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6.5.20 | 5:30 PM PDT | Los Angeles, CA | DTLA
Angelenos - among others - have held fast to nonviolent protests for ten long days throughout Los Angeles County, following the 5.25.20 murder of George Floyd, at the hands of MPD officers in Minneapolis. In the beginning, it soon became clear that looters and arsonists - terrifying criminals - not protesters, took advantage of the situation and brought war into the mix. There has been no peace, no justice in the ensuing fray. Video footage has shown that protesters in L.A. have managed to resist when deliberately accosted by would-be rioters attempting to break their will to keep protests nonviolent. They deserve credit for resisting the urge to fight back when treated unfairly - even illegally - for their legal civilly disobedient patriotism.
And then there are the cops - some good, some not, whose lives are on the line - often in terribly dangerous circumstances. Their frustration is easily read on their angry faces as they, too, endure rage and insults while protesters emote desperation at the top of their lungs. The LAPD has seemed unwilling to recognize these different categories of people out in the streets. A class-action federal lawsuit filed by Black Lives Matter-LA against the LAPD and Chief Michel Moore this week on behalf of 2600+ detained protesters - alleging civil rights violations and excessive force - will undoubtedly shine a light on what behavior to avoid, going forward. But let it be said: not all cops are bad cops; we need their legitimate protection in legitimately criminal circumstances.
Today peaceful protesters in Los Angeles again took to the streets at City Hall, through DTLA, to the Staple Center, demanding justice for George Floyd and all racially abused people. At one point the LAPD staged a confrontation - a show of force - determined to block the protesters' paths and send them elsewhere. But the marchers were adamant, asserting that their route past the SC was significant and would proceed as planned. At the standoff, a call went out for protesters on bicycles to come forth to the front. Dozens of protest cyclers surged up to the LAPD blockade and stopped, whereupon a command over the LAPD radio rang out, "RETREAT!" Modeling a wise disciplined peacekeeping maneuver, the police force backed off rather than escalating to physical confrontation; the march proceeded peacefully, LAPD dropped back to follow the parade to its conclusion, and everybody won - perhaps due in part to Mayor Eric Garcetti's proposal to require LAPD Chief Moore to revise and reform police policy away from violence as usual.
Authoritarian shows of force have ruled the day in the past, but badly. Now that technology helps visually expose abuses, the legally protesting citizens (and good cops whose numbers are legion, and politicians who serve the public more than they serve themselves) are declaring that it's time to improve policies and choose better practices - all across the board. Out of the shambles of broken trust on every front, the herculean tasks of building new trust and new beginnings have already begun. No justice, no peace.
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