Recent Streetsblog LA posts about race relations

Despite having given press statements regarding the imminent detonation at 716 E. 27th St., called in the fire department to be on standby, placed the last of the explosive materials in the TCV ten minutes prior to detonation as helicopters from local TV stations hovered overhead, and yelled “Fire in the hole!” to warn observers they were about to set off the counter charges, LAPD’s very first public step after the blast was to take to twitter and launch an active disinformation campaign.

Anatomy of an Officer-Involved Explosion: a Post-Mortem on LAPD’s E. 27th Street Fireworks Blast

By Sahra Sulaiman | Aug 11, 2021 | No Comments

A year ago, a councilmember co-authored a motion to shift $150mil from LAPD's budget. A month ago, LAPD called everyone but his office to watch them detonate fireworks in his district. The botched operation rocked the city.

The February 9 encounter near Manchester and Figueroa began with officers telling Travis Elster he was illegally parked in a private parking lot, but the placement of the officer's hand inside the vehicle was one of several forms of escalation. Elster ultimately fled the scene and was shot at eight times by LAPD officer Carlos Tovar. Tovar managed to hit Elster's vehicle as well as the vehicle of a passing Lyft driver, but thankfully no one was injured. Screenshot from the critical incident video released by LAPD.

Officer Fires 8 Wildly Out-of-Policy Shots at Man Fleeing Pretextual Stop; Evolving LAPD Statements Attempt to Pin Blame on Driver

By Sahra Sulaiman | Mar 17, 2021 | No Comments

LAPD is accusing 30yo Travis Elster of assault with a deadly weapon to justify the shooting.

Twenty-five-year old Fred Williams III was killed in Willowbrook by Los Angeles County Sheriffs on October 16. A medical examiner's inquest into his death was held January 28, 2021. Photo source: family gofundme.

LASD Won’t Name Deputies Involved in Killing of Fred Williams III at Otherwise Uninformative Inquest

By Sahra Sulaiman | Feb 1, 2021 | No Comments

LASD once again proves unwilling to cooperate in an inquest into a questionable shooting by a deputy.

A view of the courtyard of the SEED school looking northward. The lots the project will rise on stood vacant for nearly 30 years. It will open its doors to students in the fall of 2022.

Metro’s Transportation Boarding School Breaks Ground at Vermont/Manchester

By Sahra Sulaiman | Oct 28, 2020 | No Comments

"Groundbreaking celebrated without construction to follow had been the norm at a certain point," said Ridley-Thomas. "But no more."

Screengrab from the Sheriff's press conference on the killing of 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee. Two videos obtained from Kizzee's phone were shown to prove the gun found at the scene was his. The audio was removed from the videos, LASD said, because the song Kizzee was listening to contained vulgarities. But the intention seemed to be to present him as menacing, rather than being true to what he actually doing, which was showing off a bit while enjoying some music.

Video Provided by Sheriffs Directly Contradicts Their Own Account of Killing of Dijon Kizzee

By Sahra Sulaiman | Sep 18, 2020 | No Comments

The 2nd deputy doesn't draw his gun until nearly 2 seconds after Kizzee's gun has skittered along the ground to its final resting place

Jermaine Welch mourns the loss of rapper, artist, entrepreneur, and visionary Nipsey Hussle in this image from 2019. While out making deliveries just after midnight on June 3, Welch passed through an intersection on Broadway, just south of Manchester, and was shot six times, possibly by the LAPD. He has been under investigation ever since. Image courtesy Jermaine Welch.

Bystander Shot Six Times During Officer-Involved Shooting Left Homeless, Struggling to Recover while LAPD Treats Him as Suspect

By Sahra Sulaiman | Jul 14, 2020 | No Comments

“Wow, I wake up from my death and it was like I was in jail...I’m treated like a criminal," says Jermaine Welch. "[Yet] I'm the victim in this situation."

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