California Governor Signs Legislation Allowing Public to Refuse Helping Police in Distress

This is insane.

California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation allowing the public to refuse helping police officers in distress.

The law was meant to protect African Americans from aggressive California police officers.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, on Tuesday signed a bill that no longer requires any “able-bodied person 18 years of age or older” in the state to help an officer who requests assistance during an arrest.

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The Sacramento Bee reported that the old law, the California Posse Comitatus Act of 1872, was common in the country’s early days, but Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Los Angeles Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the old law a “vestige of a bygone era.” The law was employed to help catch runaway slaves, the report said.

The old law made it a misdemeanor that carried a fine of up to $1,000 for refusing to help a police officer who requested assistance during an arrest.