It is 12:53am and I am exhausted having just ate dinner (thankful that I had a meal to eat and a roof over my head.) I write the following with great hope that story of what happened with LAPD and the peaceful protestors today does not get truly lost within the annals of corporate media.

The local major media news outlets are all reporting that “anarchists” caused the melee by throwing some bottles. First, I would like to pose this question: Are empty plastic water bottles really a threat to anyone let alone police officers in full riot gear? Second, Should there not be some sort of maturity factor involved in officer response and conduct? Third, The “anarchists” as they are so eloquently called (simply because they wear bandannas over their respective faces I assume) were the ones trying to keep the peace. One supposed anarchist was actually pleading with the officers and saying “We are peaceful protestors; we came here for immigrants rights; we are no threat to you; please do not rush; women, children, and men will get hurt; you can disobey orders that do not go with your beliefs.” Who was angry and threw a couple of bottles? The youth of Los Angeles were simply angry and frustrated. They have been dealing with the reality that ICE can rip their families apart at any moment due to legal status. The rumor that ICE was on the scene was also quite persistent hanging high in the back of many minds. Does it justify throwing a couple of water bottles? No; but was it really a threat to the officer’s safety? Please also take note that Police Chief Bill Bratton has reported that “missiles” were thrown. Would you consider an empty plastic water bottle a missile?

Let us now take a look at the side of the coin that the media seems to be purposely under reporting.


The following events are listed in chronological order.

Rampart division officers harass and illegally search and detain a peaceful protestor for 15 minutes because the protestor was documenting the march and had decided to take a photograph of the wrong officers. The protestor is released when a crowd starts to gather and take pictures of the incident. (Please note that event #1 occurred when all was calm and peaceful and the march was slowly winding its way into MacArthur Park)

(Approximately 30 minutes after the first event) Officers start to push a protestor at the corner of Wilshire & Parkview. This results in the Los Angeles chapter of Copwatch quickly moving into action to document the incident. A crowd quickly gathers and the street starts to fill up with people of all ages and backgrounds. A protestor was shown the true force of a police baton in blunt force trauma to the head. Organizers start to plead with people to leave the street for fear that the officers will declare this an illegal assembly because of people being in the street. People remain in the street simply because they are trying to protect those that they love and care for. LAPD was now fully mobilizing at this point getting riot gear ready and forming a defensive block. Bear in mind; this all started with LAPD attacking peaceful protestors.
An alert is issued that police have started attacking and pushing a young man on the opposite side of the lake in MacArthur Park. Protestors quickly rush to the scene to try and protect the young man from the officers. Once again plenty of media (Corporate & Indy) are there to document all that occurred. It is at this point that the tide seems to turn; LAPD now seems to be gearing up for something much larger. They start to block off all streets surrounding MacArthur Park. One can see certain officers joking about getting to beat people with their batons. The bicycle officers are moved out of the way. The officers wearing helmets are moved in and form a line. Word gets out that SWAT has mobilized in the southern portion of the park; the fear of women, children, and men getting hurt quickly spreads. Protestors quickly start moving to try and get people to move back to protect the innocent. Protestors continue to plead with LAPD to prevent the use of unnecessary force.

Without an order to disperse or a warning shot all hell breaks loose. LAPD is now firing rubber bullet kisses into a crowd of families gathered for a peaceful cause. LAPD uses absolutely no discrimination in whom they choose to shoot; women, children, men, the homeless, the media, and those whom cannot walk without assistance are not safe. LAPD continues to fire round after round until MacArthur Park starts to resemble a scene in a horror film where the a monster has just showed up and everyone is running for their lives and safety grabbing whatever they could to try to get to a safe place without getting hurt. I was able to witness a community working together in that I saw others rushing in to the rubber bullets to pick up people that they were just meeting for the first time. I saw two protestors picking up a man without a clue of what was going on and explaining that he needed to get to shelter; the protestors carried him to safety, as he could not walk on his own.

At this point it is amazingly clear that the officers on duty are neither protecting nor serving the people; they are simply protecting and serving themselves and their own respective interests. Protestors try to grab some red wooden fencing from the stage truck so that people can hide behind the fencing. The officers on the scene would hear nothing of it; they continued to fire until the protestors were driven into streets near by.

Protestors are now in the near by streets running as fast as possible to get away from the shear brutality being served ice cold. LAPD continues to file in and attack protestors who are still attempting to get to safety.

By roughly 8:00pm most of the protestors have gotten to safety.

LAPD continued to block off streets surrounding MacArthur Park for an unknown amount of time.

Reports of video footage of a protestor being shot three times by an officer at point blank range while they were lying on the ground have surfaced; hopefully the footage will get out.

I just want to point out that despite the tragic end; the march was beautiful and it was filled with people from all backgrounds marching for worker’s rights no matter if they have “legal status” or not. We all should try to understand that worker’s rights have no borders. We all are in this struggle together. We all want to live and enjoy life in peace. We are all human and I think some forget this fact. Sometimes we lose a bit of our humanity and I think that it is time for people to take care of one another. In this world we only have each other. If we do not take care of each other then who will? I think Katrina showed quite well that we cannot rely on our government when it comes to taking care of the people.

Know your neighbor; know your community. Take care of each other. There seems to be no justice in this cold system. Just us.

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That is just a cheap shot right there. The police were using unneccesary force, and what they did was complete B.S.!

this is a great article with accompanying photos. police brutality has to stop -- accurate and compelling information like this article are what can be a part of the end of police brutality.

REPORTE PARA UN CORRECTO BALANCE
Por Nick Napolitano. 2 de mayo del 2007 a las 2:20 am.
Lo siguiente es un resúmen de lo que ocurrió cuando La Policia de Los Angeles decidió dispersar una marcha pacífica.

Son las 12:35 de la noche y estoy exhausto acabando de terminar mi cena (agradecido de tener comida y un techo sobre mi cabeza) Escribo lo siguiente con la gran esperanza de que la historia de lo que pasó hoy con La Policía de Los Angeles y los manifestantes pacíficos no se pierda en los annales de los medios de comunicación.
Los medios masivos de comunicación locales reportaron que los anarquistas causaron el enfrentamiento por lanzar unas botellas. Primero, quisiera preguntar: ¿los envases de agua vacíos realmente son una amenaza? segundo, ¿No debería de haber un poco de madurez involucrada en la respuesta y la conducta de los oficiales? tercero, los anarquistas, como son elocuentemente llamados (simplemente por las pañoletas que cubren sus rostros supongo) fueron los que trataban de mantener la paz. Un supuesto anarquista estaba de hecho dialogando con los oficiales y diciendo "somos manifestantes pacíficos, venimos por los derechos de los inmigrantes, no somos una amenaza para ustedes; mujeres, niños y hombres estan siendo heridos, ustedes pueden desobedecer las ordenes que no vayan con sus creencias." ¿Quién estaba enojado y lanzo un par de botellas? La juventud de Los Angeles simplemente estaba enojada y frustrada. Habían estado enfrentando la realidad de que el ICE puede destrozar sus familias en cualquiel momento. El rumor de que el ICE estaba en el lugar tambien fue bastante persistente en la mente de muchas personas. ¿Eso justifica lanzar un par de botellas de agua? No, pero ¿realmente fue una amenaza para la seguiridad de los oficiales? Por favor también tomen nota de que el jefe de la policía Bill Bratton reprortó que se habían lazado misiles. ¿Tu puedes considerar una botella de agua vacía un misil?

Los siguientes eventos están enlistados en orden cronológico.

-Oficiales persiguen e ilegalmente detienen y registran a un manifestante por 15 minutos por que el protestante estaba documentando la marcha y le tomó fotos a los oficiales. El manifestante fue liberado cuando una multitud se acercó a tomar fotos del incidente.

-Aproximadamente 30 min después del primer evento. Oficiales empujan a un manifestante en la esquina de Wilshire y Parkview. Una multitud rápidamente se reune y las calles se empiezan a llenar de gente de todas las edades. Un manifestante recibió el golpe de un tolete en la cabeza. Los organizadores empezaron a pedirle a la gente que abandonara la calle por el miedo a que los oficiales declararan ilegal la asamblea por la gente que estaba en la calle. La gente se quedó en la calle por que estaban tratando de proteger a sus seres queridos. La Policía de Los Angeles se estaba movilizando a este punto preparados con equipo antimotines y formando una valla defensiva.
Se da la alerta de que la policía habían empezado a atacar y empujar a jovenes del otro lado del lago en el parque MacArthur. Los manifestantes rápidamente se movieron al lugar para tratar de proteger a los jóvenes de los oficiales. Una vez más muchos medios (corporate & indy) estan tratando de documentar lo ocurrido. En este momento la Policía de Los Angeles parece estarse preparando para algo mucho más grande. Empiezan a bloquear las calles alrededor del parque MacArthur. Se podía ver a los oficiales bromeando sobre golpear a la gente con sus toletes. Los oficiales en bicicleta se habian ido del lugar. Los oficiales que usaban escudos se movieron y formaron una linea. Se empieza escuchar que el SWAT se había movilizado al sector sur del parque; el miedo de mujeres, niños y hombres de ser heridos rápidamente se extiende.Los manifestantes se empiezan a mover tratando de proteger a los inocentes. Los manifestantes siguen pidiendo a La Policía de Los Angeles que eviten el uso innecesario de la fuerza.

Sin una orden de dispersarse o un tiro de advertencia el infierno se desata. La Policía de Los Angeles está disparando balas de goma a una multitud de familias reunidas por una causa pacífica. La Policía de Los Angeles disparan sin discriminación a mujeres, niños, hombres, indigentes, periodistas, y aquellos que no pueden caminar sin ayuda ya no están a salvo. La Policía de Los Angeles continua disparando hasta que el parque MacArthur parace una escena de película de terror donde un mounstro aparece y todo mundo corre por sus vidas y tratan de llegar a un lugar seguro sin ser lastimados. Yo pude observar a una comunidad trabajando junta, algunos se precipitaban hacia las balas de goma para levantar a personas que acababan de conocer. Vi a dos manifestantes levantando a un hombre sin tener idea de qué estaba pasando y explicando que necesitaba llegar a un refugio; los manifestantes lo cargaron por que no podía caminar.

En este punto se hace impresionantemente claro que los oficiales en servicio no estaban ni protegiendo ni sirviendo a la gente; simplemente estaban protegiendo y sirviendo a ellos mismos y a sus intereses personales. Los manifestantes trataron de agarrar un cerco rojo del escenario para que la gente se pudiera esconder tras el. Los oficiales no prestaron atención, siguieron disparando hasta que los manifestantes fueron dispersados a las calles cercanas.

Los manifestantes estaban en este momento corriendo lo más rápido posible para escapar de la brutalidad. La Policía de Los angeles sigue atacando a los manifestantes quienes siguen tratando de ponerse a salvo.

Cerca de las 8:00 pm la mayoría de los manifestantes estan a salvo.

La Policía de Los Angeles siguen bloqueando las calles cercanas al parque MacArthut por tiempo indefinido.

Hay un video de un manifestante que recibió tres balazos mientras estaba tirado en el suelo; ojalá que ese video sea difundido.

Solo quiero señalar que a pesar del trágico final, la marcha fue hermosa y estuvo llena de gente de todas partes marchando por los derechos de los trabajadores sin importar si tienen "estatus legal" o no. Todos deberíamos tratar de entender que los derechos de los trabajadores no tienen fronteras. Todos estamos en este movimiento juntos. Todos queremos vivir y disfrutar la vida y la paz. Todos somos humanos y creo que algunos olvidan este hecho. Algunas veces perdemos un poco de nuestra humanidad y creo que es el tiempo de que la gente se empiece a preocupar por los demás. En este mundo sólo nos tenemos los unos a los otros. Si no nos cuidamos entre nosotros quien lo hará? Creo que Katrina mostró bastante bien que no podemos dejar en las manos del gobierno el cuidar a la gente.

Conoce a tu vecino, conoce tu comunidad. Cuida de los demás. Parece no haber justicia en este frío sistema. Sólo nosotros.

It's ashaming how United State police keeps giving the world so ridiculous examples of how to acting under perssure, sometimes, I don't think US is a first-world country. In every part of the world the police is more and more under prepared to act, so they use some ways, only to desrepect the honest people who look for their own rights, and spare the corrupt politicians.

ok first off AOJ wow never heard of you guys before but im in a place that is for helping with drug/alchohal problems and mental disorders and i think what you guys/girls are doing is the most dignified work someone could do. i dont think that i can join but, the thing about the may1st and 2nd police riot is ridiculous but, i think thats just more incentive to get bush's ass out of office quicker. but remember 'GOOSE FABA' or whatever :)

Someone posted info that at the same time as the rally, there were local gang members who also participated, maybe
provacatively, and the LAPD also, not only, responded to their
actions or potential participation. Why is there no further info on this or is this proven [accurately ] as 'untrue'?

The post said the gang was called "FRIJOLEROS".

If this is actual, let's have some info provided on that too, not
only on the obviously hated LAPD gang only.

If it is not true, what OTHER possible provocations were there for the actions that were played out by all concerned?

Everyone turns out to be a 'victim', not only the poorer brown people who are now focused on as "mothers' and "children" and helpless, homeless, innocents simply casually walking down the parade streets.

All I ask is for more honest reporting on this site, less
biased, slanted, hateful, angry and self-serving posts.
Is this possible here ?

DON'T BE FOOLED!

THIS WAS A (COMING POLICE STATE) PARAMILITARY URBAN EXCERCISE.

WHAT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS SPONSORED OR SUPPORTED BEFORE IN LATIN AMERICA IS COMING TO THE UNITED STATES.

THIS LAPD RIOT WAS *NOT* "JUST SOMETHING THAT WENT HAYWIRE" -- OR "THE LAPD OUT OF CONTROL".

IT WAS A *PREMEDITATED*, *FULLY -COORDINATED*, *PRE-PLANNED* ATTACK ON THE PEOPLE -- EVEN ATTACKING THE MEDIA -- INVOLVING MANY 100'S OF PARAMILITARY COPS & SWAT TEAMS ON FOOT, ON MOTORCYCLES, IN VEHICLES, AND IN HELICOPTERS -- ALL IN RADIO AND VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS WITH THEIR COMMAND CENTERS.

I find it incredible and sad that people in the US cannot protest in peace. For this country (dictatorship)? to preach democracy and free speech to the rest of the world is hypocritical to the extreme. It seems that the US needs an election soon, and I hope that an ethical, reponsible and accountable government needs to be elected. I am Scottish and I hope that if this does not happen that we distance ourselves politically from such a disgusting regime. But, let it be known that the people who care about the future of this planet and its people must stand united no matter where they are.

"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. There is an idea, Mr. Creedy - and ideas are bulletproof."

Remember remember el uno del Mayo, the riotous treason of pigs run astray...

We will fight again next year!!! Viva las Gente especial del Tierra de senior MacArthur, el parque muy bonita!!! Viva la Raza!!!

Let's all be Thankful that there were no serious injuries, just bruises and scratches, and maybe the shakes. We are strong and we will fight!!! They were soft and we are hard!!! Anarchists unite (just make sure there's no hierarchy though)!!!

omfg that is so fucking cruel that kids lying on the floor and none of them fucking cops are helping him. man if i live in america i'd fucking smash all the fucking police cars windows and pop their tyres

Sure you would,dude...and wind up in Tehachape for 2 yrs....cut the crap

With all due respect, there is plenty of quantitative, historical evidence that the police could have contained the incident without resorting to attacking the entire crowd.

Annually, there is a demonstration, with a specific focus against police brutality, on Oct. 22. This march is explicitly opposed to police power, and is aggressive, and usually ends with some attempts to provoke the police, followed up with beatings, sometimes severe, from the police.

Occasionally, there are riots in Los Angeles related to the Lakers basketball team, or a holiday at UCLA. These are the most violent riots (aside from the decennial uprisings that get labelled "the LA Riots") and the police manage to target and contain specific individuals. They don't maintain control, but they do manage to target individuals within the riot.

At past, local immigration demonstrations, particularly involving the SOS, there have been very loud verbal confrontations between groups. Many of these could have turned into violent situations, but, by and large, they did not. This was despite the fact that opposing demonstrators actively "invaded" each others sides, and were even able to touch each other. (The most notable act of aggression was by Ted Hayes, which was most notable because it was a deliberate, premeditated assault against his opposition. Other incidents that resulted in arrests appeared to be spontaneous or accidental.)

The May Day march was tame in comparison. The police had cooperation from the march organizers, from the start; the afternoon march was explicitly the more moderate and less confrontational of the two planned for the day. In the aftermath of the attack, the organizer groups even parroted the police party-line, saying it was people unaffiliated with the organizers who provoked the police.

Objectively, the coordinated forceful shutdown of the march was not necessary or justified. Past history shows the LAPD can handle crowd situations that are hostile, can focus their actions on individuals and groups, and can back off as well when it's not feasible to use force. I believe their decision to clear the park with force was optional, and thus, not justified.

Subjectively, the police action represented the single largest attack against the pro-immigration, pro-legalization movement in Los Angeles. They did physical harm to the movement that the SOS and other aggressive pro-deportation groups could not, specifically because the police have the right to use violence, while individuals do not. This fact was not lost on the thousands of racists and immigrant-haters on the internet, who cheered on the LAPD, making supportive videos, writing rah-rah posts for the LAPD that attempted to align the LAPD with racist statements. (I can't recap the statements here, but, you can look at any racist message board and get the gist.)

The followup march to reclaim the park helped re-establish some political detente between the organizers and the LAPD.

Internally within the LAPD, there must have been some political shifts as well. Bratton lost some power, because he didn't back up the officers. On the other hand, the pro-deportation cops probably saw their opportunity for influence open up, then close up immediately.

The LAPD played this wrong, not only tactically by using violence, but strategically as well, by not being aware of how their actions fit in with the larger political situation.