Everyone attending this weekend's Pride celebration at San Francisco's Civic Center will be searched, and searched quite thoroughly. Both the Bay Area Reporter and KRON 4 report that all attendees will be forced to pass through a metal detector, and the latter notes that after getting through the first phase of security attendees will be subject to a second round of search. News of the heightened security measures comes shortly after the hate crime and massacre at the Orland gay nightclub Pulse earlier this month.
On an SF Pride page dedicated to event security, organizers break down what will and will not be permitted at the annual celebration. Let's start with what's permitted, as it's a much shorter list. Those items include "soft bags with a maximum size of 18 [inches] x 18 [inches]" and "authorized animals, such as guide dogs, assisting those with disabilities."
As for what's prohibited? That might be better off communicated with bullet points:
- Any bag over 18” x 18” in size
- Alcohol
- Coolers or containers of any type
- Glass bottles of any kind
- Illegal drugs or substances
- Firearms, fireworks & explosives
- Weapons
- Dangerous weapons including any type of edged weapon to include knives, impact weapons and electric pulse weapons
- Stunning devices
- Drones
- Shopping carts
- Smoking cigarettes or e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco
- Radios, walkie talkies, jammers, scanners
- Portable speakers
- Hazardous and toxic materials
- Any item deemed inappropriate or hazardous by law enforcement and/or security
"There will be a significant police presence at all Pride activities in the city, with both uniformed and plain clothes officers on duty to monitor the events," note organizers. "Safety is everyone’s responsibility, including participants, organizers, security staff and law enforcement."
Violence has erupted in and around the Pride celebration before, with the bystander shooting of a 64-year-old man in the arm last year only one recent example.
The Civic Center Pride celebration runs from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.
