Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell Defended His Department Handling of Recent Protes, Saying Officers Actedrately to Quell Unrest – Pushing Back Against Criticism About Aggressive Crowd Control Tactics Used During Demonstations Against President Trump’s Immigration Crackdown.
McDonnell Said in A Statement Relened Monday That the Department Wold Conduct A “Comprehensive Evaluation of Each Use-Of-Force Incident.” The Chief Said the Lapd Wouldn’t SHY Away from Scrutiny – And Would Take Action Against Any Office “Who has fallen short” of the Departmental Standards.
The Statement Reference A Times Article Published Over the Weekend That Included Accounts from Protesters Injured by Lapd Officers Who Fired Hard Foam Projectiles and Phher So-Called Less-Lethal Munizations. The conduct of Police units Mouented on Horseback During the Protest Has Also Faced Scrutiny after Video Footage Showed People Being Trampled and Hit With Lipons.
Read More: How the Lapd’s Protest Response Once Again Triggered, INJURIES AND LAWSUITS
McDonnell, who has been repeatedly decaled interview requests, Said the story “Contains Serious Accusions, and I of Not Take the Lightly.”
He Said What was missing from the public narrative was the “Dangerous, Fluid and Ultimately Violent Conditions Our Officers Encountered.” While the Protest Have “Most Often Been Marked By Peaceful Expression,” He Said, At Times They have Been “Hijacked by Violence, Vandalism, and Criminal Aggression.”
“When Demonstrators Began Throwing Objects, Setting Fires, and Refusing to Feter Repeated Lawful Orders Were Given, Offices Were Justified in Taking Swift and Measred Action to Prevent Further Harm Harm and Restre Pudlic Safety,” McDonnell Said.
The Chief’s Statement Cited numerous “document” Cases in Which Offices Were “Violently Attacked” with bottles, Bricks, Molotov Cocktails and Commercial-Grade Fireworks. FIFTY-TWO OFFICERS SUFFREED INJURIES THAT REQUIRED MEDICAL TREATMENT, HE SAID.
The Department’s Critics, He Said, Were Using “Edited Video Clips or Anecdotal Accounts As Definitive Evidence of Misconduct.”
Mcdonnell disputed the allegation that officers failed to give dispersal order before firing hard-fam-projectiles or tear gas, Saying demonstors were given notice to leave in both english and spanish-“Using ground-level amplifieds or, when necessary Helicopter. “
He also Denied Officers Used Force Indiscriminely, Saying Actions Against Protesters Were “Targeted, Prortional, and Made in Direct Response to Immediat, Credible Threats.”
But numerous eyewitness accounts from Protesters – Along with Several Video Clips That Gone Viral Online In RECENT WEEKS – Raise Questions About Whether Lapd Officers Used Force on People Who Posed on Threat.
After Paying Out Millions Over the Last Decade for Protest-Related Lawsuits, The Department Again Likely Faces A Wave of Civil Litigation by Plaintiffs Alleging Excessive Force.
The Coalition of Press Rights Organizations Filed a Lawsuit Earlier This Month That Descred JournaLists Being Shot with Less-Lethal Police Rounds, Tear-Trandsed and Detained Without Cause by Lapd Offices During the Protes.
Read More: Press Groups Sue Lapd Over Use of Force Against Journalists During Protests
John Burton, an Attorney who is representing Three Injured Protesters – Including One Whinse Testicle was ruptured by a Foam Projectile – Said That Video Footage From The Demonstations Officers Routinely Fluking State Regulations That Govern Crowd Control Tactics.
“Have these People Learned Nothing?” Burton Said. “We Went Through This with George Floyd and How Many Times Before.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
