Yesterday protestors organized through RevCom.us filled the streets of downtown LA going from Police Headquarters to Broadway and Washington to protest police killings, the frequency of which a recent a recent Washington Post study found occurs more than 1,100 times per year.
This protest happened to go directly past the offices of one of my clients, so I took a few shots.
After the main body of protestors had passed I talked to a few and asked how they were organized and how they knew about the demonstration. They said they had found out about it through Revcom.us which was also printed on many of their signs. Visiting their site they openly claim that they are "The Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party". So, Commies! They also had a hastash #ShutdownA14 for the protest and the young man who briefly spoke to told me that they were shutting down the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. Which they did at a rally that featured Dr. Cornell West.YouTube Video He then lamented, "We Don't Shut down Nothin' here in LA." But that didn't last long as a few blocks past where I'd encountered this young man, several other protestors had decided to stop at the corner of Washington and Broadway, staged a "Die In" and blocked the tracks of the Blue Line Metro commuter train.
(Via KABC, posted on twitter) The various local news reports from KABC, covered the situation and were certain to mention how this was such an inconvenience to commuters who just wanted to go home. I find that an innocent and unarmed person being shot to death by police who are supposed to be protecting them, to be a somewhat larger inconvenience than being stuck on a train for an hour or two.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- At least fifteen people were arrested after they blocked the Blue Line tracks at Washington Boulevard and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles for about two hours Tuesday during a protest against police brutality. Members of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network began their small protest in front of LAPD headquarters at First and Main streets at about 3:20 p.m. Tuesday. The Blue Line was suspended between Grand Avenue and Washington Boulevard when about 20 to 30 Walter Scott supporters stopped on the tracks, halting traffic during rush hour. "We're shutting things down... we're not allowing business as usual. People can't go along with their normal day and not recognize that there's two to three people being killed by the police every single day," a protester named Diego said.
I had two interactions with by police as I approached the area in the aftermath of the arrests after work. The first Officer noticed my t-shirt, which is about the sound of Fender Guitar Amps, and complimented it. I had to admit to him though that I don't actually play Fenders, I play a Yamaha guitar because a friend recommended them as being great quality and value. "A $200 Yamaha plays like a $500 guitar", he said. That friend I then told him was Ty Tabor guitarist for King's X. And then he surprised me by being familiar with the band, who've only put out 15 albums or so over the last 30 years. We talked about them being from Houston Tx, although they actually met in Springfield Missouri. Their lead singer Dug Pinnick actually lives in LA now I told him. (Their drummer Jerry Gaskill lives in New Jersey and lost his home during Hurricane Sandy) While we were having this conversation about a block from where protestors had blocked the Blue Line a couple bicycle officers came by leaving the area so I helped lift the yellow police tape so they could get under it. They said "Thanks" and went on their way. Everything was perfectly pleasant. Then I ran into another cop, this one a Deputy Sheriff in Riot gear as I crossed the parking lot to get a little closer to things and stopped across from the LA Furniture Mart. Right after I stopped briefly near a handicapped parking spot to checked my phone which had stopped working and tried to set it up to charge from my laptop the deputy came up to me and said I should move, that he as "just trying to keep me safe", even if "I may not believe that" and that he didn't want me to become "one of those people" who got caught up in something or the other. "We just want to keep you safe". He said all this pretty much before I said anything. When he said "This is a parking lot and there are cars here" I was like "This is a handicapped space!" And he kept talking "We'd like you cooperation" and so on. So I moved - about 24 ft to my left and finally got my phone working so I could take these shots.
This shot was taken looking toward the area where the Blue Line was being blocked, near the red building in the background and the spot where I'd just encountered this deputy and his weird passive-aggressive threat that I should move or else. He's still standing in the same spot shown on the right just across the police tape next to the last handicapped parking spot which is marked in blue. As you can see there are about 3 other people standing in that area on my side of the tape and he's ignoring them all with his back turned speaking to other deputies. Hmm... Just for more context the Fender Fan LAPD Officer was white, this guy was black. It was all a bit surreal, but if you've spent any real time in LA, you've no doubt met a member of either LAPD or the Sheriffs who was pretty much a complete FrackHole. More Sheriff Deputies in Riot gear.
At this point I had gotten the shots I wanted so I hopped a fence to get out of the parking lot without crossing the yellow tape and walked around the block that has the Furniture Mart and past the Municipal Court House on the next street to the west to get closer to the action. Notice now how close I am to the red building and the remaining protestors who had been pushed back from the tracks?
So let's just count the efforts of Deputy Not-That-Friendly to push me, and for some reason only me, further away from things as Thwarted. I even shot video as the Officers eventually retreated from the scene having made their arrests and clearing the tracks.YouTube Video Right after police pushed everyone back another block to the entrance of Trade Tech I then ran into this young man who was a witness to everything and had quite a bit to say about it all.YouTube Video
K9s and guns pointed at you. There are mostly kids out here with skateboards, 20 year-olds, and they probably just got out of class. It's fucking ridiculous man. Why do you need a bullet proof vest? Whose gonna shoot you man? It's like the large scale equivalent of being mugged in elementary school by the schoolyard bully for your lunch money, only instead of lunch money - it's tax money. And if you don't give it to them they just fucking kill you or they throw you in jail
Yeah, what he said.