Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton on Wednesday expressed "grave concern" about his officers' tactics in dispersing a crowd at an immigration rights rally, where police wielded batons and fired 240 "less-than-lethal" rounds at demonstrators and reporters.
Bratton promised an aggressive investigation as public outrage grew over the police actions Tuesday that left at least 10 people with minor injuries -- including seven reporters -- and raised serious questions about whether officers overreacted when they moved aggressively to disperse a largely peaceful crowd. Eight officers were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday May 04, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 3 inches; 111 words Type of Material: Correction
MacArthur Park melee: A photo caption on Thursday's front page accompanying an article about the melee in MacArthur Park during an immigration rights rally stated that a Los Angeles police officer "picks up KCBS cameraman Carl Stein to move him out of the way." Stein said that he was videotaping the rally when police knocked him down. The image showed Stein, who was on his knees, being grabbed from behind by police officers who were forcing him forward. Also, another article about the melee in Thursday's Section A incorrectly referred to the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice in Journalism. The correct name is the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism.
"The treatment you received yesterday from some Los Angeles police officers ... we can't tolerate and won't tolerate," Bratton told reporters at a City Hall news conference, extending his remarks to members of the public also caught up in the incident.
Bratton and top LAPD officials acknowledged Wednesday that there might have been significant problems with how the police handled the incident -- including how the order to clear the crowd out of an area where organizers had a permit to stay until 9 p.m. was issued.
Bratton said that the initial order appeared to have come from a helicopter, but it was unclear whether the craft was hovering over the park or a crowd of agitators nearby. The order was made in English only, and some reporters and protesters said they either did not hear any orders or could not understand what the police wanted them to do.
Questions also were raised about the large number of projectiles fired by officers attempting to control the crowd. At least 240 rounds made of foam, sponge or fiber were fired as police swept through the park about 6:15 p.m. The move came after police clashed with a small group of protesters near the intersection of 7th and Alvarado streets.
"Two hundred and forty rounds with no arrests is of grave concern to me," Bratton said, acknowledging that none of the rounds fired were directly related to the arrests of eight adults and one juvenile during the rally on charges that included assault with a deadly weapon in a rock-throwing incident and public drunkenness. The chief labeled some of the officers' actions "inappropriate."
Also under investigation is what role commanders on the scene played in directing police response.
