Calling 911 to harass or otherwise violate the rights of a person based only on their race would be classified as a hate crime that could lead to jail time and a fine under a bill passed by California lawmakers on Monday.
The legislation comes amid a nationwide reckoning on systemic racism and following confrontations across the country in which primarily white people have made discriminatory emergency calls to the police when encountering people of color bird watching and barbecuing in a park, among other everyday activities.
The problem has drawn widespread attention on social media, leading to memes coining the term "Karen," a label given to people _ primarily white women _ who make illegitimate 911 calls targeting people of color or, more broadly, who are caught on video exhibiting racist behavior.
"You can make jokes about it. But it's not a laughing matter. An individual could lose their life in the wrong situation," said Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), who introduced the bill. "I was watching more and more people being adversely affected by it as this (Trump) administration gave license for someone who was bigoted to target Blacks and Latinos."
Jones-Sawyer said the problem evoked memories of the murder of Emmett Till, the Black teenager who was kidnapped and beaten to death in Mississippi in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a white woman. Two white men accused of killing Till were acquitted, and the woman who made the allegation later recanted some of her claims. The case helped galvanize the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
The legislation, AB 1775, passed in both the Senate and Assembly and was supported by the California State Sheriffs' Assn. and League of California Cities. The bill now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his consideration.
Approval of the measure comes just months after a video of a white woman calling the police about a Black man in New York City's Central Park went viral. Amy Cooper called to report that she was being threatened by "an African American man." The man, Christian Cooper, who birdwatching, videotaped the incident and it was posted on Twitter.
Amy Cooper was charged in July with a misdemeanor for filing a false report.
