Protesters on Tuesday interrupted a Los Angeles City Council vote on a controversial homeless encampment ordinance.
The council ended up voting 11 to 3 to prohibit encampments near schools and daycare centers. Another vote on the matter will take place next week.
Protesters carrying signs could be seen outside City Hall Tuesday, and eventually made their way inside the chamber.
They called the new restrictions inhumane, and at one point, Councilmember Joe Buscaino was shouted down by protesters.
Protesters eventually dispersed and no arrests were made, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The vote was to expand the existing anti-camping measure; homeless people would be prohibited from sitting, sleeping, lying and sorting property within 500 feet of every public and private school in the city, the Los Angeles Times reported. Previously, the ordinance only applied to a specific locations selected by the City Council nearly a year ago.
Last year’s ordinance prompted protests, including one in which Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Hancock Park home was vandalized.
Theo Henderson, who was formerly unhoused, said he was demonstrating Tuesday to put pressure on the City Council to repeal the existing law.
“It’s not solving the problem,” he told KTLA.
Susan Hartnett, who is currently experiencing homelessness, said it would be difficult for unhoused people to stay away from banned areas.
“How can I count 500 feet? I don’t carry a tape measure with me,” she said. “Where do we go?”