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Unions Call For L.A. County Shutdown In January

December 23, 2020 Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times. , , ,
In a move that reflects the desperation of teachers, nurses, healthcare, grocery and hotel employees, their influential unions are calling for a strict month-long Los Angeles County shutdown in January to control the raging COVID-19 pandemic, save lives and ultimately allow for a quicker reopening of schools and the economy. Evidence of mounting frustration and anxiety has also emerged in newly released surveys of teachers and parents as most campuses across L.A. County remain closed to in-person classes. The union coalition called for what it described as a “circuit breaker” in a letter Wednesday night to the county Board of Supervisors and in an online petition.

Protesters Descend On Garcetti’s House For 6th Consecutive Day

November 29, 2020 CBS LA Staff. , , ,
Los Angeles, CA - A sixth day of demonstrations outside Mayor Eric Garcetti’s official residence unfolded Sunday in an attempt to persuade President-elect Joe Biden not to appoint Garcetti to his cabinet. Tabatha Jones Jolivet, a spokeswoman for BLM-LA, said Garcetti “has failed the people of Los Angeles in an unending number of ways — from criminalizing folks for being houseless, to refusing to stand up for people who are killed by his police force.” “We refuse to be quiet as President-elect Biden considers him for a cabinet post where his reach will extend to setting national policy,” she said.

Blacks In LA Nearly Four Times As Likely To Be Cited By Police

October 10, 2020 Sam Levin, Black Agenda Report. , , ,
The Los Angeles police department (LAPD) gave 63% of its citations for “loitering while standing” to Black residents in recent years, despite African Americans making up just 7% of the city’s population, a new analysis of public records has revealed. A report released by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights analyzed low-level infractions in California between 2017 and 2019 and found that LAPD and police agencies across the state disproportionately target Black residents.

Report Finds ‘Gang Like’ Police Clique That Exerts ‘Undue Influence’

October 6, 2020 Alene Tchekmedyian, LA Times. , , ,
Los Angeles County’s top watchdog said Monday that substantial evidence exists that a secretive group of tattooed deputies at the East L.A. sheriff’s station are “gang-like and their influence has resulted in favoritism, sexism, racism and violence.” In a 32-page report probing activities of the Banditos clique, Inspector General Max Huntsman alleged that Sheriff Alex Villanueva “continues to promote a code of silence regarding these sub-groups” which have plagued the agency for decades.

Police Fatally Shoot Man 20 Times After Suspected Bike Violation

September 3, 2020 Lucy Nicholson and Steve Gorman, Reuters. , , ,
Los Angeles - A Black man who was stopped on his bicycle for an alleged “vehicle code” violation was shot to death by two Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies, who fired 15 to 20 rounds after the man punched one officer and dropped a pistol on the ground, authorities said on Tuesday. A semiautomatic handgun apparently fell from a bundle of clothes that the man, identified as Dijon Kizzee, 29, had been clutching and dropped when he struck an officer in the face, said Lieutenant Brandon Dean, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman. Dean said the two officers opened fire when Kizzee made “a motion that he’s going to pick up the firearm.”

Antifascists Are Facing Off Against The Far-Right, Backed By Local Cops

August 22, 2020 It's Going Down. , , ,
Every Friday in Sunland-Tujunga, a small neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, just 15 minutes from Downtown LA, a group of violent far-Right Trump supporters meets under the guise of rallying in support of the police. Here’s how local antifascists have responded. They assemble out front of a Big 5 on Foothill Blvd from around 11 am to sundown every Friday and have since the start of the George Floyd uprising. Their hate has been countered by members of the local community since day one. Early demos would have 2-3 Black Lives Matter protesters standing across from a group of 10 violent fascists. A large counter-demo was called for on June 19th, with the far-Right stepping up to mobilize their forces on that day as well.

LA County OKs Coronavirus ‘Health Councils’ To Watch Worker Safety

July 23, 2020 Daily News. , , ,
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, July 21, approved a proposal to facilitate worker-led “health councils” to monitor business compliance with public health orders. Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Mark Ridley-Thomas co-authored the motion recommending that the county reach out to labor leaders and business representatives and quickly come up with effective ways to monitor compliance with mandates to wear facial coverings, install protective shields and disinfect workplaces. Essentially, the workers themselves would monitor conditions within their workplace, Kuehl said, noting recent reports of “devastating” coronavirus outbreaks.

Scheer Intelligence: The Cartoonist The Cops Didn’t Let Get Away

July 17, 2020 Robert Scheer, ScheerPost.com. , , ,
Ted Rall, the Pulitzer Prize finalist, columnist and cartoonist joins Robert Scheer on in this week’s episode of “Scheer Intelligence” to talk about his firing by the Los Angeles Times and and his latest book, “Political Suicide: The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party.” The host commends the journalist for his “courageous” and “gutsy” reporting on the Afghanistan War and a long, noteworthy career. Yet, it is precisely his candid storytelling through words and visual arts that earned him a place in the Los Angeles Police Department’s crosshairs. The story of Ted Rall’s firing as a cartoonist by Los Angeles Times in 2015 reveals the historically cozy relationship that existed between the media and the police.  Writing a blog for the LA Times, in which he detailed an encounter with an LAPD officer who’d detained and handcuffed him for allegedly jaywalking years earlier, ultimately led to Rall’s very public firing and a legal case that now threatens to bankrupt him.

The Struggle For No Police In Los Angeles Schools: Victory In Sight

July 12, 2020 Eric Mann, Counterpunch. , , ,
On Tuesday, June 23, in Los Angeles, the decade’s long struggle for No Police in the Schools had a major breakthrough. Los Angeles School Board member Monica Garcia introduced the most structural and hopeful motion to make “defund the police” a reality. Her motion, expressing gratitude to the national Black uprising, called for cutting the $70 million budget of the Los Angeles School Police Department—with 350 armed officers—by 50% in 2021, 75% in 2022, and 90% in 2023—essentially phasing out the entire department. We think “50%, 75%, 90%” is a model for the “Defund the Police” movement nationally. Any movement that gets to 100% first wins. Her Civil Rights motion did not pass but neither did any of the toxic compromises.

LA City Council President Introduces Motion To Cut LAPD Funding

June 4, 2020 John Bowden, The Hill. , , ,
The president of Los Angeles's city council introduced a motion Wednesday that would direct officials to identify millions of dollars' worth of funding cuts to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) following criticism of the department's treatment of protesters. Councilwoman Nury Martinez (D) said in a statement released on Twitter that the move was about resetting the city's priorities in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody last week. Video of Floyd's arrest and death sparked protests around the country, including in Los Angeles. "Today we intrdcd a motion to cut funding to the LAPD, as we reset our priorities in the wake of the murder of #GeorgeFloyd & the #BlackLivesMatter call that we all support to end racism. This is just one small step.

Another Group Of Homeless Moms And Families Are Taking Over A House — This Time In L.A.

March 16, 2020 By Liam Dillon and Laura J. Nelson, Latimes.com , ,
Weeks after a group of homeless mothers took over a vacant house in Oakland and managed to keep it, another group of moms is trying to do the same in Los Angeles. On Saturday morning, the protesters and their families moved into a two-bedroom bungalow in El Sereno. They say they plan to remain indefinitely and potentially take over more houses.

Group That Sued LAPD Over Controversial Data Policing Programs Claims Victory

December 16, 2019 By Emmanuel Morgan, Latimes.com , ,
The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, a grassroots advocacy organization, claimed a major victory against the Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday after the agency released key details of data policing programs that critics have called racially biased. Near the steps of LAPD headquarters, Hamid Khan, co-leader of the coalition, said the LAPD had released documents and the names of 679 people who were targeted in controversial programs meant to predict future crimes. This comes nearly 29 months after the coalition’s first public records request.

Los Angeles And San Francisco Announce They Are Moving Forward With Plans To Start Public Banks

October 11, 2019 Staff, Publicbankinginstitute.org , ,
Close on the heels of the Public Banking Act being signed into law last week, LA City Council President Herb Wesson announced he will be introducing a motion within the week to hire a banking expert to draft a comprehensive plan for a public bank for the City. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that San Francisco was also pushing ahead with plans for a city-owned bank. Wesson announced the motion in a press conference (Facebook link) celebrating the unprecedented success of AB 857 in front of Los Angeles City Hall on Monday Oct 7.

Los Angeles County Sues Monsanto Over Chemical Contamination

June 5, 2019 Andrew Emett, Nationofchange.org , , , ,
According to the lawsuit, Monsanto had been aware that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were harmful but concealed the data for years while polluting the water. Los Angeles County recently filed a lawsuit against Bayer, the company that purchased Monsanto last year, for allegedly contaminating the local environment with an outlawed chemical that Monsanto used in many of its products decades ago. According to the lawsuit, Monsanto had been aware that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were harmful but concealed the data for years while polluting the water.

Thousands Of Uber Drivers Are Striking In Los Angeles

March 27, 2019 By Alexia Fernández Campbell, Vox.com  , , , ,
Uber and Lyft drivers in Los Angeles are refusing to pick up customers today — part of a one-day strike to protest Uber’s recent decision to slash pay rates for drivers in the area. Last week, Uber slashed its per-mile pay by 25 percent in Los Angeles County and parts of Orange County. That means drivers will earn 60 cents per mile instead of 80 cents. That decision has pushed drivers, who were already struggling to make ends meet, over the edge. Hundreds of drivers swarmed the streets, chanting and picketing outside Uber’s office in suburban LA.
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