06.06.19

• NEWS •
PASADENA | ALHAMBRA | ALTADENA | ARCADIA | EAGLE ROCK | GLENDALE | LA CAÑADA | MONTROSE | SAN MARINO | SIERRA MADRE | SOUTH PASADENA
WEAR ORANGE
COUNCIL PROCLAIMS JUNE 7-9 NATIONAL
GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS WEEKEND
HELPING HAND
COUNCIL VOTE TO AMEND TENANT
PROTECTION ORDINANCE
P. 8
P. 8
BARNSTORMING
PASADENA
PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS
BERNIE SANDERS, KAMALA
HARRIS, JULIAN CASTRO,
JAY INSLEE AND KIRSTEN
GILLIBRAND BRING
THEIR CAMPAIGNS TO
THE CROWN CITY
BY JUSTIN CHAPMAN
AND ANDRÉ COLEMAN
PHOTOS BY
MERCEDES BLACKEHART
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont — leading a parade of Democratic
presidential hopefuls to Pasadena for a Friday afternoon conference
on immigration — came to town with his usual inexhaustible
supply of fire and fury in captivating backers with promises of
Medicare for all, free college tuition and a host of other progressive,
people-driven policy ideas.
The only thing Sanders seemed to lack was an audience, or one
the size that’s he’s grown accustomed to drawing since entering the
presidential election arena in 2016.
“Bernie is very inspirational, but the size of the crowd was
somewhat disappointing,” said Sharon Kyle, who along with her
husband Dick Price publishes the online magazine LA Progressive.
Roughly 2,000 people showed up for Sanders’ morning rally at the
Pasadena Convention Center, half of what organizers had hoped for.
But, “Aside from that,” Kyle said, “it was a great rally. All of his
rallies are great. There is very little on which I don’t agree with him.”
Getting Traction
Whether it’s due to being one of 23 candidates — including five
other US Senators and former Vice President Joe Biden — or because
people either agree or not with what he’s saying, Sanders has seen
marked reductions in the size of the crowds that venture out to hear
him speak.
On Saturday, the same day that the state Democratic Party
Convention was being held in San Francisco, Sanders, a self-described
Democratic Socialist, drew just more than 2,500 people at Guadalupe
River Park in nearby San Jose, thousands less than expected. The
previous week, fewer than 200 people attended a Sanders rally at a
community college in New Hampshire. On May 25, he drew just 2,500
people in his home state of Vermont, where the campaign expected
twice that number. Before Biden jumped into the race, Sanders was
drawing large crowds in his early campaign stops.
“Bernie seems to be a candidate all of a sudden trying to figure
WEB EXCLUSIVE
FORCING CHANGE
BILL THAT WOULD MAKE
DE-ESCALATION NECESSARY
IN POLICE INCIDENTS PASSES
ASSEMBLY
A bill aimed at holding police officers accountable
when they use deadly force cleared the
Assembly last week.
The Assembly voted 67-0 to pass AB 392, the
California Act to Save Lives.
According to the bill’s author Assemblywoman
Shirley Webber (D-San Diego), officers
will be able to use lethal force only when it is
“necessary” and if there are no other options.
Police officers would be forced to rely on
de-escalation techniques, such as verbal persuasion
and crisis intervention methods instead of
lethal force.
The bill still allows officers to immediately
use deadly force in cases in which they face
imminent danger.
The bill also states that imminent harm is
not merely a fear of future harm, no matter how
great the fear and no matter how great the likelihood
of the harm, but instead a situation, from
appearances, that must be instantly confronted
and addressed.
“Changing the use of force standard in
California will change the way officers are trained
to pursue other, non-deadly, resources or techniques
when engaging with the public. In cities
like Seattle and San Francisco, with stricter use
of force policies, police kill fewer people without
any negative impact on law enforcement or community
safety,” the ACLU of Southern California
said in a statement issued after the bill passed.
Delaware and Tennessee also require police
to use all other alternatives before their gun.
A Washington state law requires police to deescalate
if at all possible.
If passed, California would become the only
state to combine a “necessary standard” with
the requirement that courts consider an officer’s
conduct leading up to a use of deadly force when
determining the legality of the officer’s actions.
The bill gained public support after the death
of Stephon Clark in Sacramento helped deadly
force situations into the limelight.
The 22-year old African-American man was
shot and killed by Sacramento police Officers
Terrance Mercadal and Jared Robinet on March
18, 2018 in his grandmother’s backyard while he
was on the phone. The encounter was filmed by
police video cameras.
A Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department
helicopter was involved in observing an
individual on the ground and in directing ground
officers to the point at which the shooting took
place. Helicopter video footage was released
three days after the shooting. The officers stated
that they shot Clark, firing 20 rounds, believing
that he had pointed a gun at them.
WEEKLY WEATHER
THU
81°
FRI
78°
SAT
83°
SUN
87°
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
MON
87°
TUE
85°
WED
84°
— André Coleman
THU
82°
06.06.19 | PASADENA WEEKLY 7