LA Councilwoman calls for additional security for Jewish institutions after antisemitic shootings
Newly elected Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky called for an additional $150,000 to fund more security for Jewish institutions after a pair of antisemitic shootings in her district, Pico-Robertson.
"The community is understandably on edge," she said.
According to Yaroslavsky, the additional funding will help expand the existing Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles' Community security initiative, which provides security and support services to more than 500 Jewish institutions in the area. These services include active shooter training as well as installing security and defensive equipment.
"My kids go to Jewish school," said Yaroslavsky. "There are armed security guards and big locked gates. There are cameras and that's standard now, unfortunately."
The shootings last week follow a series of other recent incidents including antisemitic flyers being distributed and the vile scene last October where a banner of hate was unfurled on an overpass along the 405 Freeway by a group of people echoing the ugly rhetoric being spread by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.
The escalation of hate was so alarming that LA's most powerful leaders, including Yaroslavsky, all came together for a town hall to take a stand against hate.
"We've seen over the last couple of years an escalation not only in the number of incidents but also in the severity of the incidents," said Yaroslasky.
Professor Brian Levin, the director of the study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino attributed the escalation of hate to a variety of reasons.
"One is the fragmented social media and political landscape that we're in, where different levels of conspiracism take root," he said. "And right adjacent to these conspiracies are antisemitic tropes, oftentimes at various levels. Sometimes it's not the most blatant type of antisemitism that gets out there, but a gateway type that gets widely dispersed."
Yaroslavsky said the extra funding has to go through several steps before a full council vote, however, she is hoping that given the circumstances the process will be expedited.