City attorney files charges against protesters who disrupted L.A. City Council meeting
A handful of protesters were arrested on Jan. 22 after attempting to disrupt the city council meeting when they shouted and used their chairs to block public speakers. (Los Angeles Police Department)
A handful of protesters were arrested on Jan. 22 after attempting to disrupt the city council meeting when they shouted and used their chairs to block public speakers. (Los Angeles Police Department)
A handful of protesters were arrested on Jan. 22 after attempting to interrupt the city council meeting when they shouted and used their chairs to block public speakers. (Los Angeles Police Department)
A few hundred people gathered outside City Hall on Tuesday evening, hoping an emergency meeting was canceled after the protesters were arrested.
The Los Angeles Police Department had recommended a misdemeanor complaint be approved against the group, which was called for an emergency meeting about crime and poverty in the African American community.
On Tuesday, the crowd gathered again outside City Hall at 5:30 p.m. as the police reviewed the case and decided to charge the group with obstructing a public meeting. City Attorney’s spokesman Jonathan Hohlt said those who broke the law are given misdemeanor charges. He said he does not see a connection between the two incidents.
“There’s no connection at all, I can tell you that,” Hohlt said. “It’s just a coincidence.”
A short time after the police decided to issue charges, the crowd began protesting outside City Hall again, and a handful of demonstrators were arrested, according to a video that was captured by a news photographer near City Hall.
The protest was about 2 blocks from L.A. County Sheriffs Department headquarters, on the sidewalk by City Hall. It did not start until 5:30 p.m., after protesters were arrested, the photographer said.
Those arrested included some who were wearing hoods over their heads but were not wearing masks. One person was standing at