Story at a glance
- LA city prosecutors will not press charges against protesters arrested for nonviolent misdemeanors.
- This comes after the ACLU sued the city on behalf of Black Lives Matter.
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Monday criminal charges will not be brought against any of the thousands of protesters arrested for violating the citywide curfew or other police orders.
The Associated Press reports that Feuer said his office will create an alternative outside court that will carry no punishment for protesters cited for demonstrating past curfew or unlawfully protesting despite police orders.
Specifics around this improvised court weren’t available, but he confirmed that it would look like a forum to foster dialogue between protesters and police in order to “create an environment where participants really listen to each other.”
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This comes as police and protesters are increasingly at odds during protests decrying the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man killed while being arrested after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.
Nationwide, protesters and police have clashed in sometimes violent confrontations, resulting in mass arrests.
As the Los Angeles area saw more than 3,000 protest arrests — the largest in any state — District Attorney Jackie Lacey confirmed that she won’t file charges in protest misdemeanor cases in other parts of Los Angeles County. Most of the protests were peaceful, thus most of the charges were related to violating curfew or failure to disperse.
Los Angeles revoked its curfew on June 4 after the American Civil Liberties Union sued the city on behalf of the Black Lives Matter movement, alleging a violation of protesters’ First Amendment liberty to political protest.
“I believe whole-heartedly in free speech and support the right of protesters to demonstrate peacefully against historic racial injustice in our criminal justice system and throughout our nation,” Lacey said in a statement, reported by the Los Angeles Times. “I want to encourage the exchange of ideas and work to establish dialogue between law enforcement and protesters so that we may implement enduring systemic change.”
Charges will still be pursued for people arrested for looting, burglary, vandalism and any violence-related offenses. Cities excluded from this mandate include Long Beach, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Torrance, Burbank, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, according to the LA Times.
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