Publication: San Francisco Chronicle
The video shows two Orange County sheriff’s deputies wrestling on the sidewalk with a Black man they tried to stop for allegedly jaywalking across a San Clemente street in September. Minutes later, Kurt Andreas Reinhold, a 42-year-old father of two, was shot and killed.
In a cell phone recording of the confrontation, Reinhold can be heard asking, “Where did I jaywalk?”
Assembly Member Phil Ting of San Francisco wants to repeal the law that preceded these violent encounters.
On Thursday, the Democratic lawmaker unveiled AB1238, or the Freedom to Walk Act, which would decriminalize jaywalking across the state.
“Whether it’s someone’s life or the hundreds of dollars in fines, the cost is too much for a relatively minor infraction,” Ting said in a statement. “It’s time to reconsider how we use our law enforcement resources and whether our jaywalking laws really do protect pedestrians.”