At the All-Star break, are racial agitators testing for weakness in rookie L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's pleas for pacifism?
CBS2/KCAL9 Reporter, Photographer Attacked During Crenshaw Protests
A CBS2/KCAL9 videoographer and reporter were assaulted Monday night while covering a George Zimmerman protest in Crenshaw.
Reporter Dave Bryan was conducting an interview around 10 p.m. when the suspect tackled him and his videographer, the station confirmed.
“All of the sudden, this guy came up from behind, he had a hood, and he knocked David on the head and he pushed the camera guy down. The camera guy went down, the camera went down, David went down,” witness Joseph Deguerre, said. “I was in shock.”
The suspect then fled the scene and the crew was treated for minor injuries, the station added. The attack was under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
CBS Video Courtesy: Bill Omar
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| Dave Bryan, Newsman KCBS-Ch2LA |
“To attack a news reporter when he’s getting an interview? That’s just crazy,” Deguerre, 43, said.
Fourteen people were arrested during Monday night’s protest.
Ruben Vives reports in The Los Angeles Times:
About 350 Los Angeles Police Department officers swarmed the Crenshaw district Monday night after groups of youths broke away from the demonstration protesting the George Zimmerman murder trial verdict.
The group roamed Crenshaw Boulevard and neighboring streets, breaking windows, setting fires and attacking several people.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck put the public on notice that officers would be taking a more aggressive posture toward protesters beginning Tuesday.
"This will not be allowed to continue," he said.
Police estimated that about 150 people took part in the violence after the peaceful vigil at Leimert Park following a Florida jury's Saturday acquittal of Zimmerman, 29, on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter in last year's shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Protesters stormed a Wal-Mart at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, pushing their way through as guards scrambled to close security gates. A short while later, LAPD officers wearing helmets and carrying batons swarmed the store as others marched through the parking lot.
At a late-night news conference, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti blamed the violence on a "a small group [that] has taken advantage of this situation."
He said protesters have the right to voice their disagreement with the verdict, "but people also deserve to be safe on the streets and in their cars."
