On the night of July 12, members of Occupy Los Angeles and patrons of the monthly Art Walk event encountered police brutality, intimidation and arrests.
“We didn’t consider it a protest,” said OLA’s Cheryl Aichele. “We were just passing out fliers and offering chalk to visitors,” she said. Despite the non-threatening tactics of OLA, the LA Police Department came prepared with riot gear, demanding that the crowd disperse. The massive police intimidation brought children in attendance to tears.
One occupier asked an officer if their gathering was illegal. The officer was caught on video saying, “For right now it’s illegal.” While it is obvious that chalk easily washes off with water, the LAPD selectively enforces laws against vandalism despite a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which found that “no reasonable person could think that writing with chalk would damage a sidewalk.”
Chalkers included a small, core group of Occupy LA members, but the majority of chalkers were passers-by, including artists, art lovers and children. Members of Occupy LA say that 100 percent of the people injured by LAPD with “less-than-lethal” weapons were not active members of their group and nearly 90 percent of the people arrested by LAPD Thursday night were non-Occupiers.
There were 17 people arrested that night and several others wounded, as the police used excessive force with batons and rubber bullets. In multiple YouTube videos, a man can be seen trying to follow police orders and walk back on the sidewalk as directed. He is shot by a rubber bullet and then kicked in the face while down on the ground.
When cycling enthusiasts made the streets run yellow with chalked messages of hope and encouragement for Lance Armstrong, there were no cops in riot gear and Armstrong got a photo-op with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. But the mayor denounced Occupy LA for engaging in “criminal behavior.”
Children use chalk to draw on streets regularly. Will the police begin firing rubber bullets on them too? The hypocrisy clearly shows that the state is motivated to repress dissent.
The Los Angeles Police Commission has requested the Inspector General review the Police Department’s forthcoming report on the downtown clash. That even patrons of an apolitical event like Art Walk can become victims of police violence shows the limitless savagery of the LAPD. The “chalkers” have since filed formal complaints against the police and have attended a police commission meeting, telling their stories of police harassment and brutality.
