Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell defended his department’s treatment of the latest protests, saying that officials had been properly behaving in order to quench the unrest – retreating from criticism of aggressive crowd control tactics used during demonstrations against presidential immigration.
In a statement announced on McDonnell on Monday, the department would conduct a “thorough assessment of each force incident.” The boss stated that LAPD would not shy away from inspection – and would take action against any officer who “ran out” the department standards.
The report published over the weekend stated the Times, which was attended by the accounts of the protesters injured by LAPD officials who fired from hard foam projectiles and other so -called less fatal ammunition. During the protests, the behavior of the police units was performed, which also faced a verification after the videos showed that people were tamed and struck by bars.
Read more: As the LAPD protest response once again caused resentment, injuries and claims
McDonnell, who has repeatedly refused requests for interviews, said that the story “has serious accusations and I do not get them easily.”
He said that what was missing for the public narrative was “dangerous, smooth and ultimately the violent conditions that our officials faced.” Although the protests “mostly have a peaceful expression,” he said, sometimes “captured by violence, vandalism and criminal aggression.”
“When the demonstrators began throwing things, collecting fires, and refusing to dispel after the re -lawful orders were submitted, officials were justified to take and measure the actions quickly to avoid further harm and restore public security,” said McDonnell.
The government’s statement indicated numerous “document -approved” cases where officials were “brutally attacked” with bottles, bricks, Molotov cocktails and commercial class fireworks. He said fifty -two officers suffered injuries that required treatment.
The department’s critics, he said, used “edited videos or anecdotal accounts as a final evidence of misconduct.”
McDonnell disputed the claim that officials did not give dissemination orders before shooting with hard well or tear gas, saying that demonstrators had been informed of both English and Spanish-“using ground-level reinforced systems or helicopter if necessary.”
He also denied that the officers were recklessly using force, saying that the actions against the protesters were “targeted, proportional and directly responding to a direct, reliable threat.”
However, many of the protesters’ witness stories, along with several videos that have become viral on the Internet in recent weeks, have questions about whether LAPD officials have used force to people who have not asked for any threat.
Having learned millions of protest actions over the last decade, the department will once again face a wave of plaintiffs’ civil cases, suspecting excessive force.
Earlier this month, a coalition of press rights organizations was submitted, describing that journalists were shot at less fatal police rounds, tears of LAPD officers during the protests and detained and detained.
Read more: The press groups approached
John Burton, a lawyer representing three wounded protesters, including one with a testicular foam projectile, said video footage indicates that officials regularly disregard the state rules governing crowd control tactics.
“Did these people learn anything?” said Burton. “We went through it with George Floyd and how many times before.”
Sign up to get Essential California to get news, features and recommendations from La Times and Outside Six days a week.
This story initially appeared at the Los Angeles Times.