Hate groups’ rise spurs lawmakers to hold hearings
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers will hold a series of hearings next month to assess the rise of white supremacy in the state and to determine if there are any laws needed to help control violent outbreaks at public rallies.
State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, called for the hearings Monday as lawmakers returned to the state Capitol after a monthlong recess. He said University of California and California State University officials will be asked to testify at the hearings about how they are handling requests
to have neo-Nazi and far-right groups or speakers appear for events on campus.
UC Berkeley has become a target of far-right speakers looking to challenge the liberal campus that gave birth to the Free Speech Movement in the 1960s. Former Breitbart News editor Ben Shapiro is scheduled to speak on campus Sept. 14, and right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has pledged to return to UC Berkeley after a fiery and violent protest shut down his planned appearance in February.
The California Highway Patrol will also be asked to appear at the hearings to talk about best practices to avoid violent clashes at future white supremacist demonstrations.
Last year, the CHP responded to violence that erupted outside the state Capitol during a planned march by white nationalists and other hate groups in which seven people were stabbed in a bloody melee with antifacist and other counterprotesters.
“I see the rising tide of hate and intolerance,” de León said Monday. “I believe future generations will look back on this moment in time as a turning point because how we chose to respond will shape the character of this nation and this great state for years to come.”
Democratic state Sens. Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara and Nancy Skinner of Berkeley will hold the hearings to review whether the state’s laws balance freespeech protections with public safety. The hearings will also review the rise of white supremacy and fascist organizations in California, including how they are funded.
The hearings are in direct response to the violent protest in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 12, where a car driven by a suspected neo-Nazi plowed through counterdemonstrators, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others.
“The shocking display of hate and violence from neoNazis and white supremacy hate groups in Charlottesville just over a week ago was appalling and distressing. This is not what our country stands for,” Jackson said.
Skinner introduced a bill Monday to expand the existing hate-crime statute in the state. Skinner said Heyer’s killing could not be charged as a hate crime because Heyer, a white woman, does not fall within a protected class. She said that loophole in Virginia law also exists in California.
SB630 would allow for harsher penalties if someone is convicted of a crime against a person who is standing up to racism or bigotry. Skinner also introduced a resolution Monday urging law enforcement to prosecute white nationalists and neo-Nazis as terrorists when they commit violent or destructive acts.
“The horrific events in Charlottesville and elsewhere prove that violent white nationalism and neo-Nazism remain very real threats,” Skinner said. “These groups’ intent is to terrorize our communities, so it makes sense to prosecute them as terrorists.”