A former New York ice cream shop owner is the first individual to pay a fine under a new law dubbed the “Karen Law.” This new bill which was signed into law in June of last year requires individuals who make false or racially biased calls to the police to face a civil penalty.
Senate Bill 8492 helps to protect black people and other “protected classes” because the bill makes it illegal for individuals to call the cops when there is “no reason to believe a crime or offense, or imminent threat to person or property, is occurring.”
The so-called Karen law stems from a string of racially motivated phone calls to police officers over the past couple of years that target black people. This trend especially took hold between 2019 and 2020. The law was born shortly after a middle-aged white woman, Amy Cooper, called the police on a Black man who was out bird watching last year in Central Park. In her police call which was caught on video, Cooper can be heard saying that the man was threatening her when in fact he was minding his own business.
The law gets its name from a stereotype used to describe a middle-aged, privileged white woman who is inconvenienced at the least disturbance. Karens are often described as busybodies who tout a sharp hair bob and are looking to “speak to the manager” at even the slightest nuisance.
In the case of the former ice cream shop owner, David Elmendorf is accused of calling the police on several Black Lives Matter protesters. The protesters were peacefully demonstrating outside Elmendorf’s shop after the owner allegedly sent racist text messages that were later circulated throughout social media. While the protesters picketed outside his Bumpy’s Polar Freeze in Schenectady, Elmendorf called the police to report that there were “20 armed protesters” outside his store “who were threatening to shoot him. ”
Because of his false report, Elmendorf has now been fined $4,500 as a result of having to pay each protester $500 for filing a false report on them. The Civil penalty comes after New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, sued Elmendorf for his false report.
After filing the lawsuit, James shared in a statement, “Those who make racist and violent threats will be held accountable by my office with the full weight of the law.” James adds, “The charges against David Elmendorf should serve as a warning that hate crimes will not be tolerated on my watch and we will not allow any individual to use the color of someone’s skin as a weapon.”
Bills like this may take hold across the nation, especially in liberal states. A similar bill formally known as the CAREN Act, Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-emergencies, has also been introduced in San Francisco. California attorney general Rob Bonta explained when introducing a similar bill to the state legislature as an Assemblyman last year, “This bill could protect millions of Californians from becoming targets of hate and prevent the weaponization of our law enforcement against communities of color."
