It’s all part of Oakland’s response to recent protests in which angry mobs of people caused significant damage to local businesses (because angry mobs tend to loot and burn their own neighborhoods first).
So the Oakland City Council is considering a proposed ordinance that would criminalize the possession of everyday objects, including objects of professional tradesmen such as hammers, large screwdrivers, walking canes and mechanic’s tools.
The city claims these objects will be illegal to possess during a “protest,” but a protest can be defined as any two people standing around, or walking down a street, or even just talking loudly. There is no official definition of a “protest,” meaning the police can invoke the ordinance any time they wish. That’s how these laws always go: they get interpreted and deployed far beyond their original intent.
In a local CBS story, Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo attempted to explain why he wanted to criminalize hammers by saying, “the Oakland Police Department needs additional tools to help protect life and property in our city.” The word “tools” might have been a poor choice, of course, since the proposed ordinance would outlaw nearly all common tools include plumber’s wrenches and even video tripods used by journalists.
The proposed banning of shields is especially interesting, given that more protesters are routinely harmed by Oakland police than by other protesters. The message from the Oakland City Council is: You are not allowed to protect yourself from police. You must allow yourself to be openly shot, punched or sprayed with pepper spray, or else you will be arrested and then punched and pepper-sprayed while in handcuffs.
Natural News wonders if Oakland will soon ban rocks, bottles and fists, as such devices are also known to inflict damage during protests. Perhaps Noel Gallo will request that all protesters have their hands chopped off so that they cannot hold shields nor wield “weapons of destruction” such as hammers and wrenches.
This would create the perfect utopia for control freak government worshippers who want the police to have military weapons and armored cars while the People have all their arms and hands chopped off so they cannot, literally, “bear arms.”