Members of the Los Angeles City Council ordered a report Tuesday

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Messages and anti-Semitic messages were left on residents’ properties.

The move followed an emotional meeting where dozens of public speakers warned council members that their actions could lead to censorship of pro-Palestinian messages.

Council members Bob Blumenfield and Nithya Raman filed a motion last month asking the Los Angeles Police Department and the city attorney to consider new penalties for hateful conduct.

“litter in the mass”

and to investigate how the city currently deals with litter.

Blumenfield, in an interview before the meeting, did not point to a specific incident as motivation for the motion. It comes amid the Israel-Israeli conflict

Hamas and in the US. attacks on people of Palestinian descent and Jewish people.

It’s been brewing for a while, but I think given the delicate state it was in and the increase in hate rhetoric, it just seemed like the right time.

said Blumenfield, who represents the western San Fernando Valley.

Blumenfield also criticized the Thanksgiving protest outside the Brentwood home of the president of a pro-Israel lobby group.

His motion relates to littering with the intent to voluntarily injure, intimidate, hinder, oppress or threaten someone based on their perceived characteristics.

The perpetrators of this crime do so in the hope that it will harass and intimidate Jewish families, radicalize others, or desensitize some to the messages, the motion adds.

Previous fliers have targeted not only the Jewish community, Blumenfield said, but also Armenians and the LGBTQ+ and Black communities.

When you target a neighborhood or people, you’re potentially entering another area that could be hate speech, Blumenfield said. That’s not the same as printing something out and dropping it on the floor.

Hamid Khan, chief coordinator of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, said Blumenfield’s motion threatens free speech at a time when anti-Zionism is equated with anti-Semitism.

This is a clear and direct attack on people’s ability to speak out, our right to protest, our right to expression, Khan said. He is concerned that the motion will serve to limit protests for Palestinian liberation, he said.

Over the past two years, incidents involving anti-Semitic fliers have been reported in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Culver City and Huntington Beach. The kites are often left near people’s homes in plastic bags weighed down with rocks and contain anti-Semitic images and messages.

Every aspect of the LGBTQ+ movement is Jewish, according to a flier distributed in Huntington Beach earlier this year, KTLA reported. The flyer also included photos of people with the Star of David on their foreheads.

The California Penal Code punishes certain hate crimes with jail time, but according to Blumenfield’s motion, the crime of littering usually only results in a fine.

Many speakers at Tuesday’s Public Safety Committee meeting urged the council to clarify what would be considered anti-Semitism by law enforcement. Many shared concerns about anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian messages

could be

be labeled as anti-Semitism and then censored.

Others said the motion made them feel less safe.

You have blood on your hands, shouted an audience member as the committee adopted the motion.

Adam Smith, speaker at Tuesday’s meeting, said the motion will further allow the LAPD to target people the city is reluctant to hear from.

Councilman Hugo Soto-Martnez, a member of the committee, told his colleagues that fliers calling for genocide against Armenians had been found in Glendale and in his district’s Little Armenia neighborhood.

Soto-Martnez also said he wants to ensure that regulations are not used to persecute peaceful protesters and political campaigns, and first and foremost that we protect everyone’s right to freedom of expression.

Martinez introduced an amendment asking that the LA Civil and Human Rights and Equity Department report on alternative solutions to prevent and address hate speech spread through mass flyers.

Still, several people shouted “Shame!” when the committee unanimously approved Blumenfield’s motion. It now goes to the full council.

Sam Yebri, a Jewish lawyer and former City Council candidate, said it is important to respond to mass littering on a case-by-case basis. An anti-Semitic flyer

What

left on our own property last year.

This is more than just a piece of paper or a bag with literature in it, he said. These are intended to terrorize not just the recipient, but an entire community.