One surefire way to ensure your cause doesn’t look serious is to throw bodily waste around during a protest. One woman who allegedly threw menstrual blood at lawmakers during a protest is finding out the hard way what is and isn’t an acceptable form of protest.
“Rebecca Dalelio, 43, has been charged with one felony count of assault on a public official and one felony count of vandalism. If convicted, she could face up to three years in county jail,” The Los Angeles Times reported.
In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed a bill that all but eliminated exemptions to the state’s laws regarding mandatory vaccinations for children. The Daily Wire at the time reported that some “California residents, however, who say that the bill represents a shocking governmental overreach that threatens their personal autonomy, are pushing to have the law included on the November ballot.”
The bills that Newsom signed last year (there was a package) where designed to keep doctors from giving parents fraudulent medical excuses for children’s vaccinations. California’s childhood vaccination rate has been falling in recent years, which has led to multiple outbreaks of completely preventable diseases, such as the measles. The drop in the vaccination rate is occurring largely within the white, upper-middle-class areas of the state.
“This legislation provides new tools to better protect public health, and does so in a way that ensures parents, doctors, public health officials and school administrators all know the rules of the road moving forward,” Newsom said in a statement released when he signed the bills.
When lawmakers were heading to the State Capital after Newsome signed the bills, protesters showed up outside. One protester allegedly threw menstrual blood on legislators on their way into the statehouse. That person was identified as Dalelio, who is now accused of throwing a full menstrual cup onto the lawmakers.
“The complaint lists 10 senators whom Dalelio is accused of assaulting. The count of vandalism refers to a separate offense that involves graffiti, though additional details were not immediately available, according to Sacramento County district attorney’s office spokeswoman Shelly Orio. At the time of the incident, California Highway Patrol officers said a bathroom near the Senate chamber was found to have writing on the wall,” the Times reported. “The fluid hit multiple people and splashed onto desks and the carpet, forcing the chamber to be cleared. As the contents of the cup were thrown, a voice in the crowd was heard saying the action was ‘for the dead babies.’”
The Times reported that some “lawmakers left to shower and at least one legislator was treated for blood exposure the next day. Senators moved to a nearby hearing room hours later, and worked until 3 a.m.”
Dalelio was initially booked just after the incident on six charges of assault, vandalism, and disorderly conduct, but she was released the next day. The California Highway Patrol then conducted an investigation of the incident, resulting in the new charges against Dalelio late last week.