By Kevin Rector, Matthew Ormseth, Andrew J. Campa, Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police Tuesday night shadowed and dispersed groups of people near Staples Center, detaining several people and declaring gatherings unlawful.
At least six people were briefly taken into custody on suspicion of carrying items banned at protests by city law, the LAPD said. They were released not long after.
And twice police announced to crowds around the downtown entertainment complex that they had formed unlawful assemblies and had to disperse or face arrest.
Capt. Stacy Spell, an LAPD spokesman, did not say what items the detained individuals were suspected of carrying, but noted the LAPD had issued warnings earlier in the day that a range of items — including large sticks, shields and laser pointers — are restricted at such gatherings.
Chip Sneed, 24, an independent photographer from Orange County, said he was detained after he had stepped behind a police line to listen to a briefing from a captain. The captain noticed him and told an officer to check his press credentials.
When Sneed said he didn’t have credentials, the captain ordered him detained, he said.
“Specifically, I heard him say, ‘He’s antifa surveillance,’” Sneed said. “That’s a direct quote.”
Sneed said he walked forward with his hands on his head, because he “wasn’t trying to get my nose broken.” He was then lined up with others against a wall of the L.A. Convention Center for about an hour, their hands zip-tied behind them as police searched their belongings, photographed them and took note of their tattoos, Sneed said.
Some of those who were detained were wearing helmets and protection for their chests, knees and elbows. Sneed, who has covered recent protests and unrest in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore., was carrying a gas mask in his backpack.
Some in the crowd flung water bottles in the direction of officers.
Earlier Tuesday, the L.A. City Council made it illegal to wield laser pointers at protests after LAPD officials complained officers had suffered eye injuries when the devices were pointed at them during protests this year.
Firearms and other weapons, bats, shields, flammable liquids, bricks and rocks, among other items, are also illegal.
In the lead-up to election night, LAPD officials warned violence or destruction of property would not be tolerated. All officers in the department were put on tactical alert Tuesday to boost the number of officers on duty, and the presence of police deployed on city streets was ramped up considerably, officials said.
The quick crackdown was part of a new approach ordered by LAPD Chief Michel Moore. Moore instructed field commanders to act early and swiftly to declare gatherings unlawful soon after crowds grow disruptive and not wait for things to ratchet up, according to two sources familiar with the department’s decision making.
The change comes after large crowds that gathered after the Dodgers and Lakers victories last month and during major protests against police brutality this summer devolved into chaos and clashed with police on skirmish lines. Many protesters and police were injured in those incidents, and dozens of stores were damaged.
Police said they were staffing up and pre-deploying officers in large numbers to avoid anything similar from happening on election night.
At Staples Center, officers were wearing helmets and carrying batons. Some were carrying rifles that fire hard-foam projectiles.
By 8:15, after a crowd of about 100 had been ordered to disperse by police, the crowd had thinned considerably. Then, shortly after 9:30 p.m., LAPD declared another gathering unlawful — this one near South Figueroa and West 18th streets.
Earlier in the evening, the mood had been light and there was an excitement as election results were flowing in from around the country while the last stragglers cast their votes at Staples Center.
Bruce Harper, 52, traveled from San Bernardino with his fiancee, Mariana Franco, 47, to take “part in the excitement.”
“I’m really surprised with what happened at the end,” Harper said of the police dispersal of the crowd. “This was a peaceful gathering. We’ve been here for hours and nothing bad was happening.”
Franco said she was unaware of what started the clash between the crowd and police, but was sad to see the crowd leave.
“It was great to be a part of this,” she said.
South Park resident Teresa Hillery, who lives about two blocks from Staples Center, came out to see the commotion. It’s been a frustrating couple of months for Hillery, as protests and celebrations have repeatedly occurred in her neighborhood.
“As a community we deserve to be protected too, not just AEG and the Staples Center,” said Hillery, referring to the Anschutz Entertainment Group, the owner of Staples Center. “Whenever something happens here, the police go out of their way to protect AEG property and push protesters into our community.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
https://twitter.com/serious_war_eng/status/1323947865518055425
(c)2020 the Los Angeles Times