LAPD shake-up continues as civilian toll at melee grows

"We're saying, 'Send him packing back to Boston,' " White said.

The commission postponed a decision on Bratton on Tuesday, citing the fact that one panel member was absent.

Bratton also drew criticism from activists opposed to illegal immigration who said he should be fired for supporting restrictions on officers' ability to ask people about their immigration status.

"I believe Chief Bratton hung his force out to dry that day in an attempt to coddle his constituency of illegals," Alison Wood said.

A minority of speakers, including Jim Gilchrist, a co-founder of the anti-illegal immigrant Minuteman Project, voiced support for the police officers. Gilchrist called on the chief to reinstate the two reassigned command officers.

"It was not the fault of the Los Angeles Police Department," Gilchrist told the commission. "The blame should go directly to the anarchists."

Many of the 60 formal complaints are expected to turn into lawsuits against the LAPD.

On Tuesday, Venice attorney Stephen Yagman filed a federal racketeering suit against the department, alleging that a Metro Division officer broke the jaw of a 39-year-old man who was picnicking with two female companions in the park.

According to court documents, Geoffrey Baker, a food service employee at UCLA, was on a blanket in the park and talking with friends when he was confronted by the unidentified officer.

When Baker tried to explain that he was there for a picnic, the suit alleges, the officer backhanded him across the lower jaw with the baton. Baker was hospitalized for a broken jaw, Yagman said.

LAPD officials said they were unaware of such an incident.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

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Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this report.