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Samuel Braslow

4 Aug, 10 tweets, 3 min read

Last week, Beverly Hills Freedom Rally founder Shiva Bagheri entered into a judicial diversion agreement with Beverly Hills for holding unpermitted rallies requiring 20 hours of community service.

Update, she got kicked out of community service for not properly wearing a mask.

Background: The Freedom Rally began in July 2020 in response to COVID-19 public health guidelines like masks and school closures. As election season heated up, the Saturday rallies at Beverly Gardens Park became a gathering place for pro-Trump supporters (more than 4k at peak).

@BiancaHeyward

The rally became a key meeting place for conservative, populist, and far-right groups, with broad implications for LA and California. As my colleague @BiancaHeyward reported, 15-20% of signatures to recall Newsom in LA County came from the rally. beverlyhillscourier.com/2021/07/20/new…

But as the rally grew, BH residents became frustrated with the influx of unmasked protesters and the loss of parking on Saturday. After the election, the City Council banned all unpermitted rallies in Beverly Gardens Park.

Bagheri promised to defy the Council, holding more rallies in the park. The city made good on its ordinance and charged her with three misdemeanors, each carrying fines up to $3,500 or six months in jail.

If Bagheri cannot complete her community service in 6 months (or holds an unpermitted gathering at Beverly Gardens Park), the city has the right to pursue charges against her.

In a Facebook live video, she said that virtually all court-approved community service programs require proof of vaccination. A bit of a Catch-22, so she opted to do her hours at the LGBTQ charity Out of the Closet because they only require masking.

(Out of the Closet is a thrift store/charity that puts proceeds towards helping people with HIV and AIDS.)

But this still represented a problem for the prolific anti-masker (she refused to wear a mask in court, citing a med exemption; she had to wear a face shield). While she said that she put the mask with customers, apparently OOTC kicked her out for not fully complying.

Bagheri says she has yet to find somewhere else to volunteer.

You can find more info in my story from last week.
beverlyhillscourier.com/2021/07/29/fre…

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