LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday admitted it used excessive force to disperse a May Day demonstration for immigration reform that left dozens injured.
In a report to the Los Angeles Police Commission, police investigators said top ranking LAPD officers had "underestimated the size and significance of the McArthur Park march," and their men were not properly trained in crowd control.
"As the day wore on, there was a breakdown in command" that left officers on the ground to their own devices when they were pelted with bottles and rocks by protesters.
"As subordinates from various positions in the field made numerous requests over the radio that went unacknowledged and unanswered ... officers began to make independent decision in efforts to control the crowd," the report said.
Some officers used their batons to strike protesters, while others fired rubber bullets inappropriately into the crowd in violation of police procedures, the report added.
The investigators determined that 146 rubber bullets were fired and police batons were used 100 times during the clash injuring 246 civilians, including nine journalists, and that 18 police officers were treated for cuts and bruises.
"Officers who struck demonstrators and journalists with rubber bullets and batons in an excessive and chaotic effort to clear a May Day rally after coming under attack suffered from lack of planning, training and orderly supervision," the report said.
In the aftermath of the demonstration, LAPD Deputy Chief Cayler Carter resigned and his second in command Commander Louis Gray was demoted.
Some 200,000 people demonstrated in Los Angeles on May 1, as part of a national day of action in demand of immigration reform to deal with 12 million illegal aliens living in the country.
Proposed immigration reform legislation eventually failed to reach a vote in Congress.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
