May Day

None of the Los Angeles police officers accused of using excessive force on demonstrators and journalists at a 2007 May Day gathering at MacArthur Park will be fired, officials said Tuesday. Police Chief William J. Bratton had sought to punish 11 officers and called for the termination of four others by sending them to disciplinary panels for their involvement in the melee, which has cost the city $13 million in legal settlements.

Hours before protesters kicked off pro-immigration marches Thursday, dozens of high-ranking Los Angeles Police Department officers gathered at a high-tech command center for a final planning session. In the middle of the meeting, Police Chief William J. Bratton unexpectedly stepped into the room, arms crossed, a stern look on his face. "May 1st last year was an embarrassment for this department.

State and local education officials, citing safety concerns and potential financial penalties for schools, urged students Sunday to shun this week's May Day immigration reform marches and stay in class. The Tuesday demonstrations include a downtown Los Angeles rally that local transportation and law enforcement officials anticipate could draw as many as 500,000 participants.

Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro missed Havana's May Day parade Tuesday for the first time in decades but still managed to set the political themes for the workers march that drew half a million people.

Police Chief William J. Bratton moved Monday to mend fences with rank-and-file officers over his condemnation of the police response to a May Day immigration rally, even as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the controversy had not altered his support for Bratton as he seeks another five-year term.

The Los Angeles Police Department came under heavy criticism from community residents and activists at a City Council task force hearing Monday night reviewing officers' actions in the melee that broke out during a May 1 immigration rights rally at MacArthur Park. Many in the crowd of about 200 who turned out for the task force's initial public forum, held at an elementary school across the street from the park, said that officers overreacted or even provoked the confrontation.

The independent monitor overseeing reform of the Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday that widespread allegations of police brutality during a May Day rally raise questions about a possible breakdown in training and supervision of officers, an apparent setback after years of progress. The report by monitor Michael Cherkasky was released on the same day Police Chief William J.

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton released a videotaped message to his officers Tuesday, addressing his public criticisms of police after the May Day demonstration and acknowledging that he is the one who ultimately will be held accountable "for events in MacArthur Park."

The Police Department's preliminary investigation into the May Day MacArthur Park melee confirms that a "breakdown" in police command and control took place and offers explicit new detail on the roles of two top officers who were quickly reassigned by Chief William J. Bratton. The report, presented to the city's Police Commission on Tuesday, was immediately criticized as being incomplete.

The Chinese government has ordered state-controlled TV networks to suspend prime-time airing of programs about crime and violence during the coming May Day holidays to provide a "healthy environment" for children. Television should not air programs or images "showing blood, violence, murder or terrorism," the notice from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said. The weeklong holiday begins Saturday.