hills Unified School District's board of education.

Protesters met students and their families outside Kelly's Coffee & Fudge Factory, which is about a half-mile away from Hawthorne, and walked with them all the way to the school.

In videos, protesters can be heard trying to engage parents and children, calling masks "child abuse" and likening vaccine mandates to sexual assault. The protesters argued that Walk to School day was "another manipulation and photo op," according to a flyer for the protest.

This story was updated at 7:20 p.m. to include a breaking news update.

Read More:

• Anti-Vaccine Protesters Take On School Students, Parents
• Anti-Mask Protesters Gather Outside Hawthorne Elementary