Gatto Looks to Curb Sporting Event Attacks

The office of Assemblyman Mike Gatto, who represents North Hollywood, issued the following press release earlier today:

Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) announced today that he will introduce legislation to deter assaults and fighting at sporting events.  The legislation comes after a very rough year in California sports that saw Giants fan Bryan Stow savagely beaten at a Dodgers game, and this past weekend’s shootings of two men at the 49ers-Raiders game at Candlestick Park. 

Gatto has asked the Legislature's counsel to draft language to create sentencing enhancements for fighting at sporting events, and to create a fund, paid into by California's major sports franchises, that would pay for rewards in certain instances.

"I know a lot of parents who are afraid to take their kids to a ballgame," said Gatto. "That's not the California that I know." 

Since the deadline for introducing bills in the 2011 Legislative session has passed, Gatto has not decided yet whether he will seek to insert these provisions in an existing bill, or to get this bill heard as part of a potential special session later this year. He will ask the Assembly’s Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Committee, on which he sits, to convene a special proceeding to vet his proposal and others with testimony from sports-security experts, law enforcement, and experts with experience in novel security procedures. 

Stow, a paramedic and father of two, was attacked from behind in the Dodger Stadium parking lot on March 31, and is in a medically induced coma because of the extensive brain damage he suffered. His alleged attackers were finally apprehended after a long search, due to help from members of the public.

Police in the Bay Area are still searching for suspects in the shooting of two fans at this weekend’s football game as well as suspects in the beating of a fan in a stadium bathroom, leaving the victim unconscious."There are many things worth fighting for,” said Gatto. “The fact that someone wore a rival sports franchise's jersey to a game isn't one of them.”