Protesters return to streets Thursday night in Los Angeles over killing of George Floyd

Dozens of protesters took to the streets Thursday night in Los Angeles, culminating in a tense standoff with police while they blocked a downtown street during a second night of demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd, a black man whose death while in police custody in Minneapolis earlier this week has sparked protests across the country.

More than 70 protesters congregated in front of the LAPD headquarters on First Street starting at about 5 p.m. Some kneeled, while others banged skateboards onto the ground or stood to chant “Black lives matter.”

Among them was Brandon Hammel, of Burbank, who held a sign that read “No More Innocent Bloodshed.” The 21-year-old said there needs to be more attention paid to police killings. A police officer’s job is to “protect and serve,” he said, but what happened to Floyd was a violation of that.

LAPD did not immediately deploy riot police as they had during a larger protest downtown on Wednesday evening.

“We’re not on tactical alert, and we’re closely monitoring what’s going on,” said Officer Tony Im, a spokesman for the department.

Several of the demonstrators spray-painted profane language on a police car in front of the LAPD headquarters. The police car was pelted with water bottles and skateboards as it sped away.

After several hours, protesters with signs in hand left the headquarters and continued marching along downtown streets, eventually meeting a blockade of police at the intersection of Grand and Third streets next to the Museum of Contemporary Art.

During the standoff on Grand Street, police demanded over a loudspeaker for the crowd to disperse, calling the rally an unlawful assembly.

“If you do not do so, you may be arrested, or subject to other police action,” said an officer through a loudspeaker. “Other police action may include the use of less-than-lethal munitions, which could cause significant risk of serious injury for those who remain.”

Activists responded by sitting down cross-legged on the road and yelling out a litany for Floyd, “Justice for George.”

So the police just declared this an unlawful assembly, but demonstrators have sat down in the middle of Grand Ave. pic.twitter.com/GDbAPeIQpr

— Elizabeth Chou (@reporterliz) May 29, 2020

Floyd’s death on Monday evening was captured on a bystander’s video, showing Floyd laying on the ground, exclaiming that he could not breath, while a white officer knelt on his neck during the arrest. The officer kept his knee on his neck for several minutes after Floyd stopped moving.

In response to the killing, protests erupted in cities across the nation, including Los Angeles, where Black Lives Matter demonstrators occupied the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday evening.

Los Angeles detectives were still investigating after a car hit one of several hundred activists during the march Wednesday, injuring him and prompting a search for the driver, police said.

It wasn’t clear how car collision occurred, but the man was left injured on the street after the vehicle sped away. Police Sgt. Frank Preciado said detectives were investigating.

“Normally this would be categorized as a hit-and-run,” he said.

He said police don’t know for sure that a crime occurred, owing to some of the chaos downtown after police in riot gear scattered hundreds of protesters.

Paramedics treated the man. Preciado didn’t know if he was taken to a hospital. But he’s the second injured protester involved in the marches downtown two days after Floyd’s killing.

The first injury occurred when protesters who moved on to the 101 Freeway tangled with a pair of California Highway Patrol cruisers. As one of the units drove through the group, the cruiser was surrounded and had its back window smashed with a skateboard, according to news helicopter footage of the protest.

A protester jumped on top and was still sitting on the roof as the vehicle drove off — he jumped down then appeared to slam his head into the ground.

A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman didn’t know the injured man’s condition Thursday but said he appeared to be OK.

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Misunderstanding may have prompted some of the punches and kicks thrown at the CHP units on Wednesday — several protesters on social media and in an interview said they thought the CHP cruiser ran over the injured man.

Despite the highway encounter, both police and protesters described Wednesday’s protests as an afternoon of mostly peaceful demonstrations.

Things started when protesters took over the intersection at Aliso and Los Angeles streets. After about two hours, LAPD commanders declared the gathering unlawful and sent out riot police.

Joseph Williams, an organizer with Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles, said the protests Wednesday were peaceful until the encounter with police at the intersection. He said the freeway demonstration was spontaneous, and he called the CHP unit driving through their group “reckless.”

“We had a number of folks out there who were family members, or community members, or loved ones of people who have been killed by police violence,” he said.

A CHP spokesman has not returned a request for comment.

LAPD officials in a tweet asked protesters not to go on the freeway.

“We hear your anger & your pain,” they said. “We will always facilitate freedom of speech. Period. All we ask is that protests are held in a safe & legal manner.”

Preciado said there were some reports of protesters throwing objects at officers after they were ordered to leave the intersection. But he said the group was peaceful up until then.

“Command staff made the determination that they had ample time to exercise First Amendment rights,” he said. “They then declared it an unlawful assembly and started the dispersal order.”

Thursday’s rally ended by 10 p.m.. with marchers leaving behind the police blockade on Grand and Third streets.

Minutes before its conclusion, one of the protesters wearing a shirt with a happy face stood to speak toward police. Earlier, she had tapped on her shirt, saying “target practice.”

“They’re trying to kill us,” said Curshawn Watts, 31, who is black, as she faced the line of police officers, breaking down in tears and meeting the embrace of another black protester. “They’re trying to kill us.”