Over the weekend, sideshows took place in three major Bay Area cities, becoming somewhat of a regular weekend occurrence. San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose all reported sideshow activity. San Jose police made three arrests and issued 21 citations to spectators at one of the sideshows. Other cities in the Bay Area have been looking at San Jose's tactics for curbing sideshow activity by targeting onlookers.
Video Source: Henry Lee
Oakland plans to introduce a new ordinance on Thursday that will target organizers and direct participants of sideshows, but will not include penalties for spectators. Last year, the Oakland City Council considered copying San Jose's ordinance, but concerns were raised about mistakenly targeting innocent bystanders.
In San Jose, police responded to at least three sideshows on Sunday night. One of the sideshows took place at Almaden and Curtner, another at Lundy and Concourse to the west of Highway 680, and a third near Alum Rock and White. The police department's air unit provided assistance by relaying information.
In Oakland, a sideshow near 6th and Market streets saw spectators lighting a fire under Interstate 880, creating a ring of fire that people jumped through while cars spun out in circles.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco's Mission District, dozens of people gathered for an illegal sideshow at the intersection of 16th and Dolores streets, causing the intersection to shut down.
Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo hopes to get the proposed sideshow ordinance to the public safety committee by May 9 and aims for a full council vote shortly thereafter. San Jose implemented its ordinance targeting sideshow onlookers in 2019, with potential fines of $1,000.