latimes--2020-10-08--Watts' Jordan High cuts association with promoter of eugenics but keeps partial name

David Starr Jordan High School in Watts has been renamed Jordan High , to reflect the wishes of the school community that wanted to cut ties with a promoter of the racist practice of eugenics but retain a local legacy associated with the aspirations of generations of Black and Latino students .
The renaming was ratified by a vote of the Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday .
“ Generations of community members have proudly graced our halls , ” said Principal Lucía Cerda , who grew up in the neighborhood of the Watts campus and is married to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Board of Education that the name Jordan meant something to those who wanted to support “ the Jordan they know and love.
” What the school community did not want is a continued association with the person for whom the school was named .
David Starr Jordan , founding president of Stanford University , figured prominently in the racist doctrine of eugenics , which in the early 20th century was couched as a scientific public health and welfare effort to control for favorable characteristics in human reproduction .
In Jordan ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of races that he considered to be degrading .
In June , USC stripped the name of Rufus B. von KleinSmid , the university ’ s fifth president , from a key building as the university reconciled with his disturbing leadership role in California ’ s eugenics movement .
Such reconsiderations of those associated with eugenics are reverberating across colleges and K-12 school districts .
In pushing for the Jordan High name change , school and community leaders told the board that the school ’ s legacy is rooted in the success of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ athletes and scholars — not a racist .
The school opened in 1923 , eight years before Jordan ’ s death .
“ Throughout the 1930s and 1940s an exceptional group of students , legends of jazz , were developed at Jefferson and Jordan High schools beginning the genre of West Coast and Cool Jazz , ” wrote Robert Collins , author of an authoritative reference of district graduates and famous dropouts .
Jordan ’ s legendary musicians include jazz saxophonist Gil Bernal ; flutist , saxophonist , civil rights leader and educator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chico Hamilton , and bassist , composer and bandleader Charles Mingus Jr .
The school ’ s athletic champions include Olympians Hayes Sanders , Kevin Young and Florence Griffith Joyner .
Another alumnus is Nobel Laureate chemist Glenn Seaborg .
The Jordan experience of alum Earl Allen spans those eras .
Although his family arrived in Watts from Mississippi in the mid-1950s , he knew a woman who went to school in the 1920s with Seaborg .
By the 1940s Jordan served predominately Black students , an evolution brought about by real estate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homes in other parts of town .
Allen recalled nearby factories that churned out solid working-class jobs as well as air pollution .
Allen remembers Black teachers who should have been college professors but were available to Jordan High because they were shut out from career opportunities .
When Allen graduated in 1962 , Jordan had the district ’ s only Black high school principal .
When Allen returns for career days , he interacts with a student body that is 82 % Latino and 17 % Black .
He tells students to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the evolving job market .
The factory jobs of his parents ’ day are gone .
So is his own past work as a senior civilian administrator at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard .
The issue of the school ’ s name had been discussed among alumni for several years .
Other monuments to Jordan elsewhere , including schools in Long Beach , Burbank and Palo Alto , already have been renamed or are the subject of debate .
Until recently , “ nobody ever really mentioned David Starr .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said 1981 grad Michael Cummings , a local pastor whose We Care Outreach Ministry is known for youth gang-prevention efforts and services to prisoners .
He wanted the name to “ stay Jordan High for the memories , for the good times and people who went there for the education.
” L.A. school board member George McKenna , who grew up in Louisiana , recalled taking a teaching job at Jordan High in the early 1960s , when he was barely older than his students .
He described a school community that was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough to walk to school .
McKenna and Allen also recall the civil unrest that engulfed the area around the school in 1965 .
Soon the shifting demographic tide saw the departure of many Black middle class families and the arrival of Latino immigrants .
Mara Ponce , an academic coordinator at Jordan , graduated from the school in 2003 .
“ Our school prides itself on being a welcoming and inclusive environment , ” she said .
“ At Jordan High School , we do not tolerate racism.
” In 2011 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the faculty .
Soon after , the district invited Green Dot Public Schools , which operates privately managed charter schools , to open on half the campus .
Another nonprofit , the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools , was picked to manage the other half .
The Partnership abides by existing union contracts and district rules .
Both efforts claimed progress , although challenges remain .
According to the most recent available state results , about 52 % of Jordan High students met or exceeded learning standards in English ; 10 % in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are members of low-income families .
Green Dot consolidation turned over the entirety of Jordan to the Partnership this year .
Another change this year is $ 8.5 million in upgrades since campuses closed due to the pandemic , including a new heating and air conditioning system ; volleyball , tennis and futsal courts ; a replacement softball field , and an upgraded irrigation system .
In 2015 , the L.A. Unified School District completed a $ 95-million campus reconstruction .
The school held a virtual town hall on July 31 to accept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on five options .
Students , staff and alumni cast 590 ballots in English and Spanish , picking from options selected by a renaming committee .
The name Jordan High School carried the day with 58 % , followed by Michelle Obama High School at 13 % .
Another option honored the late Barbara Jordan , the first Southern African American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives .
Other choices embellished the term “ high school ” as “ College Preparatory High School ” or “ College Preparatory High School for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her father , Luis , voted for the former first lady , but they ’ re OK with the results .
Luis praised the helpfulness of staff when he picked up a computer for his daughter to use while schooling at home .
Romina , 14 , who made straight As in middle school , wants to be a doctor .
“ I want to learn more about math and science , ” she said .
“ Jordan High will prepare me for college .
It ’ s so important .
”

Earl Allen, president of the Jordan High School Alumni Association, in front of his remodeled alma mater, which is shedding its association with a college president who promoted eugenics.
David Starr Jordan High School in Watts has been renamed Jordan High, to reflect the wishes of the school community that wanted to cut ties with a promoter of the racist practice of eugenics but retain a local legacy associated with the aspirations of generations of Black and Latino students.
The renaming was ratified by a vote of the Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday.
“Generations of community members have proudly graced our halls,” said Principal Lucía Cerda, who grew up in the neighborhood of the Watts campus and is married to a Jordan High graduate. She told the Board of Education that the name Jordan meant something to those who wanted to support “the Jordan they know and love.”
Advertisement
What the school community did not want is a continued association with the person for whom the school was named. David Starr Jordan, founding president of Stanford University, figured prominently in the racist doctrine of eugenics, which in the early 20th century was couched as a scientific public health and welfare effort to control for favorable characteristics in human reproduction. In Jordan’s opinion, that meant avoiding the mixing of races that he considered to be degrading.
In June, USC stripped the name of Rufus B. von KleinSmid, the university’s fifth president, from a key building as the university reconciled with his disturbing leadership role in California’s eugenics movement. Such reconsiderations of those associated with eugenics are reverberating across colleges and K-12 school districts.
In pushing for the Jordan High name change, school and community leaders told the board that the school’s legacy is rooted in the success of its alums — famous jazz musicians, athletes and scholars — not a racist. The school opened in 1923, eight years before Jordan’s death.
“Throughout the 1930s and 1940s an exceptional group of students, legends of jazz, were developed at Jefferson and Jordan High schools beginning the genre of West Coast and Cool Jazz,” wrote Robert Collins, author of an authoritative reference of district graduates and famous dropouts.
Jordan’s legendary musicians include jazz saxophonist Gil Bernal; flutist, saxophonist, civil rights leader and educator Buddy Collette; jazz drummer and bandleader Chico Hamilton, and bassist, composer and bandleader Charles Mingus Jr. The school’s athletic champions include Olympians Hayes Sanders, Kevin Young and Florence Griffith Joyner. Another alumnus is Nobel Laureate chemist Glenn Seaborg.
The Jordan experience of alum Earl Allen spans those eras. Although his family arrived in Watts from Mississippi in the mid-1950s, he knew a woman who went to school in the 1920s with Seaborg. By the 1940s Jordan served predominately Black students, an evolution brought about by real estate covenants that prohibited Black families from purchasing homes in other parts of town. Allen recalled nearby factories that churned out solid working-class jobs as well as air pollution.
Advertisement
(The area retains industrial remnants — the district is currently suing an adjacent recycling plant over alleged risks to students.)
Allen remembers Black teachers who should have been college professors but were available to Jordan High because they were shut out from career opportunities. When Allen graduated in 1962, Jordan had the district’s only Black high school principal.
When Allen returns for career days, he interacts with a student body that is 82% Latino and 17% Black. He tells students to get as much education as they can for the evolving job market. The factory jobs of his parents’ day are gone. So is his own past work as a senior civilian administrator at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard.
The issue of the school’s name had been discussed among alumni for several years. Other monuments to Jordan elsewhere, including schools in Long Beach, Burbank and Palo Alto, already have been renamed or are the subject of debate.
Until recently, “nobody ever really mentioned David Starr. It was always just Jordan High School,” said 1981 grad Michael Cummings, a local pastor whose We Care Outreach Ministry is known for youth gang-prevention efforts and services to prisoners. He wanted the name to “stay Jordan High for the memories, for the good times and people who went there for the education.”
L.A. school board member George McKenna, who grew up in Louisiana, recalled taking a teaching job at Jordan High in the early 1960s, when he was barely older than his students. He described a school community that was close-knit, where school staff lived close enough to walk to school.
McKenna and Allen also recall the civil unrest that engulfed the area around the school in 1965. Soon the shifting demographic tide saw the departure of many Black middle class families and the arrival of Latino immigrants.
Mara Ponce, an academic coordinator at Jordan, graduated from the school in 2003.
“Our school prides itself on being a welcoming and inclusive environment,” she said. “At Jordan High School, we do not tolerate racism.”
In 2011, one reform effort involved replacing most of the faculty. Soon after, the district invited Green Dot Public Schools, which operates privately managed charter schools, to open on half the campus. Another nonprofit, the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, was picked to manage the other half. The Partnership abides by existing union contracts and district rules.
Both efforts claimed progress, although challenges remain. According to the most recent available state results, about 52% of Jordan High students met or exceeded learning standards in English; 10% in math. About 98% of students are members of low-income families. Green Dot consolidation turned over the entirety of Jordan to the Partnership this year.
Another change this year is $8.5 million in upgrades since campuses closed due to the pandemic, including a new heating and air conditioning system; volleyball, tennis and futsal courts; a replacement softball field, and an upgraded irrigation system. In 2015, the L.A. Unified School District completed a $95-million campus reconstruction.
The school held a virtual town hall on July 31 to accept name submissions. A renaming committee agreed on five options. Students, staff and alumni cast 590 ballots in English and Spanish, picking from options selected by a renaming committee.
The name Jordan High School carried the day with 58%, followed by Michelle Obama High School at 13%. Another option honored the late Barbara Jordan, the first Southern African American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Other choices embellished the term “high school” as “College Preparatory High School” or “College Preparatory High School for the Arts.”
Ninth-grader Romina Calderon and her father, Luis, voted for the former first lady, but they’re OK with the results. Luis praised the helpfulness of staff when he picked up a computer for his daughter to use while schooling at home.
Romina, 14, who made straight As in middle school, wants to be a doctor.
“I want to learn more about math and science,” she said. “Jordan High will prepare me for college. It’s so important.”


latimes--2020-10-08--Protests become a 'lifestyle' for some activists despite risk, rising tensions

Matthew Sanders had a broken rib and dried blood on his face when he was released from jail Sept. 9 after being arrested on suspicion of failure to disperse during a protest .
For a moment , he questioned whether he could continue showing up at the demonstrations outside the South Los Angeles sheriff ’ s station .
The massive nationwide protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody had launched Sanders , 30 , into social action .
He spent the summer bouncing between his full-time sales job and rallies in L.A. County against police shootings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found a community of like-minded people who ’ ve made attending protests part of a weekly routine , in a wave of activism against police brutality that has continued into the fall in L.A. and across the country .
“ I think it ’ s become part of a lifestyle for many people who have lost employment or who are working the gig economy , ” said Shannon Thomas , 28 , a conflict resolution consultant who has driven to the South L.A. protests from Santa Monica .
“ If we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are we going to do that feeds our souls ?
This has been like church for me.
” As social activism has risen in the four months since Floyd ’ s death , some demonstrations have been met with increased police use of tear gas , projectiles and other force , fueling more anger and resistance , many in the protest movement said .
Unrest erupted in Portland , Ore. , during clashes with federal agents , in Kenosha , Wis. , after the shooting of Jacob Blake , and in Louisville , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to charge officers in the killing of Breonna Taylor .
Protests have also turned into polarizing political events .
President Trump has castigated protesters as lawless and violent .
After a handful of protesters shouted epithets outside a hospital where two Los Angeles County sheriff ’ s deputies were receiving treatment after being attacked by a gunman , a video of them went viral , becoming a rallying cry for critics .
In South L.A. , protests in front of the sheriff ’ s station condemning the Aug. 31 deputy shooting of Dijon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of people for weeks .
The protests have been largely peaceful .
But the Sheriff ’ s Department regularly blocks off the entire street in front of the station during rallies while deputies in riot gear patrol crowds .
After a series of protests over Labor Day weekend , the department cast nighttime demonstrators as “ rebellious , self-proclaimed anarchists ” who are “ clad for battle ” and have alarmed locals , alleging that they ’ ve thrown “ frozen water bottles , fireworks , smoke bombs , glass bottles , metal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ create chaos , damage and injury.
” However , of the dozens arrested around that time , virtually all were detained on suspicion of failure to disperse , rather than more serious offenses .
Sheriff Alex Villanueva denounced those protesters as being from disruptive groups that are “ definitely not from this community.
” But those who have tapped into a new zeal for dissent say they march with the support of the neighborhood and of families who have lost loved ones to police shootings .
“ I feel if we don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nothing ’ s going to change , ” said Demetra Johnson , whose son Anthony Weber was fatally shot by a deputy in Westmont at age 16 .
“ I still have a 14-year-old son that ’ s got to grow up in this neighborhood.
” Some protesters said they have equipped themselves with helmets , cardboard shields and goggles because deputies have used unwarranted , aggressive tactics , a claim the department denies .
At recent protests outside the South L.A. station , Sanders saw new friends get hit by projectiles and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gear .
He said he was tackled and punched multiple times by a deputy without provocation the night he was arrested .
Austin Baffa , 27 , a freelance videographer from Orange County , said that during more than a week of protests at the station , he observed a few instances in which water bottles and a fireworks device were thrown by people in the crowd .
He ’ s noted several people who he said came to the protests “ just looking for a fight ” by taunting deputies to shoot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of hundreds of others who were not combative .
“ The outside agitator narrative just doesn ’ t seem to fit what I saw from the families ’ support for people coming and protesting peacefully , ” he said .
Plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit allege that the Sheriff ’ s Department has improperly used force to disperse crowds without giving those present enough time to obey orders , saying deputies used projectiles , tear gas and other chemical agents indiscriminately against peaceful protesters , journalists and legal observers .
The department has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in response to protesters who threw rocks and bottles at officials , and not to cause them to disperse .
The injuries have not deterred Sanders .
“ I ’ m Black and Hispanic , and this feels like my fight and what I ’ m supposed to be doing , ” said the North Hollywood resident .
“ I feel compelled to this and to keep going if I can bring change so the next generation doesn ’ t grow up in fear of the cops.
” The Sheriff ’ s Department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bike on the wrong side of the street when he was stopped by two deputies .
A pursuit ensued , ending with the deputies firing 19 shots at him .
Officials said Kizzee pointed a gun at deputies , but an attorney for Kizzee ’ s family said witnesses didn ’ t see anything in his hands .
Fernando Guerra , director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University , said the subsequent weeks-long sustained protest movement is historic .
“ One of the most difficult things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get people to physically take action , to get people to take time out of the day , ” he said .
Attempts to delegitimize protests may also help mobilize people , he said .
Many attending marches at the South L.A. sheriff ’ s station have became regulars .
That ’ s the case for Jessica Rogers of North Hollywood , who was moved by the Floyd protests and now attends every action she can , quick to acknowledge privileges she has as a white woman .
Rogers , 30 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demand answers when a Black man was found hanging from a tree near City Hall , a death later determined to be a suicide .
She ’ s demonstrated outside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti ’ s home twice and has protested at Trump rallies .
“ I don ’ t know why I didn ’ t show up before , ” she said .
“ I ’ ve always had the same beliefs I have right now , but I haven ’ t actively fought for them… .
I think it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the South L.A. sheriff ’ s station , a projectile struck Rogers ’ upper thigh .
She decided to equip herself with a gas mask , rugged helmet , durable ear plugs and a paintball vest for future protests .
She tenses up at sudden noises but feels “ survivor ’ s guilt ” if she misses a protest .
“ It ’ s a very hectic lifestyle , but it feels normal , ” she said .
“ It feels like the only option.
” That ’ s also true for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ street medic at protests .
She carries a 40-pound backpack with saline solution for pepper spray , ice packs , gauze , insulin and trauma kits .
She ’ s seen head injuries from projectiles and an eye hit with a pepper ball .
Despite being arrested at a Kizzee protest on suspicion of failure to disperse , Riley , who is Black , said the protests are too meaningful to quit .
“ I have had feelings of backing out , but then I remember what I ’ m doing and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said .
“ Dijon Kizzee is a big deal and all the murders in L.A. are a big deal.
” Others attend protests to document .
Baffa , the videographer , is part of a group that coordinates protest coverage .
He ’ s bothered , he said , when peaceful protests against police violence are called “ riots , ” and he said he posts raw footage online to help inform the public .
“ It ’ s language that I hear a lot — riots , looting , outside agitator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I want to show things as they are.
” A recent Saturday protest brought hundreds to the residential street where Kizzee was killed before they marched to the sheriff ’ s station .
Deja Roquemore , 32 , crouched in front of her house — across the street from the site of the shooting — to spray-paint “ Black Lives Matter ” on a black , red and green flag .
She said that she ’ s taught her 6-year-old daughter not to fear the police , but this incident brought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ ve made it seem the protesters are out for something else other than this life and Black lives , ” Roquemore said of the Sheriff ’ s Department .
“ I love the camaraderie .
I love the energy of togetherness .
I love all of that , and that ’ s really what I ’ ve been seeing.
” That sense of unity has been important for Mike Ojo .
Ojo , 31 , a professional basketball player in Japan who grew up in Ladera Heights , has spent the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during his offseason .
He said that while walking with a friend to a recent Kizzee protest near the station , a sheriff ’ s vehicle pulled up next to them .
Ojo said they were detained and handcuffed without explanation .
After Ojo , who is Black , repeatedly asked why , he said he was told he fit the description of a suspect in the area allegedly carrying a gun .
Another sheriff ’ s vehicle arrived shortly after , and Ojo and his friend were forced into separate cars .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ liberty violated by these people , ” Ojo said .
“ It honestly kind of justified every bit of why I wanted to be out there .
I am being accosted by the police for absolutely no reason other than being a Black man.
” They were released after about 10 minutes , left shaken .
The officers , Ojo said , would not disclose their badge numbers — with several pretending not to hear his requests .
He continued toward the sheriff ’ s station and took photographs into the night , @ @ @

Matthew Sanders, 30, points out an injury on his arm. He said he was tackled and punched without provocation by a deputy the night he was arrested during a protest at the South L.A. sheriff’s station.
Matthew Sanders had a broken rib and dried blood on his face when he was released from jail Sept. 9 after being arrested on suspicion of failure to disperse during a protest. For a moment, he questioned whether he could continue showing up at the demonstrations outside the South Los Angeles sheriff’s station.
“I felt physically defeated,” he said.
The massive nationwide protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody had launched Sanders, 30, into social action. He spent the summer bouncing between his full-time sales job and rallies in L.A. County against police shootings of people of color.
He has found a community of like-minded people who’ve made attending protests part of a weekly routine, in a wave of activism against police brutality that has continued into the fall in L.A. and across the country.
Advertisement
“I think it’s become part of a lifestyle for many people who have lost employment or who are working the gig economy,” said Shannon Thomas, 28, a conflict resolution consultant who has driven to the South L.A. protests from Santa Monica. “If we’re working 24/7 on our computers, what are we going to do that feeds our souls? This has been like church for me.”
As social activism has risen in the four months since Floyd’s death, some demonstrations have been met with increased police use of tear gas, projectiles and other force, fueling more anger and resistance, many in the protest movement said. Unrest erupted in Portland, Ore., during clashes with federal agents, in Kenosha, Wis., after the shooting of Jacob Blake, and in Louisville, Ky., after a grand jury declined to charge officers in the killing of Breonna Taylor.
Protests have also turned into polarizing political events. President Trump has castigated protesters as lawless and violent. After a handful of protesters shouted epithets outside a hospital where two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were receiving treatment after being attacked by a gunman, a video of them went viral, becoming a rallying cry for critics.
In South L.A., protests in front of the sheriff’s station condemning the Aug. 31 deputy shooting of Dijon Kizzee in nearby Westmont have galvanized hundreds of people for weeks.
The protests have been largely peaceful. But the Sheriff’s Department regularly blocks off the entire street in front of the station during rallies while deputies in riot gear patrol crowds.
After a series of protests over Labor Day weekend, the department cast nighttime demonstrators as “rebellious, self-proclaimed anarchists” who are “clad for battle” and have alarmed locals, alleging that they’ve thrown “frozen water bottles, fireworks, smoke bombs, glass bottles, metal pipes, and chunks of cement to create chaos, damage and injury.”
Advertisement
However, of the dozens arrested around that time, virtually all were detained on suspicion of failure to disperse, rather than more serious offenses.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva denounced those protesters as being from disruptive groups that are “definitely not from this community.”
But those who have tapped into a new zeal for dissent say they march with the support of the neighborhood and of families who have lost loved ones to police shootings.
“I feel if we don’t do something about it now, nothing’s going to change,” said Demetra Johnson, whose son Anthony Weber was fatally shot by a deputy in Westmont at age 16. “I still have a 14-year-old son that’s got to grow up in this neighborhood.”
Demetra Johnson, 51, left, mother of Anthony Weber, who was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy in 2018. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Some protesters said they have equipped themselves with helmets, cardboard shields and goggles because deputies have used unwarranted, aggressive tactics, a claim the department denies.
At recent protests outside the South L.A. station, Sanders saw new friends get hit by projectiles and tear gas fired by deputies in riot gear. He said he was tackled and punched multiple times by a deputy without provocation the night he was arrested.
Austin Baffa, 27, a freelance videographer from Orange County, said that during more than a week of protests at the station, he observed a few instances in which water bottles and a fireworks device were thrown by people in the crowd. He’s noted several people who he said came to the protests “just looking for a fight” by taunting deputies to shoot them. But that’s out of hundreds of others who were not combative.
“The outside agitator narrative just doesn’t seem to fit what I saw from the families’ support for people coming and protesting peacefully,” he said.
Plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit allege that the Sheriff’s Department has improperly used force to disperse crowds without giving those present enough time to obey orders, saying deputies used projectiles, tear gas and other chemical agents indiscriminately against peaceful protesters, journalists and legal observers.
The department has said that deputies used so-called less-lethal force in response to protesters who threw rocks and bottles at officials, and not to cause them to disperse.
The injuries have not deterred Sanders.
“I’m Black and Hispanic, and this feels like my fight and what I’m supposed to be doing,” said the North Hollywood resident. “I feel compelled to this and to keep going if I can bring change so the next generation doesn’t grow up in fear of the cops.”
L.A. Sheriff’s Deputies in riot gear watch protesters by the South L.A. Sheriff’s station during a protest for Dijon Kizzee. (Josie Norris / Los Angeles Times)
The Sheriff’s Department has said that Kizzee was riding his bike on the wrong side of the street when he was stopped by two deputies. A pursuit ensued, ending with the deputies firing 19 shots at him. Officials said Kizzee pointed a gun at deputies, but an attorney for Kizzee’s family said witnesses didn’t see anything in his hands.
Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, said the subsequent weeks-long sustained protest movement is historic.
“One of the most difficult things to do is to mobilize people, to get people to physically take action, to get people to take time out of the day,” he said.
Attempts to delegitimize protests may also help mobilize people, he said.
Many attending marches at the South L.A. sheriff’s station have became regulars.
Jessica Rogers of North Hollywood shows the wounds she said she sustained at a protest by the South L.A. Sheriff’s station. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
That’s the case for Jessica Rogers of North Hollywood, who was moved by the Floyd protests and now attends every action she can, quick to acknowledge privileges she has as a white woman.
Rogers, 30, drove to Palmdale nearly every day to demand answers when a Black man was found hanging from a tree near City Hall, a death later determined to be a suicide.
She’s demonstrated outside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s home twice and has protested at Trump rallies.
“I don’t know why I didn’t show up before,” she said. “I’ve always had the same beliefs I have right now, but I haven’t actively fought for them…. I think it was just laziness.”
During one evening demonstration at the South L.A. sheriff’s station, a projectile struck Rogers’ upper thigh. She decided to equip herself with a gas mask, rugged helmet, durable ear plugs and a paintball vest for future protests.
She tenses up at sudden noises but feels “survivor’s guilt” if she misses a protest.
“It’s a very hectic lifestyle, but it feels normal,” she said. “It feels like the only option.”
That’s also true for Bri Riley, 23, a volunteer street medic at protests.
She carries a 40-pound backpack with saline solution for pepper spray, ice packs, gauze, insulin and trauma kits. She’s seen head injuries from projectiles and an eye hit with a pepper ball.
Despite being arrested at a Kizzee protest on suspicion of failure to disperse, Riley, who is Black, said the protests are too meaningful to quit.
“I have had feelings of backing out, but then I remember what I’m doing and the people I’m helping,” she said. “Dijon Kizzee is a big deal and all the murders in L.A. are a big deal.”
Others attend protests to document. Baffa, the videographer, is part of a group that coordinates protest coverage.
He’s bothered, he said, when peaceful protests against police violence are called “riots,” and he said he posts raw footage online to help inform the public.
“It’s language that I hear a lot — riots, looting, outside agitator, antifa violence,” he said. “I want to show things as they are.”
Deja Roquemore waves a flag as she is parked on Normandie Ave. during a protest calling for justice and in honor of Dijon Kizzee in South Los Angeles. (Josie Norris/Los Angeles Times)
A recent Saturday protest brought hundreds to the residential street where Kizzee was killed before they marched to the sheriff’s station.
Deja Roquemore, 32, crouched in front of her house — across the street from the site of the shooting — to spray-paint “Black Lives Matter” on a black, red and green flag. She said that she’s taught her 6-year-old daughter not to fear the police, but this incident brought the fear back.
“I think they’ve made it seem the protesters are out for something else other than this life and Black lives,” Roquemore said of the Sheriff’s Department. “I love the camaraderie. I love the energy of togetherness. I love all of that, and that’s really what I’ve been seeing.”
That sense of unity has been important for Mike Ojo.
Ojo, 31, a professional basketball player in Japan who grew up in Ladera Heights, has spent the past few months photographing racial justice protests during his offseason.
He said that while walking with a friend to a recent Kizzee protest near the station, a sheriff’s vehicle pulled up next to them. Ojo said they were detained and handcuffed without explanation. After Ojo, who is Black, repeatedly asked why, he said he was told he fit the description of a suspect in the area allegedly carrying a gun.
Another sheriff’s vehicle arrived shortly after, and Ojo and his friend were forced into separate cars.
“I felt like I had my liberty violated by these people,” Ojo said. “It honestly kind of justified every bit of why I wanted to be out there. I am being accosted by the police for absolutely no reason other than being a Black man.”
They were released after about 10 minutes, left shaken. The officers, Ojo said, would not disclose their badge numbers — with several pretending not to hear his requests.
He continued toward the sheriff’s station and took photographs into the night, he said.


latimes--2020-10-08--D.A., county supervisor and the other top L.A. races at a glance

The national debate over criminal justice reform and police use-of-force will be on the ballot in Los Angeles this year , where veteran Dist .
Atty .
Jackie Lacey is trying to fend off a challenger who represents a push to elect more progressive prosecutors nationwide , in former San Francisco Dist .
Atty .
George Gascón .
Lacey , who is seeking a third term , became L.A. County ’ s first woman and Black district attorney in 2012 and ran unopposed in 2016 .
She has overseen an office that has secured convictions against a number of high-profile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lonnie Franklin , the alleged “ Grim Sleeper ” serial killer ; and rap mogul Marion “ Suge ” Knight — and enjoyed broad support among law enforcement .
While she ’ s seen as more of a traditional law and order prosecutor , Lacey has also championed diversion programs for nonviolent offenders and the mentally ill in some cases , though they represent a small portion of the hundreds of thousands of cases her office has tried during her two terms .
Lacey has repeatedly declined to prosecute L.A. County law enforcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making her the target of ongoing protests .
Gascón , who sees himself at the forefront of a wave to elect more progressive prosecutors across the U.S. , championed restorative justice programs and alternatives to incarceration for eight years in San Francisco .
He also co-wrote Proposition 47 , the landmark legislation that reduced several felonies to misdemeanors in California , and championed a bill last year that could make it easier to prosecute police officers in fatal use-of-force cases .
Property crime soared under Gascón ’ s tenure in San Francisco , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the threat of prosecution against low-level criminals , stemming from his office ’ s use of diversion programs .
Gascón also declined to prosecute San Francisco police officers in a number of controversial shootings in the Bay Area , though he has argued his hands were tied by restrictive laws .
In a rare opening on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors , L.A. City Councilman Herb Wesson and state Sen. Holly Mitchell hope to succeed Mark Ridley-Thomas in the 2nd Supervisorial District — which includes Carson , Compton , Culver City @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wesson joined the Los Angeles City Council in 2005 and was council president from 2012 until January , when he stepped aside as president to focus on his campaign .
He has said his accomplishments as council president include multiple increases in the city ’ s minimum wage , passage of a $ 1.2-billion bond measure to battle homelessness and a shift in the city ’ s election schedule to even-numbered years , a step aimed at boosting voter turnout .
Wesson played a major role in shepherding Charter Amendment C — which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by all-civilian boards — onto the ballot in 2017 .
Many community advocates , including Black Lives Matter , were squarely against the measure , which was pushed by the police union .
Voters approved the measure .
First elected to the state Legislature in 2010 , Mitchell represents the 30th Senate District , which stretches from Century City to South L.A .
Her accomplishments include getting nearly 70 bills passed that targeted many systemic injustices in the criminal justice system , and inequities faced by foster youths and families .
Mitchell has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Committee since 2017 , including this last year when the state faced a $ 54-billion shortfall .
She successfully blocked cuts to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South L.A .
If Wesson is elected , he will be only the second Black man elected to the Board of Supervisors , once dubbed the “ five little kings ” and historically all white and male .
If Mitchell wins , the Board of Supervisors will , for the first time , be an all-female board .
In a district that stretches from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Sherman Oaks , incumbent Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu is competing against former nonprofit executive Nithya Raman .
Key issues in the race include homelessness , revamping policing and combating corruption .
Ryu has campaigned as a progressive reformer who championed new restrictions on political donations from real estate developers and pushed for new housing and shelter for homeless people .
But Raman has challenged whether Ryu has done enough to advance progressive change at City Hall .
She wants to create a new network of “ community access centers ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that criminalize homelessness .
Ryu , in turn , has argued that he has an established record of accomplishments in the city .
Ryu and Raman have backed many of the same ideas , including full public financing for city candidates and expanding the council .
Raman had called for a rent freeze during the primary ; Ryu succeeded in pushing one through amid the COVID-19 pandemic .
But the two differ on some key points .
To combat corruption , Ryu wants to create a new office as a watchdog on development @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should instead bolster funding for the existing Ethics Commission .
Both want “ rent forgiveness ” plans to relieve struggling tenants of rent debt , but disagree on how to fund them .
L.A. 's 10th District , taking in Koreatown , Mid-City and parts of South Los Angeles , has had the same representative on the council for nearly 15 years : Wesson , a well-known deal maker and former council president .
Now , because of term limits , Wesson is looking to fill the seat currently held by County Supervisor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political veteran facing term limits , is hoping to replace Wesson on the council .
First , however , he must square off against attorney Grace Yoo , his opponent in the Nov. 3 runoff election .
Ridley-Thomas , a longtime civil rights advocate , has spent the last three decades winning elections , prevailing in city , county and state contests .
He ’ s looking to return to the council after an 18-year absence — but is also seen as someone laying the groundwork for a run for L.A. mayor in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activist and former executive director of the Korean American Coalition-Los Angeles , is making her second run at the seat .
She ’ s forged a reputation as a fighter against City Hall , pushing back against plans for ripping out trees in Hollywood , redrawing the city ’ s council district boundaries and constructing a 27-story residential tower that would have been twice as dense as the city ’ s rules allowed .
With City Hall the subject of a far-reaching federal bribery inquiry , Yoo is running as a reformer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Ethics Commission and city controller ’ s office to be shielded from political intrusion .
Yoo also wants to ensure that Ethics Commissioners are no longer be selected by the politicians they are assigned to watch over .
Ridley-Thomas , in turn , has been running on his lengthy track record as an elected official , pointing to his work fighting homelessness , building affordable housing and reopening Martin Luther King Jr. Community hospital in Willowbrook .
The county supervisor also touts his recent effort to have local government treat systemic racism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that affects education , employment , housing and many other areas — especially for the county ’ s Black residents .
If he wins , Ridley-Thomas won ’ t be able to use his experience on the council very long .
Because of term limits , he is permitted to serve one final four-year term before stepping down .
District 3 stretches across most of the west San Fernando Valley .
The most politically conservative board district , its voters rejected incumbents in three of the last four elections .
The race presents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who is supported by the teachers union , and Marilyn Koziatek , who works at a charter school and is supported by charter backers .
A former Spanish teacher , Schmerelson , 69 , was a longtime and well-liked principal .
He relishes going to campuses and trying to problem-solve local , campus-based issues .
He also says he ’ s worked successfully to give parents greater voice through committees and forums , especially on behalf of children with special needs , while also acknowledging that the district can do more .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ teachers union efforts to limit the expansion of charter schools , but some charters are well regarded in his district , and he generally does not interfere with their operations .
He finished first in the primary , with 42 % of the vote Koziatek , 39 , manages community outreach for Granada Hills Charter High School , helping to oversee public relations , parent communication and work on obtaining grants .
She ’ s also active in local civic organizations , frequently on matters related to education .
She promotes her parent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has children now in school .
While Koziatek praises her children ’ s neighborhood elementary school , she takes aim at Schmerelson as representing a status quo that has not accomplished enough on behalf of students .
The winner of this contest will replace longtime incumbent and current board President Richard Vladovic , who is barred from seeking reelection by term limits .
The district stretches from South L.A. to the Harbor area .
The candidates backed by the teachers union need to win both races or the majority of the board will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support charter schools .
Patricia Castellanos , 50 , would bring a union ally to the board , one who would work to limit situations in which neighborhood schools are required to share their campuses with privately operated charter schools .
State law requires the district to offer space to charters .
Most recently , she ’ s worked as a deputy to county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl on job creation efforts .
She ’ s also been involved in labor-backed campaigns to improve air quality and working conditions at the port .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s perspective to the board and political savvy that would help in policy and funding battles .
Her opponent , Tanya Ortiz Franklin , 36 , is steeped in school-site issues as part of the leadership team at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools , a nonprofit that manages 19 of the district ’ s historically lowest-performing campuses .
Franklin is particularly experienced in restorative justice , which replaces student suspensions with intensive counseling .
She ’ s also worked on elementary arts instruction and as part of the nonprofit ’ s policy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Franklin is mostly from donors who ’ ve supported non-district-run charter schools , her career is rooted in district schools .
She says she has a concerted focus on equity that goes back to seeing only half her classmates graduate from her local public high school .
Twelve years after voters approved the $ 7-billion Measure Q , L.A. Unified is back with Measure RR , a $ 7-billion bond proposal that would pay for campus renovation and construction as well as technology .
Supporters of the measure , which include major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chances for passage will be strong in November , when the presidential election will bring out more voters who are likely to support spending on schools .
The measure requires 55 % of the vote to pass .
The district has a long list of repairs and upgrades , including work on ceilings , bus purchases , new air conditioners and seismic retrofits .
Also on the list are mobile computers and other technology .
Using bond funds — which are repaid over decades — for short-lived technology has been controversial in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spring when the pandemic forced campuses to close .
The district used nearly $ 80 million left over from previous bonds to purchase computers for students to use at home .
The bond would increase property taxes .
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn .
opposes the measure as an unfair additional burden , asserting that past bond funds have not been spent efficiently .
To pay for Measure RR , property owners would be taxed an average additional fee of $ 22 a year per $ 100,000 of assessed property value .

Los Angeles County District Attorney
The national debate over criminal justice reform and police use of force will be on the ballot this year in Los Angeles, where veteran Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey is trying to fend off a challenger who represents a push to elect more progressive prosecutors nationwide, in former San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascón.
Lacey, who is seeking a third term, became L.A. County’s first woman and Black district attorney in 2012 and ran unopposed in 2016.
Advertisement
She has overseen an office that has secured convictions against a number of high-profile defendants during her two terms — including Lonnie Franklin, the “Grim Sleeper” serial killer; and rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight — and enjoyed broad support among law enforcement.
While she’s seen as more of a traditional law-and-order prosecutor, Lacey has also championed diversion programs for nonviolent offenders and the mentally ill in some cases, though they represent a small portion of the hundreds of thousands of cases her office has tried during her two terms.
Lacey has repeatedly declined to prosecute L.A. County law enforcement officers who have shot unarmed suspects, making her the target of ongoing protests.
Gascón, who sees himself at the forefront of a wave to elect more progressive prosecutors across the U.S., championed restorative justice programs and alternatives to incarceration for eight years in San Francisco.
He also co-wrote Proposition 47, the landmark legislation that reduced several felonies to misdemeanors in California, and championed a bill last year that could make it easier to prosecute police officers in fatal use-of-force cases.
Advertisement
Property crime soared under Gascón’s tenure in San Francisco, which some allege resulted from the lack of the threat of prosecution against low-level criminals, stemming from his office’s use of diversion programs. Gascón also declined to prosecute San Francisco police officers in a number of controversial shootings in the Bay Area, though he has argued his hands were tied by restrictive laws.
— James Queally
Los Angeles County Supervisor 2nd District
In a rare opening on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, L.A. City Councilman Herb Wesson and state Sen. Holly Mitchell hope to succeed Mark Ridley-Thomas in the 2nd Supervisorial District — which includes Carson, Compton, Culver City, Inglewood and several L.A. neighborhoods.
Herb Wesson and Holly Mitchell. (Los Angeles Times)
Wesson joined the Los Angeles City Council in 2005 and was council president from 2012 until January, when he stepped aside as president to focus on his campaign.
He has said his accomplishments as council president include multiple increases in the city’s minimum wage, passage of a $1.2-billion bond measure to battle homelessness and a shift in the city’s election schedule to even-numbered years, a step aimed at boosting voter turnout.
Wesson played a major role in shepherding Charter Amendment C — which allows police officers to have their cases heard by all-civilian boards — onto the ballot in 2017. Many community advocates, including Black Lives Matter, were squarely against the measure, which was pushed by the police union. Voters approved the measure.
First elected to the state Legislature in 2010, Mitchell represents the 30th Senate District, which stretches from Century City to South L.A. Her accomplishments include getting nearly 70 bills passed that targeted many systemic injustices in the criminal justice system, and inequities faced by foster youths and families.
Mitchell has served as chair of the Senate Budget Committee since 2017, including this last year when the state faced a $54-billion shortfall. She successfully blocked cuts to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South L.A.
If Wesson is elected, he will be only the second Black man elected to the Board of Supervisors, once dubbed the “five little kings” and historically all white and male. If Mitchell wins, the Board of Supervisors will, for the first time, be an all-female board.
— Jaclyn Cosgrove
Los Angeles City Council District 4
In a district that stretches from the Miracle Mile through the Hollywood Hills to Sherman Oaks, incumbent Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu is competing against former nonprofit executive Nithya Raman.
Key issues in the race include homelessness, revamping policing and combating corruption. Ryu has campaigned as a progressive reformer who championed new restrictions on political donations from real estate developers and pushed for new housing and shelter for homeless people.
But Raman has challenged whether Ryu has done enough to advance progressive change at City Hall. She wants to create a new network of “community access centers” to assist homeless people and end policies that criminalize homelessness. Ryu, in turn, has argued that he has an established record of accomplishments in the city.
Ryu and Raman have backed many of the same ideas, including full public financing for city candidates and expanding the council. Raman had called for a rent freeze during the primary; Ryu succeeded in pushing one through amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the two differ on some key points. To combat corruption, Ryu wants to create a new office as a watchdog on development decisions; Raman argues that the city should instead bolster funding for the existing Ethics Commission. Both want “rent forgiveness” plans to relieve struggling tenants of rent debt, but disagree on how to fund them.
— Emily Alpert Reyes
Los Angeles City Council District 10
L.A.’s 10th District, taking in Koreatown, Mid-City and parts of South Los Angeles, has had the same representative on the council for nearly 15 years: Herb Wesson, a well-known deal maker and former council president.
Now, because of term limits, Wesson is looking to fill the seat currently held by County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. And Ridley-Thomas, another political veteran facing term limits, is hoping to replace Wesson on the council. First, however, he must square off against attorney Grace Yoo, his opponent in the Nov. 3 runoff election.
Ridley-Thomas, a longtime civil rights advocate, has spent the last three decades winning elections, prevailing in city, county and state contests. He’s looking to return to the council after an 18-year absence — but is also seen as someone laying the groundwork for a run for L.A. mayor in the near future.
Yoo, an activist and former executive director of the Korean American Coalition-Los Angeles, is making her second run at the seat. She’s forged a reputation as a fighter against City Hall, pushing back against plans for ripping out trees in Hollywood, redrawing the city’s council district boundaries and constructing a 27-story residential tower that would have been twice as dense as the city’s rules allowed.
With City Hall the subject of a far-reaching federal bribery inquiry, Yoo is running as a reformer, calling for funding at the city’s Ethics Commission and city controller’s office to be shielded from political intrusion. Yoo also wants to ensure that Ethics commissioners are no longer selected by the politicians they are assigned to watch over.
Ridley-Thomas, in turn, has been running on his lengthy track record as an elected official, pointing to his work fighting homelessness, building affordable housing and reopening Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Willowbrook. The county supervisor also touts his recent effort to have local government treat systemic racism as a public health issue, one that affects education, employment, housing and many other areas — especially for the county’s Black residents.
If he wins, Ridley-Thomas won’t be able to use his experience on the council very long. Because of term limits, he is permitted to serve one final four-year term before stepping down.
— David Zahniser
L.A. Board of Education District 3
District 3 stretches across most of the west San Fernando Valley. The most politically conservative board district, its voters rejected incumbents in three of the last four elections. The race presents a choice between one-term incumbent Scott Schmerelson, who is supported by the teachers union, and Marilyn Koziatek, who works at a charter school and is supported by charter backers.
A former Spanish teacher, Schmerelson, 69, was a longtime and well-liked principal. He relishes going to campuses and trying to problem-solve local, campus-based issues. He also says he’s worked successfully to give parents greater voice through committees and forums, especially on behalf of children with special needs, while also acknowledging that the district can do more.
Schmerelson has been a reliable ally for teachers union efforts to limit the expansion of charter schools, but some charters are well regarded in his district, and he generally does not interfere with their operations. He finished first in the primary, with 42% of the vote.
Koziatek, 39, manages community outreach for Granada Hills Charter High School, helping to oversee public relations, parent communication and work on obtaining grants.
She’s also active in local civic organizations, frequently on matters related to education. She promotes her parent perspective, as no current board member has children now in school. While Koziatek praises her children’s neighborhood elementary school, she takes aim at Schmerelson as representing a status quo that has not accomplished enough on behalf of students.
— Howard Blume
L.A. Board of Education District 7
The winner of this contest will replace longtime incumbent and current board President Richard Vladovic, who is barred from seeking reelection by term limits. The district stretches from South L.A. to the Harbor area. The candidates backed by the teachers union need to win both races or the majority of the board will shift to candidates backed by donors who support charter schools.
Patricia Castellanos, 50, would bring a union ally to the board, one who would work to limit situations in which neighborhood schools are required to share their campuses with privately operated charter schools. State law requires the district to offer space to charters.
Most recently, she’s worked as a deputy to county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl on job creation efforts. She’s also been involved in labor-backed campaigns to improve air quality and working conditions at the port. She says she would bring a parent’s perspective to the board and political savvy that would help in policy and funding battles.
Her opponent, Tanya Ortiz Franklin, 36, is steeped in school site issues as part of the leadership team at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a nonprofit that manages 19 of the district’s historically lowest-performing campuses. Franklin is particularly experienced in restorative justice, which replaces student suspensions with intensive counseling. She’s also worked on elementary arts instruction and as part of the nonprofit’s policy team.
Although campaign spending in support of Franklin is mostly from donors who’ve supported non-district-run charter schools, her career is rooted in district schools. She says she has a concerted focus on equity that goes back to seeing only half her classmates graduate from her local public high school.
— Howard Blume
Measure RR – L.A. Unified school construction and renovation bonds
Twelve years after voters approved the $7-billion Measure Q, L.A. Unified is back with Measure RR, a $7-billion bond proposal that would pay for campus renovation and construction as well as technology.
Supporters of the measure, which include major business and labor groups, hope the chances for passage will be strong in November, when the presidential election will bring out more voters who are likely to support spending on schools. The measure requires 55% of the vote to pass.
The district has a long list of repairs and upgrades, including work on ceilings, bus purchases, new air conditioners and seismic retrofits. Also on the list are mobile computers and other technology. Using bond funds — which are repaid over decades — for short-lived technology has been controversial in the past, but became accepted practice this spring when the pandemic forced campuses to close. The district used nearly $80 million left over from previous bonds to purchase computers for students to use at home.
The bond would increase property taxes. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. opposes the measure as an unfair additional burden, asserting that past bond funds have not been spent efficiently.
To pay for Measure RR, property owners would be taxed an average additional fee of $22 a year per $100,000 of assessed property value.
— Howard Blume


latimes--2020-10-08--Newsom should continue working with the Legislature on the housing crisis. Prop. 21 isn't the answer

Proposition 21 on the Nov. 3 ballot asks voters to decide how far government should interfere in the private marketplace to control residential rents .
It ’ s not about whether there should be government rent control in California .
There is and has been for decades .
It ’ s about how much — whether it should be substantially strengthened and extended to a lot more housing .
Proposition 21 ’ s backers argue that much stronger control is needed to allow middle-income tenants to live within reasonable commute distance of their urban jobs — and to keep poor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ California used to be a very good place to live for people with only a little bit of money , ” says the measure ’ s chief backer , Los Angeles activist Michael Weinstein , president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation .
“ Now we have the horror of 150,000-plus people living on the streets .
And that ’ s the result of letting the marketplace run without control .
Shelter is not a commodity , it ’ s a necessity.
” “ Right now , ” Weinstein told me Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from my office window , and I see block-long cardboard boxes and tents .
It ’ s an apocalypse.
” Weinstein ’ s office is at iconic Sunset and Vine in Hollywood .
Opponents of the citizens ’ initiative counter that making the rental industry less profitable — in many cases leaving it a financial loser — would discourage construction of badly needed apartment complexes and ultimately drive rents even higher .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom agrees with that argument .
The Democrat announced his opposition to Proposition 21 in September , noting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beefed up state rent control .
Newsom called the bill a “ historic version of statewide rent control — the nation ’ s strongest rent caps and renter protections.
” “ But Proposition 21 , like Proposition 10 before it , ” Newsom continued , “ runs the all-too-real risk of discouraging availability of affordable housing in our state.
” Proposition 10 was the first attempt by Weinstein to pass statewide rent control .
It was a more stringent measure than Proposition 21 and voters rejected it by a near-landslide in 2018 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he and the Legislature passed a good chance of working .
It caps annual rent increases at 5 % plus inflation for apartments older than 15 years .
The 15-year grace period is designed to give developers a chance to recoup a large part of their investment before rent controls take hold — and to offer an incentive to build .
The law also provides some tenant protections , requiring “ just cause ” for eviction after one year of occupancy .
Single-family homes and condos owned by individuals are exempt from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by corporations and investors .
The new law took effect in January .
But because of the pandemic-caused recession , it really hasn ’ t been tested .
In many areas , the rental market has gone bust .
“ We have huge vacancies in some places and lower rents , ” says Debra Carlton , executive vice president of the California Apartment Assn .
“ Tenants are dropping their keys at the front desk and leaving .
If their jobs tell them they can work at home , they just leave the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lower rate .
So , we ’ re seeing lower rents.
” Proposition 21 “ will discourage housing construction at a time when we desperately need it , ” Carlton says .
“ No builder is going to build in a city with the rent control this allows .
They ’ ll just build next door .
And tenants will have long drives .
California ’ s rent control is already confusing , varying from place to place .
Each city is allowed to adopt its own controls , within state restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be controls on housing built in 1995 or after .
Nor can there be on other apartments constructed before 1995 if a city already had rent control then .
In Los Angeles , rent regulations can ’ t be imposed on any apartment built after 1978 .
Landlords also can ’ t be told what they can charge new renters the first time .
Under Proposition 21 , cities and counties could substantially expand their rent control to most housing more than 15 years old .
Rents for single-family homes would be controlled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dwellings — counting a personal residence .
And even then , the home would need to be in a person ’ s name , not a trust or a partnership .
Landlords would be limited to how much they could raise the rent on new tenants — 15 % all at once or over three years .
Opponents say this wouldn ’ t provide landlords enough rent to fix up a unit badly in need of repairs .
“ I would no longer continue to invest in California , ” says Al Wong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fourplexes and small apartment buildings .
“ I ’ d say , ‘ Sorry .
I can ’ t do this .
This is not a business anymore .
I ’ m going to go to Washington or Idaho or Nevada.
’ ” Rene Moya , the Proposition 21 campaign director , points out that 30 % of California ’ s renters pay at least half of their earnings in rent — far too much to also afford utilities and food .
But voters apparently aren ’ t convinced .
A recent poll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Studies found that likely voters are split — 37 % yes , 37 % no and 26 % undecided .
If California wants to control rents , government should build public housing .
Newsom and the Legislature should compromise on a bill to impose new zoning requirements that allow for more multifamily housing .
And streamline building regulations while reducing fees .
Don ’ t put all the burden on private enterprise .

A Celebrate Renters Rally in support of Proposition 21, a statewide rent control ballot measure, was held at Los Angeles City Hall on Sept. 8.
Proposition 21 on the Nov. 3 ballot asks voters to decide how far government should interfere in the private marketplace to control residential rents.
It’s not about whether there should be government rent control in California. There is and has been for decades. It’s about how much — whether it should be substantially strengthened and extended to a lot more housing.
Proposition 21’s backers argue that much stronger control is needed to allow middle-income tenants to live within reasonable commute distance of their urban jobs — and to keep poor tenants under shelter and off the street.
Advertisement
“California used to be a very good place to live for people with only a little bit of money,” says the measure’s chief backer, Los Angeles activist Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
“Now we have the horror of 150,000-plus people living on the streets. And that’s the result of letting the marketplace run without control. Shelter is not a commodity, it’s a necessity.”
“Right now,” Weinstein told me Tuesday, “I’m looking down from my office window, and I see block-long cardboard boxes and tents. It’s an apocalypse.”
Weinstein’s office is at iconic Sunset and Vine in Hollywood.
Opponents of the citizens’ initiative counter that making the rental industry less profitable — in many cases leaving it a financial loser — would discourage construction of badly needed apartment complexes and ultimately drive rents even higher.
Gov. Gavin Newsom agrees with that argument. The Democrat announced his opposition to Proposition 21 in September, noting that he and the Legislature last year beefed up state rent control.
Advertisement
Newsom called the bill a “historic version of statewide rent control — the nation’s strongest rent caps and renter protections.”
“But Proposition 21, like Proposition 10 before it,” Newsom continued, “runs the all-too-real risk of discouraging availability of affordable housing in our state.”
Proposition 10 was the first attempt by Weinstein to pass statewide rent control. It was a more stringent measure than Proposition 21 and voters rejected it by a near-landslide in 2018.
Newsom wants to give the new law that he and the Legislature passed a good chance of working. It caps annual rent increases at 5% plus inflation for apartments older than 15 years.
The 15-year grace period is designed to give developers a chance to recoup a large part of their investment before rent controls take hold — and to offer an incentive to build.
The law also provides some tenant protections, requiring “just cause” for eviction after one year of occupancy.
Single-family homes and condos owned by individuals are exempt from rent control — but not those held by corporations and investors.
The new law took effect in January. But because of the pandemic-caused recession, it really hasn’t been tested. In many areas, the rental market has gone bust.
“We have huge vacancies in some places and lower rents,” says Debra Carlton, executive vice president of the California Apartment Assn.
“Tenants are dropping their keys at the front desk and leaving. If their jobs tell them they can work at home, they just leave the high-priced market and move further away to a lower rate. So, we’re seeing lower rents.”
Proposition 21 “will discourage housing construction at a time when we desperately need it,” Carlton says. “No builder is going to build in a city with the rent control this allows. They’ll just build next door. And tenants will have long drives.
“It’s going to make a bad situation worse.”
California’s rent control is already confusing, varying from place to place. Each city is allowed to adopt its own controls, within state restrictions.
Basically, there can’t be controls on housing built in 1995 or after. Nor can there be on other apartments constructed before 1995 if a city already had rent control then.
In Los Angeles, rent regulations can’t be imposed on any apartment built after 1978.
Landlords also can’t be told what they can charge new renters the first time.
Under Proposition 21, cities and counties could substantially expand their rent control to most housing more than 15 years old.
Rents for single-family homes would be controlled unless the owner had only two such dwellings — counting a personal residence. And even then, the home would need to be in a person’s name, not a trust or a partnership.
Landlords would be limited to how much they could raise the rent on new tenants — 15% all at once or over three years.
Opponents say this wouldn’t provide landlords enough rent to fix up a unit badly in need of repairs.
“I would no longer continue to invest in California,” says Al Wong of San Francisco, who owns several fourplexes and small apartment buildings. “I’d say, ‘Sorry. I can’t do this. This is not a business anymore. I’m going to go to Washington or Idaho or Nevada.’”
Rene Moya, the Proposition 21 campaign director, points out that 30% of California’s renters pay at least half of their earnings in rent — far too much to also afford utilities and food.
But voters apparently aren’t convinced. A recent poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that likely voters are split — 37% yes, 37% no and 26% undecided.
I’m a no.
If California wants to control rents, government should build public housing.
Also, provide generous rent subsidies.
Newsom and the Legislature should compromise on a bill to impose new zoning requirements that allow for more multifamily housing. And streamline building regulations while reducing fees.
Don’t put all the burden on private enterprise.


latimes--2020-10-07--Eight charged in California-to-Alaska drug distribution network

Federal authorities have charged eight people in what they described as a drug distribution network that shipped bulk quantities of cocaine from Compton to Alaska .
Using women as couriers , the ring sent cocaine and other narcotics to Alaska and Oregon on commercial flights , an indictment says .
The document , which indicates that investigators had secretly been monitoring the group ’ s phone calls and reading their text messages , describes a series of drug transactions that took place between April 2015 and August 2016 .
Asia Dawnta Williams , a resident of Chicago , was caught @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heroin onto a flight out of Los Angeles International Airport in her clothing , the indictment says .
Another woman , who wasn ’ t charged or identified , successfully snuck a kilogram of cocaine onto a flight out of Long Beach Airport and delivered it to a conspirator in Oregon , according to the indictment .
In the parking lot of an Anchorage motel , Natasha Monique Bushner , a resident of Los Angeles , delivered a package containing nearly 2 kilograms of cocaine to Margus Gipson , a resident of Compton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the handoff and seized the cocaine and $ 12,500 in cash .
Another woman , Miecha Martinique Reva Gunn , “ would recruit female couriers to transport controlled substances and cash drug proceeds , ” the indictment charges .
It couldn ’ t be determined from court records Wednesday whether any of the defendants had lawyers .
Raul Cisneros Jr. , a 42-year-old resident of Compton , is portrayed in the indictment as the network ’ s supplier .
In October 2015 , after overhearing discussions of a drug debt with a conspirator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of cocaine , 3 kilograms of methamphetamine , crack cocaine base and $ 568,357 in cash , according to the indictment .
Cisneros was also carrying four handguns , it says .

The office of U.S. Atty. Nick Hanna, shown during a news conference in June, charged eight people in what was described as a drug distribution network that shipped bulk quantities of cocaine from Compton to Alaska.
Federal authorities have charged eight people in what they described as a drug distribution network that shipped bulk quantities of cocaine from Compton to Alaska.
Using women as couriers, the ring sent cocaine and other narcotics to Alaska and Oregon on commercial flights, an indictment says. The document, which indicates that investigators had secretly been monitoring the group’s phone calls and reading their text messages, describes a series of drug transactions that took place between April 2015 and August 2016.
Asia Dawnta Williams, a resident of Chicago, was caught trying to smuggle nearly 150 grams of heroin onto a flight out of Los Angeles International Airport in her clothing, the indictment says. Another woman, who wasn’t charged or identified, successfully snuck a kilogram of cocaine onto a flight out of Long Beach Airport and delivered it to a conspirator in Oregon, according to the indictment.
Advertisement
In the parking lot of an Anchorage motel, Natasha Monique Bushner, a resident of Los Angeles, delivered a package containing nearly 2 kilograms of cocaine to Margus Gipson, a resident of Compton, the indictment says. Authorities interrupted the handoff and seized the cocaine and $12,500 in cash.
Another woman, Miecha Martinique Reva Gunn, “would recruit female couriers to transport controlled substances and cash drug proceeds,” the indictment charges.
It couldn’t be determined from court records Wednesday whether any of the defendants had lawyers.
Raul Cisneros Jr., a 42-year-old resident of Compton, is portrayed in the indictment as the network’s supplier. In October 2015, after overhearing discussions of a drug debt with a conspirator, investigators seized from Cisneros 23 kilograms of cocaine, 3 kilograms of methamphetamine, crack cocaine base and $568,357 in cash, according to the indictment. Cisneros was also carrying four handguns, it says.


latimes--2020-10-07--Staff member in California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office tests positive for coronavirus

An intern in Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s administration and another state employee who interacted with members of the governor ’ s staff have both tested positive for the coronavirus , though neither came in contact with Newsom or his top advisors , the governor and his spokesman said Wednesday .
“ We are going through a contact-tracing process led by the Department of Public Health , and they have both been isolated and we are working back from that frame to make sure that everybody is appropriately tested , ” Newsom said during a briefing in Winters , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s spokesman , Nathan Click , said that whenever a state employee tests positive for the coronavirus and was in a government office , state policy requires that shared spaces be deep-cleaned — which was done where appropriate in these cases — and that employees who had contact with that person , or with the office , quarantine themselves and seek testing .
Click declined to identify the employees who tested positive or their office locations , citing privacy laws .
Newsom identified the governor ’ s office staff member as an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a separate state agency .
Neither worked in the suite of Capitol offices occupied by Newsom and his senior staff , the governor said .
The governor ’ s office was alerted about the state employee Monday and about the governor ’ s office staff member “ earlier this week , ” Click said .
Once notified , the governor ’ s office immediately began appropriate protocols such as contact tracing and asking employees to quarantine themselves if they had come in contact with the two people who tested positive .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well in their recovery , ” Click said .
Newsom said Wednesday that he has been tested for the virus on multiple occasions when the circumstances warranted , including when he visited a state prison and when he met with President Trump in Sacramento in mid-September during a briefing on the deadly wildfires in the state .
The last time he was tested was an hour before meeting with the president , and the results were negative , Newsom said .
Neither state employee who tested positive attended the event with the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve never been tested positive .
I ’ ve been tested negative on multiple times , ” Newsom said Wednesday .
Newsom ’ s comments came almost a week after disclosures that Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus , with the president requiring several days of hospitalization with COVID-19 symptoms .
The White House is now grappling with an outbreak of the virus among senior advisors to Trump as well as support staff and others who came in contact with those infected .
During a news conference Monday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump and others for being dismissive about the use of masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus .
“ We ’ ll continue to maintain our vigilance .
We ’ ll continue not to send mixed messages as it relates to importance and imperative of wearing masks or minimize the impact of this disease on people ’ s health , lives that are lost , ” Newsom said .
Click said that the governor ’ s office has reduced staff levels at the Capitol , where Newsom and his senior advisors work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scrapped most in-person meetings in favor of videoconference calls .

A staff member in California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office tested positive for the coronavirus this week but did not interact with the governor or his senior advisors, according to a spokesman.
An intern in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and another state employee who interacted with members of the governor’s staff have both tested positive for the coronavirus, though neither came in contact with Newsom or his top advisors, the governor and his spokesman said Wednesday.
“We are going through a contact-tracing process led by the Department of Public Health, and they have both been isolated and we are working back from that frame to make sure that everybody is appropriately tested,” Newsom said during a briefing in Winters, Calif., on Wednesday.
The governor’s spokesman, Nathan Click, said that whenever a state employee tests positive for the coronavirus and was in a government office, state policy requires that shared spaces be deep-cleaned — which was done where appropriate in these cases — and that employees who had contact with that person, or with the office, quarantine themselves and seek testing.
Click declined to identify the employees who tested positive or their office locations, citing privacy laws. Newsom identified the governor’s office staff member as an intern and said the other employee worked for a separate state agency. Neither worked in the suite of Capitol offices occupied by Newsom and his senior staff, the governor said.
The governor’s office was alerted about the state employee Monday and about the governor’s office staff member “earlier this week,” Click said. Once notified, the governor’s office immediately began appropriate protocols such as contact tracing and asking employees to quarantine themselves if they had come in contact with the two people who tested positive.
“We wish both individuals who tested positive well in their recovery,” Click said.
Advertisement
Newsom said Wednesday that he has been tested for the virus on multiple occasions when the circumstances warranted, including when he visited a state prison and when he met with President Trump in Sacramento in mid-September during a briefing on the deadly wildfires in the state.
The last time he was tested was an hour before meeting with the president, and the results were negative, Newsom said. Neither state employee who tested positive attended the event with the president, Click said.
“I’ve never been tested positive. I’ve been tested negative on multiple times,” Newsom said Wednesday.
Newsom’s comments came almost a week after disclosures that Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, with the president requiring several days of hospitalization with COVID-19 symptoms. The White House is now grappling with an outbreak of the virus among senior advisors to Trump as well as support staff and others who came in contact with those infected.
During a news conference Monday, Newsom took a subtle jab at Trump and others for being dismissive about the use of masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“We’ll continue to maintain our vigilance. We’ll continue not to send mixed messages as it relates to importance and imperative of wearing masks or minimize the impact of this disease on people’s health, lives that are lost,” Newsom said.
Click said that the governor’s office has reduced staff levels at the Capitol, where Newsom and his senior advisors work, because of the pandemic and has scrapped most in-person meetings in favor of videoconference calls.


latimes--2020-10-08--Potential murder-suicide attempt under investigation in Koreatown

Los Angeles Police Department officers are investigating what they say may be a murder-suicide attempt in Koreatown on Thursday afternoon @ @ @ @ @ 8th and South Catalina streets .
Authorities received a call at 2:26 p.m. of shots @ @ @ @ @ William Cooper .
Two people , a man and a woman believed to be his @ @ @ @ @ hospitals in critical condition .
Cooper said that the unidentified caller described the pair as @ @ @ @ @ that the former shot the latter .
“ This is still an ongoing and fluid @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Detectives are on the scene .
Much of the information we have is @ @ @ @ @ could not confirm whether a weapon had been recovered .

Los Angeles Police Department officers are investigating what they say may be a murder-suicide attempt in Koreatown on Thursday afternoon near the intersection of West 8th and South Catalina streets.
Authorities received a call at 2:26 p.m. of shots fired, said LAPD Officer William Cooper.
Two people, a man and a woman believed to be his wife, were taken to hospitals in critical condition.
Advertisement
Cooper said that the unidentified caller described the pair as a husband and wife and that the former shot the latter.
“This is still an ongoing and fluid investigation,” Cooper said. “Detectives are on the scene. Much of the information we have is from the caller.”
Cooper could not confirm whether a weapon had been recovered.


latimes--2020-10-08--'Gimme Shelter': What you need to know about Proposition 21, the rent control ballot initiative

In 2018 , Californians decisively rejected a ballot measure to expand rent control across the state .
But supporters of @ @ @ @ @ Proposition 21 , which would similarly allow local governments to pass more stringent rent control @ @ @ @ @ tweaks they believe make the idea more palatable for voters .
On this episode of @ @ @ @ @ The California Housing Crisis Podcast , ” we discuss what ’ s different about Proposition @ @ @ @ @ and how the debate around rent control has changed in the wake of the COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ René Moya , campaign director for Yes on 21 , and Steve Maviglio , spokesman @ @ @ @ @ campaign .
“ , ” a biweekly podcast that looks at why it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ California and what the state can do about it , features Liam Dillon , who @ @ @ @ @ the Los Angeles Times , and Matt Levin , data and housing reporter for .
@ @ @ @ @ Gim me Shelter ” on , , , , and .

In 2018, Californians decisively rejected a ballot measure to expand rent control across the state. But supporters of that measure are back with Proposition 21, which would similarly allow local governments to pass more stringent rent control rules while making a few tweaks they believe make the idea more palatable for voters.
On this episode of “Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast,” we discuss what’s different about Proposition 21 from the 2018 initiative and how the debate around rent control has changed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our guests are René Moya, campaign director for Yes on 21, and Steve Maviglio, spokesman for a No on 21 campaign.
Advertisement
“ Gimme Shelter ,”a biweekly podcast that looks at why it’s so expensive to live in California and what the state can do about it, features Liam Dillon, who covers housing affordability issues for the Los Angeles Times, and Matt Levin, data and housing reporter for CalMatters .


latimes--2020-10-08--Malibu woman charged with racial assault on Black security guard at WeHo supermarket

A Malibu woman is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon and civil rights violations after prosecutors say she hurled racial epithets and attacked a Black female security guard at a West Hollywood supermarket .
Kashmire Duran is accused of screaming racial slurs at security guard Natosha Lawson , biting her and striking her with a glass bottle in the Pavilions supermarket parking lot Monday .
Lawson had stepped in to break up an argument between Duran and her father when investigators say she attacked the guard .
Duran is identified as white in her booking record with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Lawson says she was bitten by the woman and left with bloodied fingers .
Customers who witnessed the scuffle prevented Duran and her father from leaving in their car until deputies could arrive .
In a video recorded by a bystander that includes repeated profanities and racial slurs , Duran is seen in the passenger seat of the car .
After yelling repeatedly from inside the vehicle at guards and customers who blocked their exit , Duran rolls down the window , tosses something and yells , “ Here ’ s some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black security guards , using the N-word .
Duran is charged with one felony count each of assault with a deadly weapon and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury , as well as one misdemeanor charge of violation of civil rights .
If convicted as charged , she could face up to six years in prison .
Lawson told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that during Monday ’ s attack , Duran tossed a glass bottle at her and then yelled , “ Get the — out of here , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the security guard asked Duran ’ s father to take his daughter home so she didn ’ t hit anyone , Lawson said the woman exited the car and asked whether she was threatening her , again directing a racial slur at the Black guard .
At that point , according to Lawson , the assault escalated .
Duran stuck a phone in the guard ’ s face and when Lawson tried to slap her hand away , a fight ensued .
“ Then she catches my finger in her mouth and proceeds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Lawson said .
The two were separated by people who saw the altercation in the parking lot who then later kept Duran and her father from leaving in their vehicle .
Carlos Sapene , who recorded some of the incident , told KTLA that he heard the verbal exchanges .
“ You could see the face of the security guard , that dehumanizing feeling , ” Sapene said .
“ She grabbed dog food and started throwing it at the security guard .
How do you as a human do that to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sapene , who also witnessed the aftermath , has created a GoFundMe account for Lawson .
“ There is no reason in this world to use that language to demean a fellow human being .
The color of our skin is just a feature , as is your height , hair color , etc .
It is nothing more than melanin , ” he posted online .
“ We need to stop the hate .
I have heard and seen these on the internet before , but to experience this in person is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ licensed security guard of four years , was treated at a hospital for her injuries .
“ I didn ’ t get up yesterday to be attacked by a crazy person , a crazy racist person at that , ” she said in the aftermath .
“ It really hurts me .
It really makes me angry .
I ’ m still trying to put it together .

A Malibu woman is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon and civil rights violations after prosecutors say she hurled racial epithets and attacked a Black female security guard at a West Hollywood supermarket.
Kashmire Duran is accused of screaming racial slurs at security guard Natosha Lawson, biting her and striking her with a glass bottle in the Pavilions supermarket parking lot Monday. Lawson had stepped in to break up an argument between Duran and her father when investigators say she attacked the guard. Duran is identified as white in her booking record with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Lawson says she was bitten by the woman and left with bloodied fingers.
Advertisement
Customers who witnessed the scuffle prevented Duran and her father from leaving in their car until deputies could arrive.
In a video recorded by a bystander that includes repeated profanities and racial slurs, Duran is seen in the passenger seat of the car. After yelling repeatedly from inside the vehicle at guards and customers who blocked their exit, Duran rolls down the window, tosses something and yells, “Here’s some dog food, —” at two Black security guards, using the N-word.
Duran is charged with one felony count each of assault with a deadly weapon and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, as well as one misdemeanor charge of violation of civil rights. If convicted as charged, she could face up to six years in prison.
Lawson told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that during Monday’s attack, Duran tossed a glass bottle at her and then yelled, “Get the — out of here,” adding a racial slur. When the security guard asked Duran’s father to take his daughter home so she didn’t hit anyone, Lawson said the woman exited the car and asked whether she was threatening her, again directing a racial slur at the Black guard.
At that point, according to Lawson, the assault escalated. Duran stuck a phone in the guard’s face and when Lawson tried to slap her hand away, a fight ensued.
“Then she catches my finger in her mouth and proceeds to chomp down on my finger,” Lawson said.
Advertisement
The two were separated by people who saw the altercation in the parking lot who then later kept Duran and her father from leaving in their vehicle.
Carlos Sapene, who recorded some of the incident, told KTLA that he heard the verbal exchanges.
“You could see the face of the security guard, that dehumanizing feeling,” Sapene said. “She grabbed dog food and started throwing it at the security guard. How do you as a human do that to another human being is beyond me.”
Sapene, who also witnessed the aftermath, has created a GoFundMe account for Lawson.
“There is no reason in this world to use that language to demean a fellow human being. The color of our skin is just a feature, as is your height, hair color, etc. It is nothing more than melanin,” he posted online. “We need to stop the hate. I have heard and seen these on the internet before, but to experience this in person is so much worse.”
Lawson, a licensed security guard of four years, was treated at a hospital for her injuries.
“I didn’t get up yesterday to be attacked by a crazy person, a crazy racist person at that,” she said in the aftermath. “It really hurts me. It really makes me angry. I’m still trying to put it together.