Thursday, March 28, 2024

New California Bill Would Send ‘Karens’ to Jail Over Racist 911 Calls (Video)

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*California is now one step closer to making racially-motivated 911 calls a “hate crime” punishable by jail or a hefty fine.

AB 1775, by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Huntington Park), would increase the criminal penalties imposed when a person knowingly makes a false 911 call for the purpose of harassing another. The maximum penalty would be up to $2,000 and a year in jail. The bill also classifies blatantly false reports as a form of intimidation, allowing the victim of these calls to file a lawsuit against the person who knowingly made the false report.

The legislation was inspired by countless racial encounters that have been recorded and gone viral to incite social media fury, including the white woman in New York City’s Central Park who called 911 on a Black man because he asked her to leash her dog. There was also BBQ Becky” at Oakland’s Lake Merritt, who called police on two African-American men using a grill. And don’t forget about “Permit Patty,” who called San Francisco police to report that an 8-year-old Black girl was selling bottles of water without a permit.

The bill already passed in both the Senate and Assembly. It’s now in the hands of Gov. Gavin Newsom for review.

AB 1775 was one of several criminal justice reform bills passed Friday in California’s Senate Public Safety Committee. If signed into law, police throughout California will no longer be able to use chokeholds or rubber bullets and tear gas. They’ll also have to intervene if they see a fellow officer committing misconduct.

Watch a report about the legislation below:

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