[ad_1]
Sergio Espejo did not come to Los Angeles with activism in mind. He had planned to visit friends, as he had done many times in the past. With the exception of this summer, the city was caught up in protests, triggered by a series of ice attacks in early June.
This time he “is here to support my fellow immigrants,” he said.
Espejo was one of an estimated 200,000 people who participated in the “No Kings” protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 14th. He described the protesters as being almost peaceful. People dance, play music, waving Mexican and American flags and “exercise the first amendment rights as Americans,” he said.
At 4pm, Espejo walked to LA City Hall and saw the lines of the LAPD and LA Sheriff’s department officers on the building’s stairs. By 5pm, the sheriff’s office began firing tear gas, foam projectiles and pepper sprays, attempting to disperse the crowd.
The projectile then collided with Espejo and exploded.
“I saw some of my fingers fly to the side of the street,” Espejo said.
The flash van device that changed Espejo’s life was a “non-fatal” weapon. This category includes tear gas and pepper balls that were first used by law enforcement after World War I and unfolded during strikes and political action in the 1920s and 30s. The rubber bullet was created by the British Army to suppress Northern Ireland’s protesters during the matter. Typically these weapons were used to implement order without using live ammunition.
However, these tools have been the source of controversy that has been frequently used by lawyers, activists and academics since their inception and claim to have a catastrophic effect on targets.
After Espejo was attacked, he said he ran west down Temple Street, bleeding his hands and cried out for help. Bystanders called out Medic, and he was taken to Los Angeles General Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery. His left index finger was amputated.
Espejo, a data engineer, can no longer type with his left hand. Worse, he said, he can no longer draw.
“My passion is to draw. That’s how I express myself and I can’t do that anymore,” Espejo said.
In a civil rights claim filed against the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office and the city of Los Angeles, Espejo says the sheriff’s deputies “used a flash bang thrown in the plaintiff’s face and other non-fatal ammunition,” and “the plaintiff suffered multiple injuries.”
“What happened to Espejo is not isolated misconduct. It reflects a broader, deeper and troubling pattern in which the sheriff’s department repeatedly responded to peaceful protests against militarized violence,” reads the allegations filed in the city of Los Angeles on June 19th.
The claim also criticizes the widespread use of less lethal weapons.
“These weapons are intended for very limited use by trained personnel in situations that include immediate threats, but instead are used indiscriminately.
The LA County Sheriff’s Office refused to discuss the case, but said that all use cases have been reviewed and evaluated by departmental executives, according to a written statement.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office (LASD) requires all deputies to graduate from the basic academy and receive extensive training in using less lethal force when continuing through service,” the department wrote.
The same statement listed ways officers could be taught to use less lethal weapons, from eight-hour classes at patrol schools to the mandatory refresher courses annually.
“We don’t use indiscriminately fatal tools, only when de-escalation measures are exhausted.
According to the department’s force usage policy, such material should only be used “in an objectively reasonable situation in light of the situation.” The same rules state that officers who use excessive force face discipline or prosecution.
However, activists and lawyers say LAPD and LASD officials aren’t staying with their rules.
Law enforcement is aiming for a weapon that is less deadly to protesters during a “No Kings Day” demonstration in downtown Los Angeles on June 14th.
(Jason Armand/Los Angeles Times)
The ACLU in Southern California has an open form for those injured by law enforcement or federal agents during anti-ice protests. Two weeks after the initial protest, the ACLU said it had been contacted by 250 people who claimed to have been harmed or witnessed someone who was harmed by police and federal officers, the organization said in a statement.
The organization did not share details of the response.
LAPD told the Times in writing.
“We’re going to call the city of Los Angeles, call the mayor, call the police chief, put officers under control and get them to comply with the law,” said civil rights lawyer James Desimone at a June 25 press conference.
Desimone represents three clients: Miguel Mendoza, Atlachinolli Tezcacoatl and Daisy Bravo. All three attended an anti-ice protest in downtown LA on June 8, all suffered injuries from a less-fatal projectile, according to Desimone’s claim for damages filed against the city.
Mendoza and Bravo spoke with reporters on June 25th. Tescakotor was silent, so Desimone spoke for him. After being slapped in the face by a projectile, Tezcacoatl’s jaw was closed.
Mendoza was visiting a friend in Koreatown, and the anti-ice protests cleaned up content creators, but he began to notice other influencers posting about the city hall protests on June 8th. Mendoza, the first generation son of Mexican immigrants, believed he had to attend.
“I was born here… in California, in the Bay Area. I have to stand up for my beliefs,” Mendoza said in an interview.
Mendoza was among the thousands of people marched into city hall that day. Around 6pm, Mendoza was looking at photos of the event he had taken on his mobile phone after police had already started pushing back the crowd using batons and non-fatal projectiles.
At one time, Mendoza felt a sudden shock, and his ears began to ring.
“And I looked down, just blood gushing out of my face, all my hands were covered in red,” he said.
Mendoza had been struck in the face by a less-than-fatal projectile. Mendoza’s claims that LAPD “deliberately and/or recklessly subjected to Mr. Mendoza to shoot these projectiles at him or indiscriminately in his direction,” which caused physical injuries and pain.
“They fractured my nose on both sides, an acute fracture on my cheek, my cheekbones. There was a deep laceration that allowed the rubber bullet to pass through almost completely,” said Mendoza, who first went to Pihgent Care Center Westlake, Glendale Memorial Hospital. “I think they did a total of seven stitches.”
“LAPD is absolutely in violation of its own policies and its US Constitution and state law,” Desimone said in an interview.
LAPD declined to comment on Mendoza’s claims.
Congressional Bill 48, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021, puts prohibitions on the use of non-lethal weapons, saying that such weapons can only be used by law enforcement to protect against physical threats or manage dangerous situations. According to Section 2 of the bill, such weapons cannot be fired indiscriminately at crowds or targeted at the head, neck or other important organs.
The law came in the aftermath of George Floyd’s protest. There, thousands of people across Los Angeles demanded racial justice and police brutality. Police actions related to these protests cost $11.9 million in settlements and juju Awards, according to an analysis by the LA Times.
The use of law enforcement’s low weapons and common protest tactics was a source of scrutiny at the time, and later caused a massive retraining of LAPD officers.
More than 500 people were arrested for protest-related activities in Los Angeles from June 7th to June 15th, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The charges range from attacks to obstruction, illegal parliament. Others have been charged with using Molotov cocktails against sheriff’s deputies and throwing bricks in federal law enforcement.
Pastor Stephen “Kue” was Organier during Floyd’s protest, and he witnessed changes in policy being implemented in LA law enforcement. However, during the anti-ice protests, he said law enforcement began to “go back to their old ways.”
“I saw the brothers who showed him the wounds he received from the projectile, the rubber bullet. The first thing they did was they started to gasse people,” Jn-Marie said.
Law enforcement response to the protests undermines public confidence, he said, and the Trump administration’s use of the National Guard has hit many people in the area.
“How can you protect us when you have a gun and they are pointed at us?” he asked.
Mendoza recently started eating solid foods again, but he still suffers from pain. Even if his condition improves, Mendoza said he expects the mental impact of the incident to last a long time.
“I’m already considering treatment,” he said. “When I’m in the crowd, it’s a little different now. When I meet the officers, it’s a little different. Even for security guards, it’s a little different.”
[ad_2]
Source link
