Hours after shooting of deputies, Sheriff’s Department clears L.A. protest encampment in what activists say is ‘misdirected anger’

Sheriff’s deputies cleared out a protest encampment in downtown L.A.’s Grand Park, across from City Hall, early Sunday.(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Sep 13, 2020 / 01:24 PM PDT

Updated: Sep 13, 2020 / 05:23 PM PDT

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies shut down a months-old protest encampment in Grand Park early Sunday in a move that activists branded as “misdirected anger” over a shooting, hours earlier, that left two deputies fighting for their lives.

The encampment first appeared in Grand Park across from City Hall in June amid protests over the death of George Floyd. It was cleared out around 3 a.m. after deputies declared an unlawful assembly in the area, the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Authorities said the action was taken because of “deteriorating conditions” in the park. They denied it was connected to the ambush shooting of two deputies in Compton late Saturday or recent demonstrations against the department in South L.A. after deputies shot and killed bicyclist Dijon Kizzee.

Protests near the South L.A. sheriff’s station over Kizzee’s killing have drawn hundreds of demonstrators, including those affiliated with Black Unity L.A., the protest group that had also been running the encampment.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.