O27091
City Council Meeting July 21, 2022 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2709 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 4.08.780 TO
PROMOTE THE PUBLIC SAFETY AND WELFARE BY PROHIBITING CERTAIN
ITEMS AT PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES AND COMMUNITY EVENTS
WHEREAS, the City Council supports peaceful protests, public assemblies, and
community events, and the rights of individuals under the First Amendment to the United
States Constitution and the Liberty of Speech Clause of the California Constitution to
engage in expressive activities in public forums such as the City’s sidewalks, streets,
and public parks; and
WHEREAS, the City Council seeks to promote the safety and welfare of those
who engage in peaceful protests, public assemblies, and community events, as well as
the safety and welfare of City residents, City businesses, and City visitors who encounter
and are affected by such peaceful protests, public assemblies, and community events;
and
WHEREAS, the City Council is mindful of the legal principles relating to regulation
of activity in public forums such as the City’s sidewalks, streets, and public parks and
does not intend by this ordinance to unconstitutionally suppress or infringe expressive
activities protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution or the
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Liberty of Speech Clause of the California Constitution, but instead is enacting
reasonable content-neutral time, place, and manner regulations that address the need to
prevent violent, dangerous, and hazardous situations from arising during peaceful
protests, public assemblies, and community events, and so promote the public safety
and welfare of those engaging in such peaceful protests, public assemblies, and
community events, as well as those City residents, City businesses, and City visitors
who encounter and are affected by such peaceful protests, public assemblies, and
community events; and
WHEREAS, it is the intent of the City Council in issuing this ordinance to ensure
that protests, public assemblies, and community events are conducted in ways that
permit those assembling to engage in expressive activities intended to convey their
message to the public while at the same time ensuring that the protests, public
assemblies, and community events are peaceful and safe; and
WHEREAS, there is an increasing concern about violence at public events and
about violent clashes at such events between those with opposing views, and numerous
public protests, demonstrations, and rallies conducted throughout the nation in cities
such as Washington, D.C.; Charlottesville, Virginia; St. Louis, Missouri; and Portland,
Oregon, and throughout California, in cities such as Berkeley, Laguna Beach, Long
Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Santa Monica have erupted in violence between
demonstrators and counterdemonstrators and violence against law enforcement
personnel; and
WHEREAS, at these events, devices such as wooden sticks, plastic and metal
pipes, bats, chains, and various types of projectiles (such as rocks, concrete, pellets,
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glass bottles, and ball bearings), as well as certain types of containers, including, but not
limited to, glass bottles, metal containers, balloons, super soakers, and toy or replica
guns, filled with flammable or noxious substances (such as gasoline or urine), as well as
aerosol sprays deployed to cause flames or attack olfactory systems, and other items
have been used as improvised weapons resulting in injuries and property damage.
Demonstrators, counter-demonstrators, and others have also carried shields, worn gas
masks, helmets, and body armor, thrown objects at police, used fire accelerant to light
fires, and used large sticks as weapons to threaten bodily harm and to attack
businesses; and
WHEREAS, in light of these circumstances and to protect the public safety and
welfare, a number of California cities, including Berkeley, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles,
Modesto, and Oakland have put in place ordinances prohibiting, or authorizing the
issuance of regulations prohibiting, the carrying at protests, public assemblies, and
community events of items such as those listed above that can readily be used as
weapons; and
WHEREAS, as an example, the adoption of such an ordinance in Charlottesville,
Virginia, was predicated on an after-action report that found that weapons carried by
AltRight demonstrators and those in Charlottesville to oppose them increased both the
quantum and seriousness of violence and recommended the adoption of the ordinance
because if the individuals engaged in the acts of violence had been unarmed, there
would have been fewer and less dangerous encounters; and
WHEREAS, as another example, the adoption of such an ordinance in Berkeley
was an effort to prevent violence and injuries of the type that occurred at a protest where
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some participants arrived with metal pipes, baseball bats, lengths of 2” x 4” lumber
(some with nails in them), bricks, pepper spray, mace, daggers, combat shields, poles,
axe handles, hatchets, and similar items; and
WHEREAS, in light of the foregoing, the City Council adopted an emergency
ordinance on August 24, 2021, which prohibited the carrying of objects that may be used
to commit violent acts upon persons during protests, and which expired on June 30,
2022; and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica continues to experience protests and
counter-protests, including, most recently on July 16, 2022 (in response to the
overturning by the United State Supreme Court of the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade,
legalizing abortion) with continuing potential for dangerous counters to participating
protestors, at-large members of the public, and Santa Monica police officers acting in the
course of their duties to keep the peace; and
WHEREAS, in issuing this ordinance, the City Council takes notice of the
principles and decisions regarding the regulation of public assemblies, including but not
limited to the following:
1. Public streets, sidewalks, and parks are the archetypes of a traditional public
forum where the government cannot favor one speaker over another based on the
viewpoint of the speaker. See Frisby v. Schultz, 487 U.S. 474, 480-81 (1988); see also
Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of the Univ. of Virginia, 515 U.S. 819, 828 (1995). The
government may regulate First Amendment activities in traditional public fora, such as
streets, sidewalks, and parks when such restrictions are reasonable time, place, and
manner restrictions that are: content neutral; narrowly tailored to serve a significant
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government interest; and leave open ample alternative channels of communication. See
Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund , 473 U.S. 788, 799-800 (1985);
see also Klein v. San Diego County, 463 F.3d 1029, 1037 (9th Cir. 2006); Bay Area Peace
Navy v. United States, 914 F.2d 1224 (9th Cir. 1990).
2. The First Amendment does not protect violence. See N.A.A.C.P v. Claiborne
Hardware Co., 458 U.S. 886, 916 (1982).
3. In response to potential angry or inflammatory speech, the City may increase
its police presence; enact security measures to ensure the safety of the public; arrest those
who actually engage in violent conduct; and enact time, place, and manner regulations to
maintain safety during public events. See Collins v. Jordan, 110 F.3d 1363, 1372 (9th Cir.
1996); see also Walker v. City of Birmingham, 388 U.S. 307 (1967); Long Beach Area
Peace Network v. City of Long Beach, 574 F.3d 1011, 1024 (9th Cir. 2009).
4. The City has a substantial interest in safeguarding its citizens against
violence and in protecting demonstrators, the public, and the police alike. See Hill v.
Colorado, 530 U.S. 703, 724-25 (2000); see also Vlasak v. Superior Court, 329 F.3d 683,
689 (9th Cir. 2003). Specifically, case law has confirmed that the City may enact
regulations to restrict at demonstrations and other public assemblies and community
events the possession of objects that may be used as weapons. The City takes legislative
notice of the City of Los Angeles’s regulations, codified at Los Angeles Municipal Code
Section 55.07, restricting certain objects at demonstrations, and has modeled this
Supplement in keeping with these regulations and the predecessor Los Angeles provisions
validated by the Ninth Circuit in Vlasak, 329 F.3d at 689. See also Edwards v. City of
Coeur D’Alene, 262 F.3d 856, 863 & 866 (9th Cir. 2001).
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WHEREAS, it is imperative that individuals engaging in peaceful expressive
public activity, as well as members of the public and law enforcement personnel who
encounter such activity, do so without fear of violence and without suffering injury; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance provides a narrowly tailored content-neutral
mechanism to reduce the risk of violence at demonstrations, rallies, protests,
counterprotests, picket lines, marches, community events, or public assemblies in the
City of Santa Monica by, among other things: limiting items (such as wooden sticks,
metal and plastic pipes, baseball bats, aerosol sprays, weapons, glass bottles, metal
contains, shields, gas masks, helmets, body armor, bricks, and rocks) that can, and have
been weaponized at protests, public assemblies, and community events, while still
allowing for peaceful expressive activity; and
WHEREAS, the restrictions on use of specified items during public assembly and
community events adopted in this ordinance are necessary in order to protect the public
health, safety and welfare by providing a mechanism to limit and prevent violence and
promote peaceful assembly. These are content-neutral time, place, and manner
restrictions that allow for peaceful public expressive activity and are narrowly tailored to
address the City’s interest in safety and preventing violence and to the extent they
burden expressive activity they leave ample alternatives for communication. The
regulations make protests, public assemblies, and community events safer by banning
objects that can readily be weaponized without depriving people of the opportunity to
demonstrate, rally, protest, counter-protest, picket, march, assemble or otherwise
engage in peaceful free speech activities; and
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WHEREAS, this ordinance is presented for adoption as an emergency ordinance,
to be introduced, adopted, and immediately effective upon its passage by at least five
affirmative votes, pursuant to City Charter Section 615, because of an anticipated
continuing protests and counter-protests involving groups that have previously engaged
in targeted violence against each other in connection with similar protests and
counterprotests in the very recent past, as well as the uncertainty and unpredictability of
when one or more individuals may choose to seize the opportunity of an otherwise
peaceful protest or public assembly to engage in violent conduct of the type intended to
be addressed and mitigated by this ordinance; and
WHEREAS, on July 21, 2022, the City Council held a public meeting during which
it considered the adoption of this emergency ordinance pursuant to Santa Monica City
Charter Section 615, both of which allow the adoption of emergency ordinances to take
effect immediately to ensure the immediate preservation of the public peace, health,
safety, and general welfare in the City of Santa Monica; and
WHEREAS, the City Council hereby finds that: the revisions to the Santa Monica
Municipal Code implemented by this emergency ordinance are immediately necessary
as an emergency measure in order to preserve the public health, safety, and welfare by
promoting peaceful protests, public assemblies, and community events while preventing
violence and property destruction at such protests, public assemblies, and community
events;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
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SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.08.780, Prohibition against
using dangerous sticks and poles, is hereby amended to read as follows:
4.08.780 Restrictions on use of specified items during community events and
public assemblies.
(a) The following terms as used in this Section have the following meanings:
(1) “Community event” means any activity, assembly, gathering,
meeting, event, protest, counter-protest, demonstration, picket line, parade, rally, or
march for which a permit is required under Santa Monica Municipal Code Section
4.68.040 and any administrative regulations promulgated thereunder.
(2) “Community Events Committee” means the Community Events
Committee, as defined by Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.68.020.
(3) “Public assembly” means any activity, assembly, gathering, meeting,
event, protest, counter-protest, demonstration, picket line, parade, rally, or march for
which a permit is not required under Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.68.040 and
any administrative regulations promulgated thereunder.
(b) While participating in any community event or public assembly, no person
shall use, carry, or possess any of the following items or articles:
(1) If affixed to and being used to support a sign, poster, banner,
placard, notice, puppet, or other expressive display, any length of lumber, wood, wood
lath, or plastic pipe, whether hollow or solid, if that object is sharpened on either end or
has affixed to either end any sharpened item of any material;
(2) If not affixed to and being used to support a sign, poster, banner,
placard, notice, puppet, or other expressive display: (i) any length of lumber, wood, or
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wood lath, excluding only a pencil or other wooden writing instrument; and (ii) any length
of plastic pipe, whether hollow or solid, excluding only a plastic pen or other plastic
writing instrument;
(3) Any length of metal pipe, whether hollow or solid, excluding only a
metal pen or other metal writing instrument;
(4) Any baseball or softball bat, regardless of composition or size;
(5) Any aerosol spray, including tear gas, mace, pepper spray, smoke
canister, or bear repellent;
(6) Any projectile launcher or other device, such as a catapult or wrist
rocket, that is commonly used for the purpose of launching, hurling, or throwing any
object, liquid, material, or other substance, whether through force of air pressure, spring
action, or any other mechanism;
(7) Any chain greater than 20 inches in length or greater than ¼ inch in
diameter;
(8) Any knives, daggers, swords, sabers, other bladed devices, axes,
axe handles, hatchets, billy clubs, ice picks, razor blades, nunchucks or other martial
arts weapons of any kind, box cutters, pellet or BB guns, improvised explosive devices
(IEDs), dynamite, conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) including, but not limited to,
tasers or stun guns, metal/composite/wooden knuckles, or toy or replica firearms.
(9) Any container, including, but not limited to, balloons, bottles, water
cannons, super-soakers, or toy or replica firearms, filled with any flammable, biohazard,
or other noxious matter that is injurious, or nauseous, sickening, or irritating to any of the
senses;
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(10) Any glass bottles or metal containers, whether empty or filled;
(11) Any open flame torches, lanterns, or other devices that utilize
combustible materials such as gasoline, kerosene, propane, or other fuel sources;
(12) Any shields made of metal, wood, hard plastic, or any combination
thereof;
(13) Any bricks, rocks, pieces of asphalt or concrete, metal pellets, or
ball bearings;
(14) Any gas masks or similar breathing devices;
(15) Any impact-resistant helmet, including, but not limited to, motorcycle
or bicycle helmets (unless being worn while riding a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle),
sports helmets, or ballistic helmets;
(16) Any laser pointers or laser-style devices emitting any color beam,
milliwatt output level, intensity class level or any visibility level, including infrared, or
nonvisible;
(17) Any umbrellas in the absence of rain; during rainy weather, an
umbrella shall not exceed 16 inches in its longest dimension when fully collapsed and
shall have a blunt end;
(18) Any professionally manufactured or personally fabricated equipment
or clothing designed to be bullet-resistant, fragment-resistant, stab-resistant, or impact-
resistant, including, but not limited to, riot control gear, sports equipment, bullet-resistant
vests, flak jackets, or stab-resistant vests; and
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(19) Load-bearing or similar tactical vests commonly used by law
enforcement or military personnel and designed to carry weapons, tactical equipment, or
armor plates.
(c) Any person violating subsection (b) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, which
shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $500, by imprisonment in the County Jail for
a period not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(d) When feasible, excluding exigent circumstances, a warning shall be issued
before enforcement of subsection (b). Such warning shall be sufficient if provided orally,
by posted signs, or by amplified announcement.
(e) Law enforcement personnel, firefighting personnel, emergency health care
providers, and employees, agents, or representatives of the City shall be exempt from
the provisions of subsection (b) when engaged in official business of or on behalf of the
City.
(f) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit a person from carrying a cane or using
a walker or other similar device necessary for providing mobility so that the person may
participate in a community event or public assembly.
(g) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the imposition of specific conditions for
activities expressly authorized under a permit for a community event issued pursuant to
Chapter 4.68 of this Code or prohibit the modification of the restrictions in subsection (b)
for such permits issued pursuant to Chapter 4.68 of this Code upon a finding by the
Community Events Committee that such modifications will not impair or threaten public
safety.
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(h) This Section is not intended to violate and shall not be applied or enforced
in a manner that violates the United States or California Constitutions and applicable
state or federal statutes.
SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance, to the extent of such
inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to
effect the provisions of this ordinance.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court
of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions of this ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed
this ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance
would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage of
this ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official
newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. Pursuant to Sections 615 and 619 of the City
Charter, for the reasons stated in the recitals above, the City Council declares this
ordinance to be necessary as an emergency measure for preserving the public peace,
health, and safety, with the result that this ordinance shall be introduced and adopted at
the same meeting, shall become effective immediately upon its adoption, and shall
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terminate automatically on June 30, 2023, unless further extended by ordinance of the
City Council.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_________________________
DOUGLAS SLOAN
City Attorney
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Approved and adopted this 21st day of July, 2022.
_____________________________
Sue Himmelrich, Mayor
State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do
hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2709 (CCS) had its introduction
and adoption at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on July 21, 2022, by
the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Brock, de la Torre, Davis, Negrete, Parra,
Mayor Pro Tem McCowan, Mayor Himmelrich
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ATTEST:
_____________________________________ _________________
Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk Date
A summary of Ordinance No. 2709 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to California
Government Code Section 40806.
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8/1/2022