It might be the only free thing in Beverly Hills.
The monied city known for its mansions to the stars and ultra-exclusive Rodeo Drive shops is considering adopting a “free speech zone” at city-hosted events.
While city officials did not share the specific protest that prompted the idea, the 33,000-pop. California enclave has been the site of some looney demonstrations lately.
This month a man shouted at Beverly Hills cops as he walked through the city’s National Night Out Against Crime event, according to the Beverly Press.
In May, Street People of Beverly Hills posted on X about a disruption at the city-sponsored art show, captioning it, “Trans man disrupts Beverly Hills Art Show with nutty story about Chanel & Nazis.”
And in March, Beverly Hills green-lit a display of photos of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas to be featured during and across the street from the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party, the Beverly Press reported.
Pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators showed up, and one demonstrator used bear spray against another.
The free-speech proposal would allow people to engage in picketing and soliciting in designated areas at every city event.
People would be able to sign up for a spot and the city would give them signage, tables and chairs, according to a staff report.
Loudspeakers would be prohibited.
Violation of the rules could include warnings, expulsion and a misdemeanor charge for repeated violations.
Sometimes when “individuals express their opinions or their ideas it can be very disruptive to the flow of the event,” Beverly Hills City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey said on Aug. 20 at a City Council study session. “Further it generates complaints. People are wondering why this actvity is taking place and it’s not compatible with the event that’s going on.”
The proposal “needs to be further discussed and evaluated in the future,” a rep for the City of Beverly Hills told The Post.
“Any attempt by Beverly Hills to declare broad swaths of public space off limits to protest would be unconstitutional,” said Jonathan Markovitz, staff attorney at American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. “Similarly, the proposal would violate protesters’ First Amendment right to anonymous speech by requiring them to identify themselves and would needlessly expose the city to the risk of costly litigation that it would surely lose.”
California resident Aaron Wertheimer, a SEO marketing copywriter, said he liked the intention of the proposal, but thought it didn’t address the real issue — the need for respectful speech.
“I believe that having a free speech zone is antithetical to what our country stands for,” he said. “Isn’t every place a free speech zone since free speech is codified in the bylaws of our Constitution? Perhaps what would be more helpful is to include a place where harmful free speech is allowed.”
