A City Council committee is advancing a plan to limit the LAPD’s less lethal weapons

The Los Angeles City Council will consider an ordinance that would prevent the LAPD from using crowd control weapons against peaceful protesters and journalists.

Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, who represents the 13th District, is pushing for regulations that would prohibit the Los Angeles Police Department from using “dynamic energy projectiles” or “chemical agents” unless officers face physical violence.

The Public Safety Committee unanimously approved the proposal and voted with all council members on Wednesday. The item will be considered by the council in November or December, said Nick Barnes-Batista, communications director for District 13.

The ordinance would also require officers to give clear and audible warnings about safe exits during “catting,” when people are forced into police-designated areas.

After the first iteration of the “No Kings” protests over the summer in which several journalists were shot, tear-gassed and detained by non-lethal protesters, news organizations sued the city and police department, arguing officers engaged in “repeated abuse” of members of the media.

U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera issued a temporary restraining order barring LAPD officers from using rubber bullets, chemical stun and flashbangs against journalists.

According to the court order, officers are allowed to use these weapons “only when the officer reasonably believes that a suspect is violently resisting arrest or poses an immediate threat of violence or physical harm.”

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell called the journalist definition “vague” in a news release Monday, raising concerns that the preliminary injunction could prevent the LAPD from targeting “public intent on illegal and violent behavior.”

“The risk of harm to anyone increases significantly,” McDonnell wrote. “The LAPD must declare the assembly unlawful, and issue orders to disperse, to ensure public safety and restore order.”

The LA Press Club, a plaintiff in the lawsuit that led to the ruling, alleged that journalists were detained and harassed by officers during an immigration protest in August. The Press Club is also involved in a similar lawsuit against the US Department of Homeland Security.

“This case is about the LAPD, but if necessary, we are prepared to take similar action to prevent abuse of reporters by other agencies.”

Vera ruled in September that “any legal official representative of any news service, online news service, newspaper, or radio or television station or network” would be classified as a journalist and therefore protected under court orders. Journalists who obstruct or physically interfere with law enforcement are not subject to immunity.

Any ordinance passed by the City Council would apply to the LAPD but not other agencies that can respond to protests that cause disturbances, such as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department or the California Highway Patrol, thus complicating operational procedures.

District 13 spokeswoman Barnes-Batista said the City Council will discuss how to develop the ordinance.

“There are certainly unanswered questions about this [how] “The mayor doesn’t want the city to be responsible for other agencies that don’t follow policy,” he said.

Last month, the City Council, led by Councilwoman Eunice Hernandez, voted unanimously to deny a request by City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto to push for the removal of Vera’s order.

“Journalism in this country is under attack — from the Trump administration’s revocation of press access to the Pentagon to the corporate consolidation of local newsrooms,” Hernandez said. “The answer cannot be for Los Angeles to participate in this attack by undermining court-ordered protections for journalists.”