Independent law enforcement analysts wrapping up a review of the Los Angeles Police Department’s handling of last summer’s mass protests got an earful during two public “listening sessions” Thursday, as activists and protesters blasted the LAPD as abusive and residents questioned how the unrest was allowed to spiral into chaos.
Echoing critiques that have been made across the city and in federal court for months, many who called into the National Police Foundation’s hourlong Zoom sessions described LAPD officers in riot gear surrounding and antagonizing crowds of protesters, lashing out violently with their batons and shooting people with hard-foam projectiles at close range, at times causing serious injuries.
Baba Akili, a prominent activist with Black Lives Matter Los Angeles who spoke at a May 30 protest in Pan Pacific Park before it devolved into one of the worst clashes of the summer, said the LAPD had only two tactics — “control” and “suppress” — and had shown up looking for a fight.
“That’s what they’re taught, that’s how they operate, and that’s how they lined up that day,” Akili said.
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