KTLA

In court, BLM claims LAPD ‘failed completely’ to punish officers in protest abuses

LAPD Chief Michel Moore speaks with protesters in the Fairfax district on May 30.(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and other protesters claimed in federal court Friday that the Los Angeles Police Department has “failed completely” to hold officers accountable for excessive force and other abuses during 2020’s mass demonstrations.

Attorneys for the protesters made the claim in an amended complaint filed in their sweeping class-action lawsuit against the city, alleging the LAPD has failed to investigate serious cases of excessive force that have been documented by others, and unjustly ruled in favor of officers in cases it has reviewed.

While the LAPD “announced the intention to ‘hold every officer accountable for their actions,’” the protesters’ attorneys wrote, “a year later, the LAPD has failed completely.”

The LAPD arrested thousands of people and cleared crowds with batons and hard-foam projectiles in late May and early June, as protesters gathered in the tens of thousands to decry the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other police force in L.A. and around the country.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.