Monday’s Common Council meeting in South Bend got a little tense.

The council was considering an ordinance to protect the city’s homeless population that would designate homeless people as a “protected population.”

This means that anyone committing any crimes against a homeless person might face stiffer penalties than usual.

The proposal was tabled during the meeting, causing outrage among supporters of the measure.

If the ordinance is eventually approved it would make South Bend just the second city in America to designate the homeless as a protected population.