Black Lives Matter LA Encampment for Ezell Ford Targeted by LAPD
January 7, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Since the autopsy of Ezell Ford—who was killed by the LAPD in August—was released on December 29, 2014, there have been continuing protests in Los Angeles against the police murder of Ford, a 25-year-old Black man, and others. Groups of people have marched onto a freeway and stopped traffic...taken to the streets in the south central LA neighborhood where Ezell Ford was shot by LAPD Newton Division gang unit cops just days after Omar Abrego was beaten to death by this same unit...held press conferences...staged die ins in the Crenshaw District...and more.
On December 30, the day after the release of the autopsy on Ezell Ford, Black Lives Matter LA started an encampment outside LAPD Headquarters, calling it #OccupyLAPD. Their demands include the firing of the two LAPD cops who killed Ezell Ford and the filing of murder charges against those cops by the LA County DA.
On Monday, January 5, two local leaders of Black Lives Matter LA, Melina Abdullah and Sha Dixon, tried to deliver letters with their list of demands to LAPD Chief Charlie Beck at LAPD Headquarters. They were blocked by the police who then arrested the two activists for supposedly “trespassing.” Melina Abdullah said that “we are two women who are armed with letters” and that they got arrested because the LAPD wanted to put a stop to the media attention the #OccupyLAPD encampment was receiving.
The autopsy on Ezell Ford had been hidden by the LAPD for many months. Once it became public, it showed the cops had shot Ford in the back at close range—and it also showed the improbability of the LAPD cops’ version of events (see “Autopsy Report Released: Ezell Ford Was Shot in the Back at Close Range“). However, at a press conference on the day the autopsy was released, LAPD Chief Beck said he saw nothing in the autopsy “that is inconsistent” with the version of events provided by the officers that killed Ezell. The autopsy of Ezell Ford, who was unarmed when shot by the LAPD, revealed that he was shot on his right side, his right arm, and shot in the back. The shot in the back showed a “muzzle imprint” from the gun fired, meaning he was shot at very close range. The wound in the back was fatal.
One of the women from Black Lives Matter LA who was arrested, Sha Dixon, wrote, “The people are demanding that the state stop the active war and terror they are inflicting upon our people. We have gathered to get our points across to Chief Beck and his subordinates using art, healing, love and unity. For that, they have criminalized us....” At the encampment she told revcom.us/Revolution, “The people have spoke. People are tired of being killed, harassed, kidnapped, I’m a mother of an 18-year-old Black boy, so I realize his life is in jeopardy more than a lot of ours... that’s one reason I am out here and that I will continue to fight against whatever type of repressive force they try to throw at me because I will be doing a disservice to my son if I did not.”
Black Lives Matter LA is making plans for continuing the encampment at LAPD Headquarters. Stay tuned....
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