Thousands of people gathered in downtown Los Angeles to protest the death of George Floyd on Wednesday, June 3. Over the last few days, protests held in and around the county of Los Angeles have been portrayed as chaotic and violent by major news media outlets choosing to focus on looters versus the peaceful protestors.
However, the scene in downtown Los Angeles was reminiscent of the Trae Tha Truth and Bun B led peaceful protest that took place in Houston, Texas on Tuesday. People of all races and most ages were present for one mission, to reform police.
The demands were very straight forward. Protestors in the crowd held signs demanding that Jackie Lacey, the first black District Attorney in Los Angeles, step down from her position. Under her tenure, over 400 people were killed by Los Angeles police officers, according to Black Lives Matter. None of them were charged.
As a result, Los Angeles is the number one county across the U.S. for police related shootings. Although black people are only 9 percent of the population, they represent 24 percent of the deaths at the hands of policemen. This is unconscionable.
“I’m angry about the fact that so many African American men have been murdered at the hands of police,” Lacey told Larry Mantle of AirTalk. “And I’m doing the absolute best job that I can as a human being.”
When Mantle asked about the criticism she’s received as District Attorney, she implied that the power is not totally in her hands as there are other people who make decisions with her and there is a law protecting officers from prosecution.
“…Charging police officers with a crime is one of the most difficult challenges I’ve faced as a District Attorney. And part of it has been due to the law that allows officers to use deadly force. Notwithstanding that, where I take issue with my critics is they refuse to give us credit for the 200-plus officers we have filed on since I’ve been District Attorney. They’ve refused to even acknowledge that our office has the only case in the state right now involving an officer-involved shooting — I have an extremely diverse group of people within the office — about 20 people sit in and review these cases — and we talk about them and we talk about race and we talk about bias. But we need to look for solutions.”
Lacey is running for re-election, but faces opponent and, ironically, former LAPD officer George Gascón, who also served as District Attorney of San Francisco.
Besides removing Lacey out of office, protestors also demanded the resignation of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has been in his position since 2013. As protestors held rallies and demonstrations in front of the courthouses and City Hall, the buildings echoed from the loud chants criticizing Garcetti.
Since then, Mayor Garcetti announced that he will not go through with plans to increase the budget for the LA police department, which was set for a $1.86 billion budget for 2020-2021. The budget would also fund over $41 million in bonuses to LAPD. Instead, Garcetti said he will distribute part of that budget to investment in the black community.
He also said that he will cut $250 million from the current budget of LAPD. According to Garcetti, those additional funds will be redistributed to create a better education and healthcare system for the black community.
The protestors also declared that they “Will not be divided” as every race conceivable at the gathering kneeled on their knees and had a moment of silence for nine minutes in honor of George Floyd and countless other black Americans that were senselessly killed by officers. Among those remembered included Sandra Bland, Philando Castile and Breonna Taylor.
The signs held by protestors were reflective of the past injustices and sorrows in America. One sign showed a photo of Slauson and Crenshaw legend Nipsey Hussle, who planned to meet with LAPD to discuss police reform and gang violence hours after he was murdered.
Another sign showed the former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling in peaceful protest to police brutality, a heavily criticized move at the time, but now is a go-to act of protest for those opposing police killings.
One thing that stood out was the older men who stood on the sidelines as protestors marched through the streets. One Asian man that sat in a wheelchair had a delightful smile on his face as protestors walked by. Another senior black man stood on the corner and nodded his head in approval as he glanced over the signs bouncing up and down in the air.
People banged pots from the windows of their high rise condos, while others in their cars blew horns in unison.
The chants rang through the streets. “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.” The message was clear. Americans have had enough.
