 Then, during the early 1990s, at a time when real estate developers wanted to gentrify Venice, California, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance banning people from public performance on the Venice Beach Boardwalk.Using the ordinance as its bludgeon, the Los Angeles Police began to harass people who performed there.In response, Harry Perry became a named plaintiff in a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Los Angeles Police Department and the ordinance.