L.A. Council drops plan for security grants at synagogues, mosques, religious spaces

Los Angeles City Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky and Bob Blumenfield withdrew their proposal to provide city funding for security at synagogues, mosques and other religious institutions on Wednesday, saying state funds are now available to cover such expenses.

Yaroslavsky and Blumenfield proposed the creation of a $2-million grant program last month to pay for security for nonprofit groups and places of worship following a violent confrontation between protesters outside a synagogue in L.A.’s Pico-Robertson neighborhood.

The grant proposal had been slated for a council vote Wednesday. Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state has begun accepting applications for $76 million in grant funding to “bolster safety and security” at faith-based institutions and nonprofits that face a higher risk of hate-based crimes.

Yaroslavsky and Blumenfield said they had always planned for the city’s funding to serve as a stopgap until state officials get their grant program up and running and provide reimbursement. Yaroslavsky said she now plans to consult with the city’s lawyers about clarifying the L.A. Police Department’s protocols around protests.

“My office and Councilmember Blumenfield’s office are also consulting with the city attorney’s office on how we can institute buffer zones around the entrances to religious institutions and other sensitive sites like Planned Parenthood,” Yaroslavsky said.

Confrontations broke out June 23 between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israeli counterprotesters outside the Adas Torah synagogue.

Pro-Palestinian protesters said they went to the synagogue to protest a real estate event involving a company that offers properties for sale in the occupied West Bank. Many countries consider the building of settlements in the West Bank to be a violation of international law. Israel disputes this claim.

In the wake of those demonstrations, Yaroslavsky and Blumenfield proposed that the council offer $1 million in city funding to selected nonprofits to carry out “community safety initiatives in the Jewish communities of Los Angeles.” Yaroslavsky said at the time that recent protests over Israel’s war in Gaza had “stoked fear in the Jewish community and across the city,” leaving some afraid to go to their synagogue.

“I’ve heard and talked to many people who, with all the antisemitism that’s out there, are worried about going to religiously identified institutions, who are worried about wearing a Star of David on their necklace,” Blumenfield said. “If they’re wearing a yarmulke, they’re questioning whether they should do that.”

The initial proposal from Blumenfield and Yaroslavsky drew hundreds of protesters to City Hall, who shut down a stretch of Main Street and railed against the security grants. They said pro-Palestinian protesters are the ones who have been attacked at UCLA and elsewhere. And they argued that the money would go to groups that would harm pro-Palestinian protesters and the larger public.

“We know that when any cops, guns, surveillance, policing [are] increased on our streets, it disproportionately affects people of color, queer people, poor people, unhoused people,” said Miguel Camnitzer, a spokesperson for the L.A. chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, which has opposed Israel’s war in Gaza.

On July 2, Yaroslavsky and Blumenfield replaced the initial proposal with their plan for $2 million in grants for security at nonprofit religious institutions of all denominations.

On Wednesday, dozens of protesters returned to City Hall to speak against that idea as well.

Hamid Khan, an organizer with the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, denounced council members for contemplating the security grants. He also blasted Newsom over his decision to offer security funds, saying the money should be going instead to programs that address the state’s homelessness crisis.

“He has money to give away for Zionist violence, but he doesn’t want to invest in building housing for unhoused people,” Khan said.

An aide to Newsom called those comments “patently false,” saying the governor has spent $24 billion to address homelessness and an additional $40 billion in support of affordable housing since he took office.

Other protesters called for a cease-fire vote or argued that pro-Palestinian demonstrators have been subjected to violent acts. Fernando Islas, who lives in Pico Rivera, told the council he was hit in the face with a rock during the June 23 protest in Pico-Robertson.

“I had two of my teeth knocked out that day,” said the 37-year-old.

When Yaroslavsky attempted to speak about her decision to withdraw the proposal, the crowd booed repeatedly. At the end of her remarks, said she fears the city will see outbreaks of violence at future protests as well.

“The polarization is incredibly intense,” she said. “And we shouldn’t be seeing that playing out on our streets.”

Times staff writer Jeffrey Fleishman contributed to this report.