Archived report published July 17, 2013. It describes the demonstrations and police statements reported then, not a current protest rule or legal instruction.
Protestor gathered at Leimert Park
The report described a fourth day of protests following George Zimmerman’s acquittal. Los Angeles police said at the time that marchers would have to stay on sidewalks rather than in streets during those July 2013 demonstrations.
On Tuesday night, three demonstrations were supposed to take place, but one of them was cancelled for fear of it turning violent. Reports from the two gatherings that did take place at City Hall and Leimert Park stated both protests were relatively peaceful.
The demonstration that took place at City Hall was organized by an activist group called Coalition L.A. With more than 150 people who attended the demonstration, the activist group marched around the block and in front of police headquarters. No arrests were made during this protest.
In Leimert Park, near the Crenshaw Boulevard and Vernon avenue intersection, dozens of protestors gathered as police handed out fliers warning protestors that any criminal conduct, such as violence or vandalism would be prosecuted.
Tuesday was much better day in contrast to the demonstrations that took place Monday night.
On Monday at around 10pm, police declared an unlawful assembly in South Los Angeles after a group of 150 demonstrators broke off from the main crowd and allegedly committed assault, vandalism, theft, and jumped on cars.
The night before, more than 100 protesters entered the 10 freeway and blocked traffic for about 30 minutes and several protesters vandalized the W Hotel in Hollywood.
Najee Ali, founder of Project Islamic Hope, canceled a rally that had been scheduled for 6 p.m. that day in Leimert Park, saying it was canceled “in the interest of safety.” Ali continued: “There’s no way we can guarantee public safety because the demonstrations have been infiltrated by anarchists and agent provocateurs, whose only goal is to create vandalism, property damage and violence in our community,”
Ali said by phone Tuesday. “If you have a Trayvon Martin rally or march, you can’t stop other members of the public from joining it, disrupting it and causing damage. The emotions are still too high right now.”
On Monday night fourteen arrests were made in total, one for inciting a riot, and thirteen for failure to disperse. Six of the suspects arrested were juveniles. On Sunday ten arrests were made.
