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Riots,
arrests in California as Zimmerman protests turn violent
In New York hundreds marched from Union Square to Times Square. RT’s Marina Portnaya estimated that police outnumbered demonstrators 2:1 and, while no arrests were made, the marchers made their presence known.
Police
in Los Angeles and Oakland clashed with pockets of violent protesters
intent on wreaking havoc following the verdict in a high-profile
court case that saw the killer of a black youth declared ‘not
guilty.’
RT,
16
July, 2013
A
number of protesters were taken into police custody Monday night
after the LAPD declared an unlawful assembly shortly before 10 pm on
Monday night in the Crenshaw district.
The
scene along Crenshaw Boulevard and adjacent streets was chaotic as
rioters set fires, assaulted bystanders, and vandalized cars and
businesses, authorities said.
A Los Angeles police officer looks on as an arrested individual sits in the back of a van after a peaceful protest supporting Trayvon Martin turned unlawful in the Leimert Park neighborhood Los Angeles, California, July 15, 2013.(Reuters / Jason Redmond)
Police
estimated that up to 150 people were engaged in acts of civil
disobedience in the Crenshaw area.
LAPD
reported that it arrested a total of 13 individuals and Oakland
police detained nine.
Earlier
Monday, a group of protesters stormed a Wal-Mart on Crenshaw
Boulevard as guards hurried to close the security gates. A short time
later, LAPD officers wearing helmets and carrying batons swarmed the
store to disperse the looters, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Some
of the protesters hurled chunks of concrete at officers on Vernon
Avenue, the LAPD said. No injuries were reported.
The
LAPD declared a tactical alert at approximately 9 p.m. local time,
which requires that off-duty officers remain on duty when their
shifts end to assist with high-priority calls.
The
eruption of violence created a “nightmare” for local commuters as
automobiles were trapped around Leimert Park and bus service was
cancelled on Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards, Metro
reported.
The
LAPD has warned it has 300+ officers have been deployed and it will
take a strict approach to people who come out to the Crenshaw area
tomorrow.
Meanwhile,
Oakland had also experienced its share of disturbances as police
turned on protesters with tear gas and concussive grenades in
response to youths smashing windows and throwing rocks at members of
the media.
There
had also been reports that a masked protester attacked a waiter with
a hammer-like object in Oakland.
The
violence comes in the wake of a murder case that polarized the nation
along racial lines in the death of Trayvon Martin. Defense lawyers
argued that Martin, 17, attacked George Zimmerman, who responded by
shooting and killing the teen in apparent self-defense.
The
prosecution attempted to portray the actions of Zimmerman, 29, who is
Hispanic, as racially motivated as he “stalked” and targeted
Martin because he was black, they said.
Peaceful
protests held in other US cities
Despite
the sporadic incidences of violence in Los Angeles and Oakland,
peaceful protests went ahead in other cities across the US.
In
San Francisco, streets were closed off as people marched against
Zimmerman’s acquittal.
In New York hundreds marched from Union Square to Times Square. RT’s Marina Portnaya estimated that police outnumbered demonstrators 2:1 and, while no arrests were made, the marchers made their presence known.
Marchers
carried signs and chanted "Justice for Trayvon Martin!" and
"No justice, no peace!"
Even
though a new trial for George Zimmerman is unlikely, the protests
have already succeeded in changing the conversation for the better,
Professor Charles Rose, who teaches Excellence in Trial Advocacy at
Stetson University in Florida, told RT.
“You
could look at the glass as half-empty or half-full. I prefer to think
that what it gets us in the United States to do is what we, as a
nation of immigrants, always need to do, which is to talk about how
we come together,” he said. “That issue of race is always present
in the United States and it gives us an opportunity, once the emotion
has run out, to give us a way to talk about this in a way that can be
positive for the country in the long term."
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