Thread: 14 arrested after Zimmerman verdict protest in L.A. turns violent

14 arrested after Zimmerman verdict protest in L.A. turns violent

By Ruben Vives, Robert J. Lopez and Andrew Blankstein July 16, 2013, 6:34 a.m.

Los Angeles police arrested 14 people overnight for failing to disperse after hundreds of protesters splintered off a peaceful demonstration in the Crenshaw district and began stomping cars and breaking windows.

“It started off as a peaceful protest at Leimert Park,” said LAPD Officer Bruce Borihanh. “Unfortunately, a small group started disrupting it. It just got out of hand.”

About 350 Los Angeles Police Department officers swarmed the Crenshaw district after groups of youths broke away from the demonstration protesting the George Zimmerman murder trial verdict.

• Also
• Photo: L.A. protest
• Map: Zimmerman verdict protest in the Crenshaw district
• Maps
• Leimert Park, Los Angeles, CA, USA

The group roamed Crenshaw Boulevard and neighboring streets breaking windows, setting fires and attacking several people. Among those attacked were a television reporter and his cameraman, according to law enforcement authorities.

Reporter Dave Bryan and his cameraman, both of whom work for KCBS Channel 2 and KCAL Channel 9, were attacked and one of them was taken to a hospital with a possible concussion, Lt. Andy Neiman told The Times.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck put the public on notice that officers would be taking a more aggressive posture toward protesters beginning Tuesday. "This will not be allowed to continue," he said.

Police estimated that about 150 people took part in the violence after the peaceful vigil at Leimert Park following a Florida jury's acquittal Saturday of Zimmerman, 29, on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last year.

Protesters stormed a Wal-Mart at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, pushing their way through as guards scrambled to close security gates. A short while later, LAPD officers wearing helmets and carrying batons swarmed the store as others marched through the parking lot.

Young vandals who entered the Wal-Mart stormed in, threw merchandise on the ground and yelled, shoppers told a Times reporter. Some tried to break open the jewelry glass displays.

At a late-night news conference, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti blamed the violence on a "a small group [that] has taken advantage of this situation."

He said that protesters have the right to voice their disagreement with the verdict, "but people also deserve to be safe on the streets and in their cars."

In Oakland, hundreds of protesters stormed Interstate 880 near downtown Monday evening and blocked traffic in the southbound and northbound lanes. The protesters were cleared from the freeway and made their way downtown, authorities said.

By late Monday night, multiple arrests had been made in the downtown area as officers from neighboring jurisdictions responded to the chaos, the Oakland Police Department said.

ALSO:
Live blog: Zimmerman protesters clash with LAPD
L.A. officials urge calm, vow to crack down on protesters
Zimmerman verdict: In Oakland, garbage on fire, waiter injured

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-zimmerman-protests-arrests-20130716,0,412940.story

Ignorant mob looking for an excuse to let off stream and loot. Just my humble opinion.

ZIMMERMAN COMPLAINED ABOUT SANFORD POLICE IN DEFENSE OF HOMELESS BLACK MAN



by JOHN NOLTE
24 May 2012

We're learning today that just last year, at a public forum, George Zimmerman publicly testified against the Sanford police department in defense of a homeless black man. In other words, what we have here is more proof that the media narrative surrounding the shooting of Trayvon Martin might just end up being the most disgraced and failed media narrative since Duke-LaCrosse and the Tuscon murders.

Associated Press:

George Zimmerman accused the Sanford police department of corruption more than a year before he shot Trayvon Martin, saying at a public forum the agency covered up the beating of a black homeless man by the son of a white officer.

"I would just like to state that the law is written in black and white," Zimmerman said during a 90-second statement to city commissioners at a community forum. "It should not and cannot be enforced in the gray for those who are in the thin blue line."

The forum took place on Jan. 8, 2011, days after a video of the beating went viral on the Internet and then-Sanford Police Chief Brian Tooley was forced to retire. Tooley's department faced criticism for dragging its feet in arresting Justin Collison, the son of a police lieutenant.

The media narrative fail here is a triple shot. If Zimmerman is supposedly some kind of yee-haw law and order type eager to play racist cop, why in the world would he publicly accuse the Sanford police of corruption with a special emphasis on the Chief -- all in defense of a homeless black man beaten by the white son of a white Sanford police officer. It's not like someone threw a microphone in Zimmerman's face either. He proactively went to, attended, and spoke out at this meeting.

"I'd like to know what action the commission is taking in order to repeal Mr. Tooley's pension," Zimmerman said to the commission. "I'm not asking you to repeal his pension; I believe he's already forfeited his pension by his illegal cover-up in corruption in what happened in his department."

The third corner in this triangle of media narrative fail is that, after Trayvon was shot and killed, many in the media questioned Zimmerman's supposed "cozy relationship" with the Sanford police -- that this had something to do with Zimmerman not being charged with a crime.

While we have no way of knowing what Zimmerman's overall relationship to the department was, it is pretty safe to say that publicly demanding that the Police Chief lose his pension and accusing the department of covering up a crime is not the action of a man looking to endear himself with the department.

A wonderful bit of Karmic irony is that today's story comes to us courtesy of the Associated Press, the very same news outlet that led the charge to turn this tragedy onto a full-blown racial controversy with the publishing of false information about Zimmerman:

The incident happened on Feb. 26, 2012, and was primarily reported in local outlets. The first major national news report was on CBS This Morning on March 8, and did not mention race.

The story did not take on a racial dimension until later that day, when the AP mistakenly identified the shooter as white (George Zimmerman is of mixed Hispanic descent).

The racial claims were then repeated and amplified by other media outlets, including Gawker, which claimed the neighborhood in which Martin was shot was “predominantly white” (it fact is is "almost 50 percent white," according to the Daily Beast).

Only in liberal America is Zimmerman, a Hispanic Democrat, a racist vigilante and Elizabeth Warren a member of an oppressed minority.

Taking their marching orders directly from the White House, the whole of the medialaunched a campaign of smears to demonize a man, all in an effort to aid and abet Obama's reelection by enflaming racial tensions in the crucial swing state of Florida.

And it's only May.http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...Sanford-Police

'Kill Zimmerman' painted on business before arson in Downingtown

Monday, July 15, 2013

By SARAH BLOOMQUIST

DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. - July 15, 2013 (WPVI) -- Police in Chester County, Pennsylvania are investigating an act of vandalism with racial overtones, possibly connected to the fallout from the verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial.

Photographs obtained by Action News show what firefighters found Sunday night when they responded to a fire at ProSigns, a company that manufactures commercial signs for businesses, in the 200 block of Boot Road.

Related Photos


'Kill Zimmerman' painted on business before fire
View all 4 photos

You can clearly see the words "Kill Zimmerman" painted in red paint on the front wall.Related Content
​

The graffiti was discovered when firefighters arrived to extinguish a blaze around 11:20 p.m. Sunday.The fire was brought under control quickly and no one was hurt. Considering the graffiti, investigators immediately suspected the blaze was intentionally set.

On Monday, the fire was ruled an arson, fueled by an unknown accelerant.
It was Saturday night when a Florida jury found George Zimmerman not guilty in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, prompting outrage and protests - mostly peaceful - around the country.

Monday afternoon, investigators returned to the commercial business located in an industrial area of the Chester county community to look for new clues.
Inside, a professional clean-up crew worked to repair smoke and water damage. One law enforcement source put the damage estimate at about a half million dollars.

Law enforcement sources are being extremely tight-lipped as the investigation continues.

We do know that county and local police are involved in the investigation and that so far no arrests have been made.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=9172652

Zimmerman protesters raid LA store, stop freeway


.

View gallery

A woman holds up a sign during a demonstration in reaction to the acquittal of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman on Monday, July 15, 2013, in Los Angeles. Anger over the acquittal of a U.S. neighborhood watch volunteer who shot dead an unarmed black teenager continued Monday, with civil rights leaders saying mostly peaceful protests will continue this weekend with vigils in dozens of cities. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Raquel Maria Dillon, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Protesters ran through Los Angeles streets Monday night, breaking windows, attacking people on sidewalks and raiding a Wal-Mart store, while others blocked a major freeway in the San Francisco Bay area in the third night of demonstrations in California over George Zimmerman's Florida acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

Fourteen people were arrested after multiple acts of vandalism and several assaults in Los Angeles' Crenshaw District. One man was seen in the street with a head injury and a TV crew received minor injuries in an assault.

More than 300 officers were called to the scene and were at first slow to directly engage protesters in an attempt to allow a peaceful end to the demonstration, police Chief Charlie Beck told a press conference. But the chief said police would take a much stricter posture in the coming nights.

"This will not be allowed to continue," Beck said.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the trouble was caused by a small group exploiting the situation.

"The trial that we saw in Florida has ignited passions but we have to make sure that it will not ignite the city," Garcetti said.

Several hundred mostly peaceful protesters had gathered at Leimert Park southwest of downtown, many of them chanting, praying and singing.

But a smaller group of between 100 and 150 people splintered off, blocked traffic on nearby Crenshaw Boulevard, jumped on cars and broke windows at liquor stores and fast food outlets.

Several protesters ran into a Wal-Mart store and knocked down displays before store security chased them out. Police began guarding the door.

Tonya Williams was shopping with her daughter when the protesters burst in and security briefly locked down the store.

"We thought we were going to be stuck in there," Williams said. "We saw the merchandise all thrown around. They had pulled the rack down, and there was merchandise all over the floor."

TV news helicopters showed some people kicking and punching others along the street, including two people sitting on a bus bench.

Police declared an unlawful assembly about three hours after it began, and most of the crowd left the street.

Among those assaulted were a reporter and photographer for Los Angeles TV stations KCBS and KCAL. Reporter Dave Bryan and the photographer were interviewing a man in Crenshaw when a man tackled them and ran off. KCBS-KCAL reported (http://cbsloc.al/15BU9C3 ) the crew was treated for minor injuries.

Garcetti, who returned early from an East Coast trip because of the demonstrations, praised the "overwhelming majority" who protested peacefully.

"We are a better city than what we have seen tonight in the hands of a few people," the mayor said.

"The Martin family didn't ask anybody to break car windows," he added. "They didn't ask anybody to take little kids' scooters. They didn't ask anybody to attack businesses and they certainly didn't say to take over traffic in the streets."

In Oakland, dozens of demonstrators briefly blocked Interstate 880 at the end of rush hour before lanes were cleared by authorities. Several protesters laid their bicycles on the ground in front of stopped cars.

"You've got to go. You will go to jail," one police officer shouted at demonstrators who were blocking traffic, the Oakland Tribune reported. However, police decided not to make arrests as the marchers, chanting "Justice for Trayvon Martin," were directed back to surface streets.

Later, another group tried to march up the onramp to Interstate 580 before being turned away by Oakland police and California Highway Patrol officers.

The freeway protesters broke off from a larger group organized via social media that gathered at Oakland City Hall about an hour earlier.

Police made nine arrests for crimes including assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism, police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said.

A waiter guarding windows at a restaurant was hit in the face with a hammer, and protesters threw fireworks at police in riot gear, newspapers reported. Police deployed flash-bang grenades.

The waiter's co-workers helped him ice his head as they waited for an ambulance, the Oakland Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/18i9j1E ).

Witnesses told the newspaper that a protester was also injured after being struck by a police projectile. Police did not immediately respond to a request to confirm that report.
Demonstrations began in California Saturday night after the Florida jury returned its verdict

http://news.yahoo.com/zimmerman-prot...075210080.html

RELATED http://www.alipac.us/f9/waiter-attac...rotest-283613/

RELATED http://www.alipac.us/f9/breaking-tra...update-283443/