Man accused of scrawling graffiti against vaccine law in Beverly Hills

Police in Beverly Hills arrested a man Thursday on suspicion of scrawling graffiti condemning California’s new mandatory vaccine law, SB 277, in various locations around Los Angeles County.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday, police responded to reports of vandalism at the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, said Beverly Hills police Lt. Lincoln Hoshino.

With black spray paint, the vandal had written a statement rebuking the new law, which bars religious and other personal-belief exemptions for schoolchildren’s required immunizations.

Investigators learned that similar graffiti was found on the West Hollywood City Hall and two locations along the 10 Freeway, Hoshino said.

The suspected vandal, Marlon Andrino, was reached by telephone, Hoshino said.

Andrino, 28, surrendered to police Thursday. He is being held in lieu of $80,000 bail on multiple felony vandalism charges.

The graffiti in Beverly Hills was covered up after officials unsuccessfully tried to remove it from the chamber of commerce’s facade, Hoshino said.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 277 into law Tuesday. The new law allows exemptions for schoolchildren only when a doctor “believes that circumstances -- in the judgment and sound discretion of the physician -- so warrant,” Brown said in a statement announcing his approval of the bill.

The law’s passage was met with disappointment by opponents, who contend it infringes on the right of parents to make decisions regarding their children’s health.

“The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases,” Brown said in the statement.

“While it’s true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community.”

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