LAPD Protesters Bombard Rampart Station With Rocks, Eggs
LOS ANGELES — Police Chief Charlie Beck was greeted by boos, whistles and chants of "justicia" by an angry Spanish-speaking crowd at a community meeting Wednesday intended to quell violence that erupted over the past two nights after police fatally shot a knife-wielding man.
A crowd of about 300 packed a school in the Westlake neighborhood where Manuel Jamines, 37, was shot to death Sunday by an officer after he allegedly lunged toward the officer with a switchblade.
Beck was jeered after defending officers by reading a witness's account of how Jamines threatened two women.
Beck said the witness, a neighborhood resident who was not named, reported to three bicycle officers that a man with blood on his hands tried to stab her and pregnant woman next to her.
The woman heard the three officers telling the suspect to drop the knife, then she heard three or four shots, turned around and saw Jamines on the sidewalk, Beck said.
"She referred to the officers as her angels who had descended from heaven ... and saved her life and that of the pregnant lady," Beck said.
The crowd exploded when they heard the witness's account. One man in the audience called out that the story sounded like it was made up in Hollywood.
Beck, city officials and consuls general from three Latin American countries scheduled the meeting as senior officers tried to reach out to residents of the central Los Angeles neighborhood where Jamines was shot.
Sunday's killing has turned into a rallying point as community members, aided by outsiders, took to the streets Monday and Tuesday night and used the death to highlight past injustices and vent ongoing frustrations.
Police have defended the killing and said they've been taken aback by the level of protest for what appeared like a clear-cut case of justifiable use of force. Each year, the LAPD is involved in up to about 40 shootings. Those that typically cause controversy involve unarmed or surrendered suspects.
Residents outraged over the killing have said police should have handled the situation differently and say the surprise by department brass shows the agency is out of touch with the people.
Authorities have said the three bicycle officers were flagged down Sunday by people concerned about a man wielding a knife. The officers approached the suspect and told him in Spanish and English to put down the weapon.
Instead, Jamines raised the knife above his head and lunged at Officer Frank Hernandez, a 13-year veteran of the department, said Capt. Kris Pitcher, who heads the Los Angeles Police Department's force investigation division.
Hernandez shot Jamines twice in the head. He died at the scene. Several witnesses later told police Jamines had been drinking.
"They could have used pepper spray or a Taser gun," said Salvador Sanabria, executive director of nonprofit community group El Rescate. "The community ... reacted this way because they thought there was another way to deal with a drunk guy."
Pitcher said Jamines was an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. The day laborer was carrying a switchblade knife with a serrated, 3-inch blade. The police captain pledged an open and transparent investigation into the shooting.
The other officers involved were Steven Rodriguez and Paris Pineda, both 5-year veterans of the department. All the officers were Latino and speak Spanish.
Police said the knife was covered in blood, and DNA tests were being carried out to determine whose it was. Officers received unconfirmed reports Jamines may have attacked someone before police arrived, Pitcher said.
The officers involved were placed on administrative leave, a standard move after shootings.
An estimated 300 protesters who gathered outside the local police station pelted officers Tuesday night with eggs, rocks and bottles and set a trash bin on fire. Others dropped household items from apartment buildings.
Officers fired at least two rounds of foam projectiles at demonstrators and 22 people were arrested, mainly for failure to disperse and unlawful assembly.
A night earlier, three officers were slightly injured by thrown objects and four people were arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor inciting a riot.
The LAPD has long struggled with image problems in poorer communities.
On May 1, 2007, police pummeled immigration rights marchers and reporters with batons and shot rubber bullets into the crowd. The city was gripped by widespread riots in 1992 after four white officers were acquitted of the videotaped beating of Rodney King, a black motorist.
Beck said the recent protests were the culmination of a variety of frustrations, including a terrible economy and a feeling of victimization among immigrants who say the U.S. population likes to blame them for many of society's shortcomings.
He also blamed activist groups, including the Revolutionary Communist Party, for co-opting peaceful vigils and inciting violent protests. Attempts to reach an RCP spokesperson were not immediately successful.
Beck patrolled the area as a captain in the aftermath of the Rampart corruption scandal, in which an LAPD anti-gang unit was the focus of allegations that officers framed and beat innocent people. He said community outreach had improved considerably since then but acknowledged his department could do more.
Sanabria said residents were already angry with the police over strict enforcement of public drinking laws and clampdowns on street vendors. The police department doesn't go after immigrants based on their legal immigration status, but Sanabria said officers still could be more sensitive.
"They don't understand the complexity of the ethnic demographic population they have here," Sanabria said.
He added that Jamines' first language apparently was a Mayan dialect, not Spanish, and said some police need to be trained in it.
The LAPD is vastly different today from the organization it was 20 years ago, with much greater racial and gender diversity, former police chief William Bratton noted.
He said immigrants arrive in the U.S. with an inbuilt mistrust of police and assume officers are corrupt.
"People fear police," Bratton said. "The police are starting off with a major disadvantage. The irony is the department has consistently respected the rights of immigrants."
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THOMAS WATKINS 09/ 9/10 12:19 AM ET Associated Press