latimes--2020-06-08--Column One: How do you sign 'Black Lives Matter' in ASL? For black deaf Angelenos, it's complicated

The phrase begins with four fingers cut across the brow , followed by two thumbs drawn up like breath from navel to chest , ending with a fierce tug with two hands down from the chin into fists toward the heart .
This is how Harold Foxx and many other black deaf Angelenos sign “ Black Lives Matter , ” though it is by no means a universal translation .
As little as two years ago , it may have been signed quite differently .
Even now , many still end the phrase with the gesture for “ worthy ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like two “ OK ” signs held together at mid-chest and arched up and around to meet again at the top of an invisible ring .
But the death of George Floyd and the national uprising that has followed caused many black deaf Americans to once again reconsider the phrase .
As with everything in American Sign — a language that many hearing people have been exposed to regularly since the outbreak of the coronavirus — nuance shows up in translation .
“ It ’ s hard to describe in English ... but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” said Jonathan Webb , the president of the national Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf , who lives in Anaheim and grew up signing with the black deaf community in Ferguson , Mo .
“ To me , the sign ‘ important ’ is more a concept that resides in the head .
The sign that happens on the chin [ “ cherish ” ] , there ’ s an emotional context.
” Indeed , in the seven years since “ Black Lives Matter ” first entered the popular lexicon , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far more than three words could ever do in English .
For many , they reflect a painful reality : Though the coronavirus pandemic and police violence both impact black deaf Americans disproportionately , the interpreters they rely on for information about those twin crises are often not “ as clear and understandable ” to them as federal law has long promised .
“ It ’ s how they process and convey the message and how they translate — not just the wording but the meaning behind it , the tone , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a producer at the ad agency BBDO Los Angeles .
“ We need to see all the different levels of information , especially during this time.
” Actress Natasha Ofili was among scores of deaf students who massed in Hollywood three decades ago to celebrate the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act , groundbreaking civil rights legislation that guaranteed their right to equal access , including qualified interpreters like the ones who now populate news conferences from City Hall to the state Capitol .
But on a recent visit to her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found herself mesmerized anew by the sign language interpreter on TV .
Something about the way she signed just felt different .
“ I ’ m not sure her name — she ’ s a black woman with braids , ” Ofili said .
“ She seems to match whatever she ’ s interpreting .
And that ’ s the key .
The person who ’ s interpreting should be matching the speaker , their tone , their affect .
She ’ s just so enjoyable to watch.
” That interpreter ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sign language as a child , from friends — a far cry from the collegiate training programs where most ASL interpreters learn their trade , but a common career path for the tiny minority who are people of color , and the even smaller cohort who are black .
Since Burton began appearing at L.A. County news briefings in March , many hearing viewers have declared themselves “ obsessed ” with her distinctive style , while others have mocked it .
But to deaf locals , and particularly black deaf Angelenos like Ofili @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ongoing struggle for equity , representation and authenticity in ASL , a language deeply scarred by racism and exclusion .
“ The deaf community sees themselves as one world , one body , but there are so many subcultures and intersectionalities within that , ” Ofili said .
“ Black deaf people have rights to be successful and rights to education and rights to be themselves and express themselves authentically .
” But success , education and even expression must often be negotiated through white , hearing interpreters , who make up close @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Whenever Ofili goes out on an audition , visits the doctor or sits for an interview , it is nearly always a white woman who acts as her voice for the hearing world .
“ Sometimes white interpreters are not fully confident or comfortable or even trained enough on how to culturally mediate , ” wrote Rezenet Moges-Riedel , a lecturer in the ASL Linguistics and Deaf Cultures Program at Cal State Long Beach and a deaf scholar of sign language .
“ It can be frustrating.
” For hearing people , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be hard to grasp .
Many see ASL as mimed English , with a five-fingered lexicon and syntax .
( There is a distinct variety of ASL called Black American Sign Language , which is likewise mischaracterized as a gestured Black English . )
Any cultural dimension is often assumed to be superficial .
But the ADA recognizes American sign as a separate language , “ dissimilar from English ” in its structure and vocabulary .
It also nods to the state ’ s outsize role in teaching sign language to deaf children @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hearing parents and learn sign primarily in public school .
What it doesn ’ t do is ensure that all deaf children ’ s schools are good .
The deep racial inequalities that plague public education , and the communal ingenuity to adapt to them , shape many deaf Americans ’ natural language .
“ Most of the time , as black deaf people , we come from mainstream programs , ” rather than specialized programs for the deaf , said Foxx , a black deaf comedian who performs often with Deaf @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ASL is not as prevalent in our schools.
” Though the law requires all public schools to offer “ equitable access to communication , ” the nature and quality of that access can vary widely .
Publicly funded early interventions are not uniform , and the first kindergarten readiness standards in the country to promote ASL for deaf children were adopted just five years ago in California .
“ I ’ ve spoken to so many black deaf people who are like , ‘ I understand you , but I don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Burton said .
Interpreting for the county , “ my concern was with more marginalized deaf people , and by that I mean black and brown deaf people who have traditionally had less access to education.
” L.A. ’ s many deaf immigrants , whose sign languages are distinct , also struggle to comprehend classically trained interpreters ’ more erudite ASL .
When hearing children of deaf adults become sign language interpreters , they often do better than those who trained as adults , having grown up with the language .
But the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nic Zapko , who has risen to prominence in her work for Minnesota Gov .
Tim Walz , and Linda Bove , the beloved deaf actress best known for her 31-year run on “ Sesame Street.
” “ I ’ m thinking about kids who are 2 , 3 , 4 and even older than that who have parents who don ’ t sign , ” said the actress , who worked alongside a black deaf interpreter signing for the CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall on Racism on Saturday .
“ You have kids @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say , Mommy ?
’ And they have a parent who can ’ t sign to them to explain.
” To hearing officials responsible to federal accessibility law , such concerns were all but imperceptible .
Interpreters , too , had struggled to articulate them .
Then came the death of George Floyd .
“ It was amazing to actually see a black woman interpreter on screen during the memorial service — that was really very smart , ” said Smith , who recently made a video with Ofili about the unique fear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police .
“ To see that , that ’ s intense , it really is .
It hits the heart.
” In the space of a few hours between Sunday and Monday , Burton went from marching in the street to signing about Floyd ’ s death for L.A. County Health Commissioner Barbara Ferrer .
Webb got an email from Mayor Eric Garcetti ’ s communications office Tuesday seeking his service , as well as “ any guidance or recommendations ” he might have .
Meanwhile , a TikTok of an apparently white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minor outrage in deaf social media circles , where black deaf users blasted the translation of “ matter ” as wrong .
Yet the debate over what ’ s correct is still far from settled .
For some , like Dallas-based interpreter Deon Harrell , “ important ” is simply more accurate .
“ This sign can be readily interpreted into ‘ crucial , ’ ‘ signifiant , ’ or ‘ vital , ’ ” said Harrell , who is black .
“ I think we have to be clear in that lexical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ important ” / ” cherish ” have evolved from competing interpretations into complementary synonyms , used by many black signers to convey different shades of meaning .
Both Webb and Ofili use them this way — “ cherish ” with certain people and contexts , and “ important ” with others .
Webb said he often finds himself defaulting to “ important ” when interpreting white speakers , and “ cherish ” when signing for black ones .
When speaking for himself as a black man , he signs “ cherish ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaf activist in Compton , said “ cherish ” reflects a particular sense of vulnerability among black deaf people .
“ It translates better for deaf people , ” Agyin wrote .
“ We feel the same way a hearing black person feels , on top [ of ] being deaf too , which makes things two times as hard and two times scarier dealing with the police.
” Studies suggest that between one third and one half of the people killed by police in the U.S. every year are disabled .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nonwhite . )
Deaf people are at greater risk because they often can not understand spoken commands and need their hands and bodies to communicate .
“ I worked as security at a club , I was on a 15-minute break and I decided to go to my car to rest .
Suddenly somebody ’ s banging on my window — I look up , and it ’ s the police , ” Foxx recalled .
“ They grabbed me .
I tried to gesture , I tried to point to my ear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaf .
And I can vocalize a little bit , but in that moment you ’ re overwhelmed .
It could have been much worse.
” That ’ s why he and others say that while “ important ” is technically correct , “ cherish ” often feels more accurate .
“ In this # BLM context , we ’ re stating that our lives are so precious , valuable and irreplaceable , ” wrote Moges-Riedel , the professor .
But American sign contains another subtlety , one freighted with meaning but invisible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signs “ black , ” , she uses four fingers .
This acts as a kind of emphatic for a word that is more commonly signed with just one finger .
As in English , the one-finger sign for “ black ” can be either a color or an identity marker .
But the four finger sign is only ever used for the latter .
It means Black , and its usage is highly specific .
“ If I ‘ m signing for someone who is talking about the black community , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m going to use the ‘ B ’ hand shape for Black , ” Webb explained .
“ If the person who ’ s talking about the black community is white , I ’ m not going to use the ‘ B ’ hand shape , because that ’ s not a sign for white people .
That ’ s a sign that ’ s used for black folks.
” For Foxx , the B-shape is intrinsic to the meaning of the phrase .
“ That ’ s all Black people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Since she began working for the county in March , Burton has quietly signed Black — a word used almost exclusively by one of the most marginalized communities in America — thousands of times on TV .
“ That was a recent discussion Rorri and I had , ” interpreter Neil Cordova wrote in a message on Instagram .
“ During the COVID-19 press conferences , they give mortality rate by race and ethnicity .
The hearing person says African Americans .
When that is said , Rorri signs Black , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ level , that ’ s Burton ’ s ethos : African American is a complex sign that ’ s changed a lot over time ; black is one toddlers know .
At another , it ’ s a reflection of how the information she ’ s charged with conveying is also intensely personal .
“ At the press conference [ Monday ] there was quite a bit that was said regarding the Black Lives Matter protest and the murder of George Floyd , ” Burton said .
“ It ’ s hard to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so deeply.
” Yet that ’ s precisely what Smith and Foxx and Agyin and Ofili find so valuable about work like hers , and why they feel it ’ s so different to be watching black interpreters now .
For many deaf people — though far from all — a caption can convey information .
But a good sign language interpreter also conveys affect , including whether the speaker is sincere .
As with the B-sign Burton uses , the true meaning is often imperceptible to hearing people .
“ With what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really need to put an emphasis on Black people .
We ’ re talking about this collective of black deaf people — our lives are precious , ” Foxx , the comedian , said .
“ When we sign ‘ matter , ’ it ’ s holding on , ” both in the meaning and in the mechanics of the sign .
“ We ’ re not trying to lose our people .
We ’ re here to protect them.
” He signed it again : Four fingers saluting across the forehead for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a cry from the chest — life— ending with a grip of two fists at the base of his chin , as though clutching a jewel — cherish .

The phrase begins with four fingers cut across the brow, followed by two thumbs drawn up like breath from navel to chest, ending with a fierce tug with two hands down from the chin into fists toward the heart.
Black. Life. Cherish.
This is how Harold Foxx and many other black deaf Angelenos sign “Black Lives Matter,” though it is by no means a universal translation. As little as two years ago, it may have been signed quite differently. Even now, many still end the phrase with the gesture for “worthy” or “important,” which looks like two “OK” signs held together at mid-chest and arched up and around to meet again at the top of an invisible ring.
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But the death of George Floyd and the national uprising that has followed caused many black deaf Americans to once again reconsider the phrase. As with everything in American Sign — a language that many hearing people have been exposed to regularly since the outbreak of the coronavirus — nuance shows up in translation.
“It’s hard to describe in English ... but they most certainly have different meaning,” said Jonathan Webb, the president of the national Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, who lives in Anaheim and grew up signing with the black deaf community in Ferguson, Mo. “To me, the sign ‘important’ is more a concept that resides in the head. The sign that happens on the chin [“cherish”] , there’s an emotional context.”
Indeed, in the seven years since “Black Lives Matter” first entered the popular lexicon, the competing ASL translations have come to convey far more than three words could ever do in English. For many, they reflect a painful reality: Though the coronavirus pandemic and police violence both impact black deaf Americans disproportionately, the interpreters they rely on for information about those twin crises are often not “as clear and understandable” to them as federal law has long promised.
1 / 82 A protester dances on top of Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during a demonstration by members of Refuse Fascism who are calling an end to the Trump administration on June 20, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 82 Deborah Jay Winams cries after singing a song at a Black Lives Matter Los Angeles rally to call for justice in the fatal shooting of Kenneth Ross Jr. by Gardena police in 2018. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 3 / 82 People participate in the All Black Lives Matter march in West Hollywood on Sunday, June 14. Thousands of demonstrators marched for racial justice and LGBTQ rights. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 82 A protester waves a rainbow flag on Sunset Boulevard during the All Black Lives Matter march on Sunday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 82 Thousands hold up signs and march in the All Black Lives Matter solidarity protest on Hollywood Boulevard. The procession started at Hollywood and Highland and moved into West Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 82 Jason De Puy of West Hollywood wears a mask that reads “Black Trans Lives Matter” as people fill Hollywood Boulevard during a solidarity march called All Black Lives Matter on Sunday, June 14. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 82 Protesters hold up signs at the All Black Lives Matter march, which was organized by Black LGBTQ leaders and organizations in place of a previously planned event by the group behind LA Pride. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 82 Protesters march, raising fists and signs in the air, on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood on Sunday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 82 The Compton Cowboys ride horseback down South Tamarind Avenue, joining thousand of protesters Sunday during the Compton peace ride, which ended at City Hall. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 10 / 82 Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook speaks to the crowd of protesters and the Compton Cowboys at the end of a peace walk at Compton City Hall on Sunday. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 82 Elijah Estrada, 6, holds up his fist for 8:46, the length of time George Floyd was held down by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, at the conclusion of a peace ride and walk with the Compton Cowboys at Compton City Hall on Sunday. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 12 / 82 A family member of Breonna Taylor, right, is hugged by another woman after speaking to protesters in Beverly Hills Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 13 / 82 A woman tries to get between Black Lives Matter protesters and pro-Trump counter protesters during a demonstration at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 14 / 82 Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Regina Scott takes knee next to Johnathan Jasper, brother of slain teen Anthony Weber, during a rally in front of LA City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s office Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 15 / 82 A protester yells in front of a Black Lives Matter mural with the names of victims on Fairfax Ave. during a march Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 16 / 82 David Blackgold hugs Huntington Beach police officer K. Wood during a Black Lives Matter protest in Huntington Beach Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 17 / 82 A National Guardsman holds a rose given to him by a protester along Fairfax Ave. during a march Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 18 / 82 A Black Lives Matter protester blows bubbles by a police line in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 19 / 82 A protester lies on the ground under his horse with his hands behind his back as demonstrators including some on horseback rally in front of LA City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s office in Los Angeles Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 20 / 82 Tempers flare between Black Lives Matter demonstratiors and pro-Trump counterprotesters in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 21 / 82 Black Lives Matter demonstrators raise clenched fist in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 22 / 82 Mek Bitul held up a sign with the words, “This Is The Tipping Point!!!” in front of City Hall, joining nearly 1,000 people gathered to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 23 / 82 Katyana DeCampos, a citizen of France visiting California, marched with a sign with the words “Anti Racism,” joining nearly 1,000 people gathered to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 24 / 82 Zoe Perkins, 4, of Glendale and her mother brought flowers to the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles to protest the death of George Floyd. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 82 LAPD Chief Michel Moore, left, talks with community leaders outside police headquarters after a candlelight vigil for George Floyd on Friday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 82 A man lays a rose at the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 82 Braydon Deauce White, 4, fist-bumps a National Guardsman at LAPD headquarters Thursday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 82 Allison Bracy of Fontana hugs daughter Brielle Bracy, 10, while attending a rally in Riverside on Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 82 A protester drapes himself with a flag during a demonstration in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 82 Gustavo R. Ramirez of Pomona kneels in front of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 82 Protesters at Moonlight State Beach in Encinitas. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 82 Crowds gather in downtown L.A. to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. At 9 p.m., for exactly 8 minutes and 46 seconds, protesters shone lights into the sky. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 82 Protesters dance on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles as a march attracted thousands of people. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 82 Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 82 Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 82 Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 37 / 82 Stephen Chang, 32, left, of Silver Lake, with an American flag draped over his head, joins other demonstrators at the intersection of Spring and Temple streets in downtown Los Angeles, as they protest against L.A. Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and also demand justice in the death of George Floyd. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times) 38 / 82 Miles Miles, 8, left, and Memphis Miley, 6, center, of Newport Beach, join protest against racism in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 39 / 82 Protester Vailing high-fives National Guardsmen as they march through Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 40 / 82 Protesters march through a residential neighborhood in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 41 / 82 Protesters walk through a residential neighborhood in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 42 / 82 A L.A. Sheriff’s deputy watches as protester Annik Chung holds a sign while cheering on marchers along La Brea Ave. in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 43 / 82 Mustafa-Ali, 27, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, joins other demonstrators as they protest on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times) 44 / 82 Paul Villalobos, 28, from Oakland, joins other demonstrators as they protest on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times) 45 / 82 A huge crowd gathers in downtown Los Angeles to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) 46 / 82 Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) 47 / 82 Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) 48 / 82 Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) 49 / 82 Riverside County Sheriff Lt Chris Durham tries to calm nerves after hundreds of demonstrators that marched to the police station protest the death of George Floyd in Moreno Valley. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 50 / 82 In a sign of peace, protesters reach out to Riverside County Sheriff deputies, who were there to enforce an 8pm curfew during a demonstration to protest the death of George Floyd’s in Moreno Valley. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 51 / 82 Hundreds of demonstrators block traffic as they march down both sides of Balboa Blvd. to protest against racism in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 52 / 82 Protesters march through West Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd during march on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 53 / 82 Protesters march through West Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd during march on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 54 / 82 Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 55 / 82 Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 56 / 82 Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 57 / 82 Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 58 / 82 Bando Kev prays along Hollywood Blvd. in front of the National Guard and near TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 59 / 82 A couple promote peace on Highland Ave. in Hollywood as protesters continue to demonstrate. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 60 / 82 Makenzie Anderson, 2, rides on her father, Shawn’s shoulders as they join hundreds of protesters marching throughout downtown. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 61 / 82 Marcus Owen, yells out chants for George Floyd as hundreds of protesters gather outside City Hall in a daylong protest. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 62 / 82 Hussain Sharif, left, Mari Drake, and Thomas Rosado chant as they ride along with hundreds of protesters at a downtown demonstration. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 63 / 82 Hundreds of protesters march throughout downtown ending with many arrested for curfew violations. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 64 / 82 “Hands up. Don’t shoot,” say hundreds participating in a march against the of George Floyd on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice onTuesday. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 65 / 82 Members of the California National Guard flash peace signs after protesters had marched by in support of Black Lives Matter in Venice. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 66 / 82 Protesters shoot hoops while taking a break from marching against the death of George Floyd by police on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice on Tuesday. The basketball hoop was attached to the front of a bus that followed the protest for a while. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 67 / 82 Several hundred protesters take a knee and hold their fists in the air during a moment of silence to honor George Floyd during a peaceful protest march from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 68 / 82 A woman stands next to an image of George Floyd as hundreds participate in a march against the in-custody death of Floyd in Venice. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 69 / 82 Terrence Burney, 36, left, and Commander of the LAPD Operation West Bureau Cory Palka, right, talk together peacefully in front of Getty House in Hancock Park. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) 70 / 82 Protestors gather outside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Hancock Park house as they continue to demonstrate against police brutality. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) 71 / 82 Jessica Jordan takes a knee as she joins other protesters at Sunset & Vine in Hollywood on Tuesday. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 72 / 82 A young woman reacts to a group chant, while gathered with a couple hundred people to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, near the Manhattan Beach Pier. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 73 / 82 Jayse Garcia, 27, of Los Angeles takes part in a demonstration in Hollywood. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) 74 / 82 Protesters sit in front of National Guardsmen closing Sunset Blvd at Vine Street in Hollywood. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 75 / 82 Mira Ercingoz,16, from Palos Verdes, center in red hat, holds a poster with an image of George Floyd alongside protesters in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 76 / 82 Demonstrators take a knee during protests in Hollywood on Tuesday.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) 77 / 82 A mother and daughter pass protestors in Hollywood. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 78 / 82 Several hundred protesters gather to demand justice for George Floyd at the Manhattan Beach Pier Plaza Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 79 / 82 Janie Hill,15, from Lawndale, receives a hug from a friend, following an emotional discussion with a Manhattan Beach Police officer, at the conclusion of a protest in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 80 / 82 LAPD Cmdr. Gerald Woodyard takes a knee with clergy members from the Los Angeles area as they participate in a march and demonstration outside LAPD headquarters in Los Angeles. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 81 / 82 L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti walks out to address protesters and clergy members outside LAPD headquarters on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 82 / 82 Several hundred protesters take a knee and hold their fists in the air during a moment of silence to honor George Floyd during a peaceful protest march from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
“It’s how they process and convey the message and how they translate — not just the wording but the meaning behind it, the tone,” said Storm Smith, a native Angeleno and a producer at the ad agency BBDO Los Angeles. “We need to see all the different levels of information, especially during this time.”
Actress Natasha Ofili was among scores of deaf students who massed in Hollywood three decades ago to celebrate the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, groundbreaking civil rights legislation that guaranteed their right to equal access, including qualified interpreters like the ones who now populate news conferences from City Hall to the state Capitol.
But on a recent visit to her mother in Sun Valley, she suddenly found herself mesmerized anew by the sign language interpreter on TV. Something about the way she signed just felt different.
“I’m not sure her name — she’s a black woman with braids,” Ofili said. “She seems to match whatever she’s interpreting. And that’s the key. The person who’s interpreting should be matching the speaker, their tone, their affect. She’s just so enjoyable to watch.”
That interpreter’s name is Rorri Burton. She learned sign language as a child, from friends — a far cry from the collegiate training programs where most ASL interpreters learn their trade, but a common career path for the tiny minority who are people of color, and the even smaller cohort who are black.
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Since Burton began appearing at L.A. County news briefings in March, many hearing viewers have declared themselves “obsessed” with her distinctive style, while others have mocked it. But to deaf locals, and particularly black deaf Angelenos like Ofili, it is a reminder of an ongoing struggle for equity, representation and authenticity in ASL, a language deeply scarred by racism and exclusion.
“The deaf community sees themselves as one world, one body, but there are so many subcultures and intersectionalities within that,” Ofili said. “Black deaf people have rights to be successful and rights to education and rights to be themselves and express themselves authentically. ”
But success, education and even expression must often be negotiated through white, hearing interpreters, who make up close to 90% of the workforce, reports show. Whenever Ofili goes out on an audition, visits the doctor or sits for an interview, it is nearly always a white woman who acts as her voice for the hearing world.
Rorri Burton, who learned sign language as a child, has been a regular presence at L.A. County news briefings. “She’s just so enjoyable to watch,” an actress says of Burton. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
“Sometimes white interpreters are not fully confident or comfortable or even trained enough on how to culturally mediate,” wrote Rezenet Moges-Riedel, a lecturer in the ASL Linguistics and Deaf Cultures Program at Cal State Long Beach and a deaf scholar of sign language. “It can be frustrating.”
For hearing people, the degree to which race inflects sign can be hard to grasp. Many see ASL as mimed English, with a five-fingered lexicon and syntax. (There is a distinct variety of ASL called Black American Sign Language, which is likewise mischaracterized as a gestured Black English.) Any cultural dimension is often assumed to be superficial.
But the ADA recognizes American sign as a separate language, “dissimilar from English” in its structure and vocabulary. It also nods to the state’s outsize role in teaching sign language to deaf children, 90% of whom are born to hearing parents and learn sign primarily in public school.
What it doesn’t do is ensure that all deaf children’s schools are good. The deep racial inequalities that plague public education, and the communal ingenuity to adapt to them, shape many deaf Americans’ natural language.
“Most of the time, as black deaf people, we come from mainstream programs,” rather than specialized programs for the deaf, said Foxx, a black deaf comedian who performs often with Deaf West Theatre and the Groundlings. “ASL is not as prevalent in our schools.”
Though the law requires all public schools to offer “equitable access to communication,” the nature and quality of that access can vary widely. Publicly funded early interventions are not uniform, and the first kindergarten readiness standards in the country to promote ASL for deaf children were adopted just five years ago in California.
“I’ve spoken to so many black deaf people who are like, ‘I understand you, but I don’t understand that other interpreter,’” Burton said. Interpreting for the county, “my concern was with more marginalized deaf people, and by that I mean black and brown deaf people who have traditionally had less access to education.”
L.A.’s many deaf immigrants, whose sign languages are distinct, also struggle to comprehend classically trained interpreters’ more erudite ASL.
Column One A showcase for compelling storytelling from the Los Angeles Times. More Stories
When hearing children of deaf adults become sign language interpreters, they often do better than those who trained as adults, having grown up with the language. But the gold standard is certified deaf interpreters like Nic Zapko, who has risen to prominence in her work for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Linda Bove, the beloved deaf actress best known for her 31-year run on “Sesame Street.”
“I’m thinking about kids who are 2, 3, 4 and even older than that who have parents who don’t sign,” said the actress, who worked alongside a black deaf interpreter signing for the CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall on Racism on Saturday. “You have kids going, ‘What’d they say, Mommy?’ And they have a parent who can’t sign to them to explain.”
To hearing officials responsible to federal accessibility law, such concerns were all but imperceptible. Interpreters, too, had struggled to articulate them.
Then came the death of George Floyd.
“It was amazing to actually see a black woman interpreter on screen during the memorial service — that was really very smart,” said Smith, who recently made a video with Ofili about the unique fear black deaf people feel in interactions with police. “To see that, that’s intense, it really is. It hits the heart.”
In the space of a few hours between Sunday and Monday, Burton went from marching in the street to signing about Floyd’s death for L.A. County Health Commissioner Barbara Ferrer. Webb got an email from Mayor Eric Garcetti’s communications office Tuesday seeking his service, as well as “any guidance or recommendations” he might have.
Meanwhile, a TikTok of an apparently white hearing teen signing Black Lives Matter sparked minor outrage in deaf social media circles, where black deaf users blasted the translation of “matter” as wrong.
Yet the debate over what’s correct is still far from settled.
For some, like Dallas-based interpreter Deon Harrell, “important” is simply more accurate.
“This sign can be readily interpreted into ‘crucial,’ ‘signifiant,’ or ‘vital,’” said Harrell, who is black. “I think we have to be clear in that lexical equivalence.”
But for many others, “important”/”cherish” have evolved from competing interpretations into complementary synonyms, used by many black signers to convey different shades of meaning. Both Webb and Ofili use them this way — “cherish” with certain people and contexts, and “important” with others.
Webb said he often finds himself defaulting to “important” when interpreting white speakers, and “cherish” when signing for black ones. When speaking for himself as a black man, he signs “cherish” exclusively.
Michael Agyin, a black deaf activist in Compton, said “cherish” reflects a particular sense of vulnerability among black deaf people.
“It translates better for deaf people,” Agyin wrote. “We feel the same way a hearing black person feels, on top [of] being deaf too, which makes things two times as hard and two times scarier dealing with the police.”
Studies suggest that between one third and one half of the people killed by police in the U.S. every year are disabled. (The majority of those people are also nonwhite.) Deaf people are at greater risk because they often cannot understand spoken commands and need their hands and bodies to communicate.
Rorri Burton, an American Sign Language interpreter who has been working for Los Angeles County, breaks down how to sign “Black Lives Matter” in ASL and explains why not everyone signs it the same way. (Claire Hannah Collins / Los Angeles Times)
“I worked as security at a club, I was on a 15-minute break and I decided to go to my car to rest. Suddenly somebody’s banging on my window — I look up, and it’s the police,” Foxx recalled. “They grabbed me. I tried to gesture, I tried to point to my ear, you know, I’m deaf. And I can vocalize a little bit, but in that moment you’re overwhelmed. It could have been much worse.”
That’s why he and others say that while “important” is technically correct, “cherish” often feels more accurate.
“In this #BLM context, we’re stating that our lives are so precious, valuable and irreplaceable,” wrote Moges-Riedel, the professor.
But American sign contains another subtlety, one freighted with meaning but invisible to most hearing viewers. When Butler signs “black,”, she uses four fingers. This acts as a kind of emphatic for a word that is more commonly signed with just one finger.
As in English, the one-finger sign for “black” can be either a color or an identity marker. But the four finger sign is only ever used for the latter. It means Black, and its usage is highly specific.
“If I‘m signing for someone who is talking about the black community, the richness of the black community, then I’m going to use the ‘B’ hand shape for Black,” Webb explained. “If the person who’s talking about the black community is white, I’m not going to use the ‘B’ hand shape, because that’s not a sign for white people. That’s a sign that’s used for black folks.”
For Foxx, the B-shape is intrinsic to the meaning of the phrase.
“That’s all Black people, the entire race,” he said.
Since she began working for the county in March, Burton has quietly signed Black — a word used almost exclusively by one of the most marginalized communities in America — thousands of times on TV.
“That was a recent discussion Rorri and I had,” interpreter Neil Cordova wrote in a message on Instagram. “During the COVID-19 press conferences, they give mortality rate by race and ethnicity. The hearing person says African Americans. When that is said, Rorri signs Black,” with four fingers.
At one level, that’s Burton’s ethos: African American is a complex sign that’s changed a lot over time; black is one toddlers know.
At another, it’s a reflection of how the information she’s charged with conveying is also intensely personal.
“At the press conference [Monday] there was quite a bit that was said regarding the Black Lives Matter protest and the murder of George Floyd,” Burton said. “It’s hard to maintain your professionalism when something affects you so deeply.”
Yet that’s precisely what Smith and Foxx and Agyin and Ofili find so valuable about work like hers, and why they feel it’s so different to be watching black interpreters now. For many deaf people — though far from all — a caption can convey information. But a good sign language interpreter also conveys affect, including whether the speaker is sincere. As with the B-sign Burton uses, the true meaning is often imperceptible to hearing people.
“With what’s happening right now, we really need to put an emphasis on Black people. We’re talking about this collective of black deaf people — our lives are precious,” Foxx, the comedian, said. “When we sign ‘matter,’ it’s holding on,” both in the meaning and in the mechanics of the sign. “We’re not trying to lose our people. We’re here to protect them.”
He signed it again: Four fingers saluting across the forehead for — Black — thumbs dragged up like a cry from the chest — life— ending with a grip of two fists at the base of his chin, as though clutching a jewel — cherish.
“Black lives matter.”


latimes--2020-06-08--Compton Cowboys join spirited caravan through city to protest police brutality

On horseback , the beloved Compton Cowboys joined a spirited caravan of motorcycles and hundreds of sign-waving demonstrators Sunday as part of a growing national movement to end police brutality and systemic racism in the United States .
The mood of the march through Compton was upbeat , an amalgamation of community pride and anger at the death of George Floyd in police custody and the men and women who came before him .
“ My Color Is Not A Crime , ” one sign read .
“ A Riot Is the Language of the Unheard , ” declared another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down Tamarind Avenue , residents emerged from their homes to film the march and hold up their fists in solidarity .
Malik Hicklin , a 16-year-old high school junior from Compton , was at the march with his parents , his aunt and niece .
He said the video of Floyd ’ s death was “ heartbreaking.
” Just three days ago , Hicklin said , the police followed him home while riding his bike around the city .
“ It really made me aware that I ’ m a black person and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my surroundings , ” he said .
“ I just hope this gives us all a voice.
” The Compton Cowboys , a group of close-knit friends that formed a horseback riding club in 2017 aimed at dispelling stereotypes against African Americans , brought particular joy to the demonstration .
The crowd also heard speeches from Mayor Aja Brown and NBA star Russell Westbrook , who plays for the Houston Rockets but was born in Long Beach and grew up in Hawthorne .
Shahara Warren , 44 , attended the march with her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Compton Girl Scouts .
Warren said she was worried about bringing her daughter to a protest , but her daughter insisted .
Warren said she had been raised to be proud of who she was , and it was exciting to see her daughter ’ s willingness to participate .
“ It means a lot to me to know that she ’ s going to be going forward with the same idea of peace and helping our community , ” she said .
The Compton march came one day after thousands of protesters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across Southern California .
There were no apparent reports of vandalism or burglary on Saturday in Los Angeles County .
Several other protests and vigils were also held Sunday afternoon and evening in East Los Angeles , Glendale , Beverly Hills other communities across Southern California .
As many as 20,000 people showed up for a demonstration in Hollywood organized by Black Lives Matter and the rapper YG .
Amid the many demonstrations , the National Guard pulled out of the Los Angeles area a week after being deployed there .
The National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presence in the region , guarding landmark buildings such as City Hall and assisting with crowd control .
A small number of units will be stationed nearby until Wednesday “ to provide emergency support if needed , ” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement .
“ I ’ m proud that our city has been peaceful this week — and that our residents are leading a powerful movement to make Los Angeles more just , equitable , and fair for Black Angelenos , communities of color , and all of our workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Garcetti said .
The march in Compton stopped at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monument outside the civic center , where speakers played “ Alright ” by the Compton-born rapper Kendrick Lamar .
The crowd held a moment of silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds , the length of time that prosecutors say Floyd was pinned to the ground , with his neck under the knee of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin .
As the march passed a sheriff ’ s station , Gary Mumford , 54 , of Compton , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ 8min 46secs Pure Evil.
” “ I ’ m not so naive as to think that every single police officer is evil , but I do know that when you start covering up and not speaking and being silent , then you ’ re part of the problem , ” he said .
Mumford described an interaction with police in Lakewood during which he was handcuffed , put facedown on the ground and kicked by officers .
He could have “ died that day , ” he said .
He ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who killed Floyd were upgraded ; but “ until we get a conviction , none of this matters , ” he added .
“ We ’ ve got to continue to protest , continue to talk about what matters , ” Mumford said .
Andre Spicer , a council liaison for Compton ’ s District 1 , said he and others organized the march because police brutality , and a lack of accountability for those actions , is also an issue in Compton .
“ We don ’ t get justice here , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ march was a chance for the city to have its voice heard and to push for justice on behalf of Floyd and Breonna Taylor , a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who was by a police officer in March .
“ We ’ re exhausted from not being properly represented in the judicial system , ” Spicer said .
“ We ’ re anxious for answers , we ’ re anxious for resolution .
We ’ re not looking to just act out and be mad , but we ’ re looking for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voice in the most positive way.
” Paul Cannon , 48 , of La Puente , was visiting a friend as the procession in Compton marched past .
It was beautiful to see , he said .
“ We go to work and pay bills just like everybody else and all we want to do is make it , ” he said .
“ We want the white picket fence .
You laid the dream out .
We didn ’ t ask to come here , but you brought us here.
” Latajaenia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the march with her 4-year-old son , Deshaun Woods and her friend , LaDana Reed .
“ He ’ s cute and little now , but he ’ s also still African American , ” Pillors said of Deshaun .
“ So at some point , just like any other gentleman that ’ s been hurt out there , by police brutality or anything , my son could be a victim of that .
And that ’ s what I ’ m scared of.
” Pillors said this was her first protest ever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to her hometown to participate .
As an undergraduate at Howard University , Reed marched after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by a neighborhood-watch volunteer in 2012 .
“ Four hundred plus years we ’ ve been fighting this same battle , ” said Reed , a 24-year-old Compton resident .
“ But what I ’ ll say today is I love the energy .
I love that we have so many people from different backgrounds here today to support the same thing .
”

On horseback, the beloved Compton Cowboys joined a spirited caravan of motorcycles and hundreds of sign-waving demonstrators Sunday as part of a growing national movement to end police brutality and systemic racism in the United States.
The mood of the march through Compton was upbeat, an amalgamation of community pride and anger at the death of George Floyd in police custody and the men and women who came before him.
“My Color Is Not A Crime,” one sign read. “A Riot Is the Language of the Unheard,” declared another.
As the protesters made their way down Tamarind Avenue, residents emerged from their homes to film the march and hold up their fists in solidarity.
Malik Hicklin, a 16-year-old high school junior from Compton, was at the march with his parents, his aunt and niece. He said the video of Floyd’s death was “heartbreaking.”
Just three days ago, Hicklin said, the police followed him home while riding his bike around the city.
“It really made me aware that I’m a black person and I need to be more aware of my surroundings,” he said. “I just hope this gives us all a voice.”
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The Compton Cowboys, a group of close-knit friends that formed a horseback riding club in 2017 aimed at dispelling stereotypes against African Americans, brought particular joy to the demonstration. The crowd also heard speeches from Mayor Aja Brown and NBA star Russell Westbrook, who plays for the Houston Rockets but was born in Long Beach and grew up in Hawthorne.
Shahara Warren, 44, attended the march with her 8-year-old daughter and her troop, the Compton Girl Scouts. Warren said she was worried about bringing her daughter to a protest, but her daughter insisted.
Warren said she had been raised to be proud of who she was, and it was exciting to see her daughter’s willingness to participate. “It means a lot to me to know that she’s going to be going forward with the same idea of peace and helping our community,” she said.
The Compton march came one day after thousands of protesters participated in more than two dozen demonstrations across Southern California. There were no apparent reports of vandalism or burglary on Saturday in Los Angeles County.
1 / 82 A protester dances on top of Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during a demonstration by members of Refuse Fascism who are calling an end to the Trump administration on June 20, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 82 Deborah Jay Winams cries after singing a song at a Black Lives Matter Los Angeles rally to call for justice in the fatal shooting of Kenneth Ross Jr. by Gardena police in 2018. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 3 / 82 People participate in the All Black Lives Matter march in West Hollywood on Sunday, June 14. Thousands of demonstrators marched for racial justice and LGBTQ rights. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 82 A protester waves a rainbow flag on Sunset Boulevard during the All Black Lives Matter march on Sunday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 82 Thousands hold up signs and march in the All Black Lives Matter solidarity protest on Hollywood Boulevard. The procession started at Hollywood and Highland and moved into West Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 82 Jason De Puy of West Hollywood wears a mask that reads “Black Trans Lives Matter” as people fill Hollywood Boulevard during a solidarity march called All Black Lives Matter on Sunday, June 14. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 82 Protesters hold up signs at the All Black Lives Matter march, which was organized by Black LGBTQ leaders and organizations in place of a previously planned event by the group behind LA Pride. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 82 Protesters march, raising fists and signs in the air, on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood on Sunday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 82 The Compton Cowboys ride horseback down South Tamarind Avenue, joining thousand of protesters Sunday during the Compton peace ride, which ended at City Hall. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 10 / 82 Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook speaks to the crowd of protesters and the Compton Cowboys at the end of a peace walk at Compton City Hall on Sunday. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 82 Elijah Estrada, 6, holds up his fist for 8:46, the length of time George Floyd was held down by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, at the conclusion of a peace ride and walk with the Compton Cowboys at Compton City Hall on Sunday. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 12 / 82 A family member of Breonna Taylor, right, is hugged by another woman after speaking to protesters in Beverly Hills Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 13 / 82 A woman tries to get between Black Lives Matter protesters and pro-Trump counter protesters during a demonstration at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 14 / 82 Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Regina Scott takes knee next to Johnathan Jasper, brother of slain teen Anthony Weber, during a rally in front of LA City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s office Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 15 / 82 A protester yells in front of a Black Lives Matter mural with the names of victims on Fairfax Ave. during a march Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 16 / 82 David Blackgold hugs Huntington Beach police officer K. Wood during a Black Lives Matter protest in Huntington Beach Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 17 / 82 A National Guardsman holds a rose given to him by a protester along Fairfax Ave. during a march Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 18 / 82 A Black Lives Matter protester blows bubbles by a police line in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 19 / 82 A protester lies on the ground under his horse with his hands behind his back as demonstrators including some on horseback rally in front of LA City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s office in Los Angeles Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 20 / 82 Tempers flare between Black Lives Matter demonstratiors and pro-Trump counterprotesters in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 21 / 82 Black Lives Matter demonstrators raise clenched fist in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 22 / 82 Mek Bitul held up a sign with the words, “This Is The Tipping Point!!!” in front of City Hall, joining nearly 1,000 people gathered to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 23 / 82 Katyana DeCampos, a citizen of France visiting California, marched with a sign with the words “Anti Racism,” joining nearly 1,000 people gathered to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 24 / 82 Zoe Perkins, 4, of Glendale and her mother brought flowers to the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles to protest the death of George Floyd. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 82 LAPD Chief Michel Moore, left, talks with community leaders outside police headquarters after a candlelight vigil for George Floyd on Friday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 82 A man lays a rose at the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 82 Braydon Deauce White, 4, fist-bumps a National Guardsman at LAPD headquarters Thursday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 82 Allison Bracy of Fontana hugs daughter Brielle Bracy, 10, while attending a rally in Riverside on Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 82 A protester drapes himself with a flag during a demonstration in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 82 Gustavo R. Ramirez of Pomona kneels in front of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 82 Protesters at Moonlight State Beach in Encinitas. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 82 Crowds gather in downtown L.A. to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. At 9 p.m., for exactly 8 minutes and 46 seconds, protesters shone lights into the sky. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 82 Protesters dance on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles as a march attracted thousands of people. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 82 Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 82 Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 82 Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 37 / 82 Stephen Chang, 32, left, of Silver Lake, with an American flag draped over his head, joins other demonstrators at the intersection of Spring and Temple streets in downtown Los Angeles, as they protest against L.A. Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and also demand justice in the death of George Floyd. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times) 38 / 82 Miles Miles, 8, left, and Memphis Miley, 6, center, of Newport Beach, join protest against racism in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 39 / 82 Protester Vailing high-fives National Guardsmen as they march through Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 40 / 82 Protesters march through a residential neighborhood in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 41 / 82 Protesters walk through a residential neighborhood in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 42 / 82 A L.A. Sheriff’s deputy watches as protester Annik Chung holds a sign while cheering on marchers along La Brea Ave. in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 43 / 82 Mustafa-Ali, 27, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, joins other demonstrators as they protest on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times) 44 / 82 Paul Villalobos, 28, from Oakland, joins other demonstrators as they protest on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times) 45 / 82 A huge crowd gathers in downtown Los Angeles to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) 46 / 82 Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) 47 / 82 Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) 48 / 82 Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) 49 / 82 Riverside County Sheriff Lt Chris Durham tries to calm nerves after hundreds of demonstrators that marched to the police station protest the death of George Floyd in Moreno Valley. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 50 / 82 In a sign of peace, protesters reach out to Riverside County Sheriff deputies, who were there to enforce an 8pm curfew during a demonstration to protest the death of George Floyd’s in Moreno Valley. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) 51 / 82 Hundreds of demonstrators block traffic as they march down both sides of Balboa Blvd. to protest against racism in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 52 / 82 Protesters march through West Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd during march on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 53 / 82 Protesters march through West Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd during march on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) 54 / 82 Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 55 / 82 Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 56 / 82 Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 57 / 82 Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) 58 / 82 Bando Kev prays along Hollywood Blvd. in front of the National Guard and near TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 59 / 82 A couple promote peace on Highland Ave. in Hollywood as protesters continue to demonstrate. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 60 / 82 Makenzie Anderson, 2, rides on her father, Shawn’s shoulders as they join hundreds of protesters marching throughout downtown. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 61 / 82 Marcus Owen, yells out chants for George Floyd as hundreds of protesters gather outside City Hall in a daylong protest. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 62 / 82 Hussain Sharif, left, Mari Drake, and Thomas Rosado chant as they ride along with hundreds of protesters at a downtown demonstration. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 63 / 82 Hundreds of protesters march throughout downtown ending with many arrested for curfew violations. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 64 / 82 “Hands up. Don’t shoot,” say hundreds participating in a march against the of George Floyd on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice onTuesday. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 65 / 82 Members of the California National Guard flash peace signs after protesters had marched by in support of Black Lives Matter in Venice. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 66 / 82 Protesters shoot hoops while taking a break from marching against the death of George Floyd by police on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice on Tuesday. The basketball hoop was attached to the front of a bus that followed the protest for a while. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 67 / 82 Several hundred protesters take a knee and hold their fists in the air during a moment of silence to honor George Floyd during a peaceful protest march from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 68 / 82 A woman stands next to an image of George Floyd as hundreds participate in a march against the in-custody death of Floyd in Venice. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 69 / 82 Terrence Burney, 36, left, and Commander of the LAPD Operation West Bureau Cory Palka, right, talk together peacefully in front of Getty House in Hancock Park. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) 70 / 82 Protestors gather outside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Hancock Park house as they continue to demonstrate against police brutality. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) 71 / 82 Jessica Jordan takes a knee as she joins other protesters at Sunset & Vine in Hollywood on Tuesday. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 72 / 82 A young woman reacts to a group chant, while gathered with a couple hundred people to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, near the Manhattan Beach Pier. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 73 / 82 Jayse Garcia, 27, of Los Angeles takes part in a demonstration in Hollywood. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) 74 / 82 Protesters sit in front of National Guardsmen closing Sunset Blvd at Vine Street in Hollywood. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 75 / 82 Mira Ercingoz,16, from Palos Verdes, center in red hat, holds a poster with an image of George Floyd alongside protesters in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 76 / 82 Demonstrators take a knee during protests in Hollywood on Tuesday.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) 77 / 82 A mother and daughter pass protestors in Hollywood. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) 78 / 82 Several hundred protesters gather to demand justice for George Floyd at the Manhattan Beach Pier Plaza Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 79 / 82 Janie Hill,15, from Lawndale, receives a hug from a friend, following an emotional discussion with a Manhattan Beach Police officer, at the conclusion of a protest in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 80 / 82 LAPD Cmdr. Gerald Woodyard takes a knee with clergy members from the Los Angeles area as they participate in a march and demonstration outside LAPD headquarters in Los Angeles. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 81 / 82 L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti walks out to address protesters and clergy members outside LAPD headquarters on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 82 / 82 Several hundred protesters take a knee and hold their fists in the air during a moment of silence to honor George Floyd during a peaceful protest march from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Several other protests and vigils were also held Sunday afternoon and evening in East Los Angeles, Glendale, Beverly Hills other communities across Southern California. As many as 20,000 people showed up for a demonstration in Hollywood organized by Black Lives Matter and the rapper YG.
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Amid the many demonstrations, the National Guard pulled out of the Los Angeles area a week after being deployed there.
The National Guard has been a visible and controversial presence in the region, guarding landmark buildings such as City Hall and assisting with crowd control. A small number of units will be stationed nearby until Wednesday “to provide emergency support if needed,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement.
“I’m proud that our city has been peaceful this week — and that our residents are leading a powerful movement to make Los Angeles more just, equitable, and fair for Black Angelenos, communities of color, and all of our workers, youth, and families,” Garcetti said.
The march in Compton stopped at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monument outside the civic center, where speakers played “Alright” by the Compton-born rapper Kendrick Lamar. The crowd held a moment of silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time that prosecutors say Floyd was pinned to the ground, with his neck under the knee of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin.
As the march passed a sheriff’s station, Gary Mumford, 54, of Compton, held up his sign to show them: “8min 46secs Pure Evil.”
“I’m not so naive as to think that every single police officer is evil, but I do know that when you start covering up and not speaking and being silent, then you’re part of the problem,” he said.
Mumford described an interaction with police in Lakewood during which he was handcuffed, put facedown on the ground and kicked by officers. He could have “died that day,” he said. He’s glad the charges against the officer who killed Floyd were upgraded; but “until we get a conviction, none of this matters,” he added.
“We’ve got to continue to protest, continue to talk about what matters,” Mumford said.
Andre Spicer, a council liaison for Compton’s District 1, said he and others organized the march because police brutality, and a lack of accountability for those actions, is also an issue in Compton.
“We don’t get justice here,” he said.
Russell Westbrook, with the NBA’s Houston Rockets, speaks to the crowd of a couple thousand protesters, at the conclusion of a Compton, CA, Peace Ride and walk with the Compton Cowboys, at Compton City Hall, on Sunday, June 7, 2020. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
He said the march was a chance for the city to have its voice heard and to push for justice on behalf of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who was shot in her Louisville, Ky., apartment by a police officer in March.
“We’re exhausted from not being properly represented in the judicial system,” Spicer said. “We’re anxious for answers, we’re anxious for resolution. We’re not looking to just act out and be mad, but we’re looking for a way that we can just utilize our voice in the most positive way.”
Paul Cannon, 48, of La Puente, was visiting a friend as the procession in Compton marched past. It was beautiful to see, he said.
“We go to work and pay bills just like everybody else and all we want to do is make it,” he said. “We want the white picket fence. You laid the dream out. We didn’t ask to come here, but you brought us here.”
Latajaenia Pillors, 25, came out to the march with her 4-year-old son, Deshaun Woods and her friend, LaDana Reed.
“He’s cute and little now, but he’s also still African American,” Pillors said of Deshaun. “So at some point, just like any other gentleman that’s been hurt out there, by police brutality or anything, my son could be a victim of that. And that’s what I’m scared of.”
Pillors said this was her first protest ever; she traveled from Long Beach back to her hometown to participate. As an undergraduate at Howard University, Reed marched after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by a neighborhood-watch volunteer in 2012.
“Four hundred plus years we’ve been fighting this same battle,” said Reed, a 24-year-old Compton resident. “But what I’ll say today is I love the energy. I love that we have so many people from different backgrounds here today to support the same thing.”


latimes--2020-06-07--From Compton to Hollywood Boulevard, protests keep growing around L.A.

Thousands of protesters flooded Hollywood Boulevard Sunday night as part of a growing national movement to end police brutality and systemic racism in the United States .
The demonstration , organized by Black Lives Matter and the rapper YG , appeared to be one of L.A. 's biggest protests yet in the wake of George Floyd ’ s death .
Protesters demanded police reforms and for the Los Angeles Police Department to be defunded in favor of programs that benefit poor Angelenos .
A candlelight vigil filled part of the intersection with Highland Avenue near the Dolby Theatre .
President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Hollywood Walk of Fame was defaced with graffiti .
Cesar Castillo , 30 , who was born and raised in Los Angeles and still lives in the city , held a sign depicting Mayor Eric Garcetti kissing LAPD Chief Michel Moore .
Castillo said he is “ frustrated ” with Garcetti , who he believes “ took some action but not enough action ” to reform the LAPD .
Castillo said he believes Garcetti should fire Moore , who has “ proven he is not the right person to take us through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hollywood Boulevard , a 39-year-old white man who only wanted to give his first name , Benjamin , held a massive sign reading , simply , “ DEFUND.
” “ The primary function of the police is to protect and defend white property , ” he said of why he believes the department ’ s budget should be slashed .
“ As a white male , I have a responsibility to speak out against this.
” Protest organizers on a bullhorn repeatedly praised the diversity of the crowd .
Love Alvarez , 23 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roof of a car at the intersection of the Hollywood and Highland , where the protest had consolidated as night fell , holding a sign that read “ Black is Beautiful.
” “ I needed to give out a different message today , something positive , ” she said .
“ We are not just criminals like they make us out to be.
” Several other protests and vigils were also held Sunday in Compton , East Los Angeles , Glendale , Beverly Hills other communities across Southern California .
Straddled atop their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a spirited caravan of motorcycles and hundreds of sign-waving protesters on foot in Compton .
The procession began its noon-time parade at the Gateway Towne Center and slowly wound its way through the city .
“ My Color Is Not A Crime , ” one sign read .
“ A Riot is the Language of the Unheard , ” declared another .
Shahara Warren , 44 , attended the march with her 8-year-old daughter and her troop , the Compton Girl Scouts .
Warren said she was worried about bringing her daughter to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Warren said she had been raised to be proud of who she was , and it was exciting to see her daughter ’ s willingness to participate .
“ It means a lot to me to know that she ’ s going to be going forward with the same idea of peace and helping our community , ” she said .
The mood of the march was upbeat , a mix of black and community pride and anger at the death of Floyd and the men and women who came before him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down the residential street of Tamarind Avenue , people came out of their homes to film the march and hold up their fists in solidarity .
The Compton Cowboys , a group of close-knit friends who formed a horseback riding club in 2017 aimed at dispelling stereotypes against African-Americans , brought particular joy to the demonstration .
The crowd also heard speeches from Mayor Aja Brown and NBA star Russell Westbrook , who plays for the Houston Rockets but was born in Long Beach and grew up in Hawthorne .
Paul Cannon , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a friend when the march went by .
He said it was a beautiful sight to see people coming out to protest .
“ We go to work and pay bills just like everybody else , and all we want to do is make it , ” he said .
“ We want the white picket fence .
You laid the dream out .
We didn ’ t ask to come here , but you brought us here.
” The march stopped at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monument at the Compton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment of silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds , the length of time that prosecutors say Floyd was pinned to the ground under the knee of Officer Derek Chauvin before he died .
The Compton march came one day after thousands of protesters participated in more than two dozen demonstrations across Southern California .
There were no apparent reports of vandalism or burglary on Saturday in Los Angeles County .
Amid the many demonstrations , officials said the National Guard plans to pull out of the Los Angeles area Sunday .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ controversial presence in the region for the past week , guarding landmark buildings like City Hall and assisting with crowd control .
A small number of units will be stationed nearby until June 10 “ to provide emergency support if needed , ” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement .
“ I ’ m proud that our city has been peaceful this week — and that our residents are leading a powerful movement to make Los Angeles more just , equitable , and fair for Black Angelenos , communities of color , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and families , ” Garcetti said .
National Guard troops were still seen on the streets Sunday in some locations , including in downtown and Hollywood .
Garcetti called in the Guard on May 30 after protests in the Fairfax District that ended with some burglaries and thefts by people police believe were not associated with the demonstrations .
At its peak , there were more than 1,000 Guardsmen in the L.A. area , some toting M-4 rifles .
Humvees and military trucks were present in the city in a way not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after the Northridge earthquake — and during the 1992 riots .
Bringing in the National Guard sparked criticism from Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson , who represents a portion of South Los Angeles .
“ Our fear is real that additional law enforcement will only further violence against people of color , ” he said May 31 .
There have been no major reports of illegal activity tied to the protests since Monday , when some businesses in Hollywood and Van Nuys were affected by looting .
Stores in Long Beach , downtown L.A. and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ merchandise .
LAPD officers arrested thousands over the last week , many of them for violating curfew rules .
The decision to end the curfews Thursday came a day after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against Los Angeles city and county and the city of San Bernardino to end the curfews , saying they were an unconstitutional violation of free expression .

Arit John, Richard Winton, Kevin Rector, Laura Newberry

The Compton Cowboys, a club of close-knit friends, joins protesters Sunday making their way along South Tamarind Avenue to Compton City Hall.
Thousands of protesters flooded Hollywood Boulevard Sunday night as part of a growing national movement to end police brutality and systemic racism in the United States.
The demonstration, organized by Black Lives Matter and the rapper YG, appeared to be one of L.A.’s biggest protests yet in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Protesters demanded police reforms and for the Los Angeles Police Department to be defunded in favor of programs that benefit poor Angelenos.
A candlelight vigil filled part of the intersection with Highland Avenue near the Dolby Theatre. President Donald Trump’s nearby star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was defaced with graffiti.
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Cesar Castillo, 30, who was born and raised in Los Angeles and still lives in the city, held a sign depicting Mayor Eric Garcetti kissing LAPD Chief Michel Moore.
Castillo said he is “frustrated” with Garcetti, who he believes “took some action but not enough action” to reform the LAPD.
Castillo said he believes Garcetti should fire Moore, who has “proven he is not the right person to take us through this moment.”
In the middle of Hollywood Boulevard, a 39-year-old white man who only wanted to give his first name, Benjamin, held a massive sign reading, simply, “DEFUND.”
“The primary function of the police is to protect and defend white property,” he said of why he believes the department’s budget should be slashed. “As a white male, I have a responsibility to speak out against this.”
Protest organizers on a bullhorn repeatedly praised the diversity of the crowd.
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Love Alvarez, 23, of downtown, stood on the roof of a car at the intersection of the Hollywood and Highland, where the protest had consolidated as night fell, holding a sign that read “Black is Beautiful.”
“I needed to give out a different message today, something positive,” she said. “We are not just criminals like they make us out to be.”
Several other protests and vigils were also held Sunday in Compton, East Los Angeles, Glendale, Beverly Hills other communities across Southern California.
Straddled atop their horses, the beloved Compton Cowboys joined a spirited caravan of motorcycles and hundreds of sign-waving protesters on foot in Compton. The procession began its noon-time parade at the Gateway Towne Center and slowly wound its way through the city.
“My Color Is Not A Crime,” one sign read. “A Riot is the Language of the Unheard,” declared another.
Shahara Warren, 44, attended the march with her 8-year-old daughter and her troop, the Compton Girl Scouts. Warren said she was worried about bringing her daughter to a protest, but her daughter insisted.
Warren said she had been raised to be proud of who she was, and it was exciting to see her daughter’s willingness to participate. “It means a lot to me to know that she’s going to be going forward with the same idea of peace and helping our community,” she said.
The mood of the march was upbeat, a mix of black and community pride and anger at the death of Floyd and the men and women who came before him.
As the march made its way down the residential street of Tamarind Avenue, people came out of their homes to film the march and hold up their fists in solidarity.
The Compton Cowboys, a group of close-knit friends who formed a horseback riding club in 2017 aimed at dispelling stereotypes against African-Americans, brought particular joy to the demonstration. The crowd also heard speeches from Mayor Aja Brown and NBA star Russell Westbrook, who plays for the Houston Rockets but was born in Long Beach and grew up in Hawthorne.
Paul Cannon, 48, of La Puente was visiting a friend when the march went by. He said it was a beautiful sight to see people coming out to protest.
“We go to work and pay bills just like everybody else, and all we want to do is make it,” he said. “We want the white picket fence. You laid the dream out. We didn’t ask to come here, but you brought us here.”
The march stopped at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monument at the Compton Civic Center. The crowd held a moment of silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time that prosecutors say Floyd was pinned to the ground under the knee of Officer Derek Chauvin before he died.
The Compton march came one day after thousands of protesters participated in more than two dozen demonstrations across Southern California. There were no apparent reports of vandalism or burglary on Saturday in Los Angeles County.
Amid the many demonstrations, officials said the National Guard plans to pull out of the Los Angeles area Sunday.
The National Guard has been a visible and controversial presence in the region for the past week, guarding landmark buildings like City Hall and assisting with crowd control. A small number of units will be stationed nearby until June 10 “to provide emergency support if needed,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement.
“I’m proud that our city has been peaceful this week — and that our residents are leading a powerful movement to make Los Angeles more just, equitable, and fair for Black Angelenos, communities of color, and all of our workers, youth, and families,” Garcetti said.
National Guard troops were still seen on the streets Sunday in some locations, including in downtown and Hollywood.
Garcetti called in the Guard on May 30 after protests in the Fairfax District that ended with some burglaries and thefts by people police believe were not associated with the demonstrations.
At its peak, there were more than 1,000 Guardsmen in the L.A. area, some toting M-4 rifles. Humvees and military trucks were present in the city in a way not seen since 1994, in the days after the Northridge earthquake — and during the 1992 riots.
Bringing in the National Guard sparked criticism from Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents a portion of South Los Angeles. “Our fear is real that additional law enforcement will only further violence against people of color,” he said May 31.
There have been no major reports of illegal activity tied to the protests since Monday, when some businesses in Hollywood and Van Nuys were affected by looting. Stores in Long Beach, downtown L.A. and Santa Monica also experienced vandalism and stolen merchandise.
LAPD officers arrested thousands over the last week, many of them for violating curfew rules.
The decision to end the curfews Thursday came a day after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against Los Angeles city and county and the city of San Bernardino to end the curfews, saying they were an unconstitutional violation of free expression.


latimes--2020-06-09--LAPD to halt use of carotid restraints; L.A. County Sheriff's Department pledges to restrict use

The Los Angeles Police Department on Monday instructed officers not to use carotid restraints , chokeholds that restrict or block blood flow to the brain , pending a review by the city ’ s Police Commission .
The restraint can render people unconscious or , as in the case of George Floyd , who was pinned to the ground by his neck for nearly nine minutes , it can prove fatal .
Floyd , who was black , pleaded that he couldn ’ t breathe as Derek Chauvin , a white Minneapolis policeman , pressed his knee into the man @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter ; three more officers have been charged with aiding and abetting those crimes .
LAPD Chief Michel Moore and Eileen Decker , president of the Police Commission , agreed to a moratorium on both the use and the training of carotid restraints until the commission has finished a “ detailed review ” of department policy regarding the holds , the LAPD said in a statement Monday evening .
The same day , the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’ s Department said it had restricted use of carotid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions threatened someone ’ s life or serious bodily injury .
Deputies were previously allowed to use the restraint when someone ’ s actions were “ assaultive or high risk.
” Lt. John Satterfield called the change “ the right thing to do.
” “ The community ’ s made it clear that this isn ’ t a force option that they want where it ’ s currently at , ” Satterfield said .
“ We hear the community , and we ’ re going to react.
” Sheriff ’ s Department personnel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2010 , he said .
“ When we use it , we use it very effectively — no one ’ s ever died as a result , ” Satterfield said .
“ We don ’ t apply it with a knee or a leg .
That would never have occurred in any of our training .
”

LAPD Police Chief Michel Moore speaks with a protester in the Fairfax District. The LAPD on Monday instructed officers not to use carotid restraints, chokeholds that restrict or block blood flow through the carotid arteries, pending a review by the city’s Police Commission.
The Los Angeles Police Department on Monday instructed officers not to use carotid restraints, chokeholds that restrict or block blood flow to the brain, pending a review by the city’s Police Commission.
The restraint can render people unconscious or, as in the case of George Floyd, who was pinned to the ground by his neck for nearly nine minutes, it can prove fatal.
Floyd, who was black, pleaded that he couldn’t breathe as Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis policeman, pressed his knee into the man’s neck. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter; three more officers have been charged with aiding and abetting those crimes.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore and Eileen Decker, president of the Police Commission, agreed to a moratorium on both the use and the training of carotid restraints until the commission has finished a “detailed review” of department policy regarding the holds, the LAPD said in a statement Monday evening.
The same day, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it had restricted use of carotid restraints to when a suspect’s actions threatened someone’s life or serious bodily injury. Deputies were previously allowed to use the restraint when someone’s actions were “assaultive or high risk.”
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Lt. John Satterfield called the change “the right thing to do.”
“The community’s made it clear that this isn’t a force option that they want where it’s currently at,” Satterfield said. “We hear the community, and we’re going to react.”
Sheriff’s Department personnel have used the move 193 times since 2010, he said.
“When we use it, we use it very effectively — no one’s ever died as a result,” Satterfield said. “We don’t apply it with a knee or a leg. That would never have occurred in any of our training.”


latimes--2020-06-09--Callers to City Hall demand big cuts from the LAPD

For years , Los Angeles city budget hearings have mostly drawn the usual collection of business , labor and nonprofit leaders who weigh in on such issues as sidewalk repairs , new bicycle lanes and the cost of feeding the animals in the city ’ s zoo .
But in the midst of a nationwide movement to end police brutality , Monday ’ s budget committee hearing drew an angry chorus of new voices demanding that council members defund the Los Angeles Police Department and invest more money in housing , social workers and jobs programs .
Some callers cast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ veterans of local and state politics — as out of touch with a public pushing for a complete reworking of city spending priorities and an end to police abuse .
“ You are the past .
Black Lives Matter and their allies are the future .
Commit to our demands , ” said Kendall Mayhew , a community organizer with Ground Game L.A. , which is seeking to cut police spending by 90 % and reinvest the funds into mental health counselors , tenant advocates and others assigned to respond to social ills @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speak during Monday ’ s hearing .
The vast majority of those who got through called for the LAPD budget to be dramatically scaled back or eliminated altogether .
One caller described the LAPD as a “ scar ” on the city , while another compared the department to a cancer that needed to be cut out .
“ This is our time to lead , ” said yet another caller .
“ It is happening with or without your agreement.
” Many at Monday ’ s hearing spoke in favor of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spending plan for City Hall advanced by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and several other organizations .
The plan would allocate 5.7 % of the city ’ s general fund to the LAPD , a reduction of about 90 % when compared with Mayor Eric Garcetti ’ s spending plan for the upcoming budget year .
The meeting was the first since Garcetti and Council President Nury Martinez promised to find up to $ 150 million in savings at the LAPD and redirect those savings to job programs , health initiatives and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of color .
The budget committee won ’ t take up the proposal from Garcetti and Martinez until June 15 .
Instead , council members heard two hours of public testimony and a grim report on the city ’ s reserve fund , which has been nearly depleted as city leaders work to balance the budget for the current fiscal year .
Council members typically review and approve the mayor ’ s budget each year .
This time , however , they allowed Garcetti ’ s citywide spending plan to go into effect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too much uncertainty about the city ’ s revenue numbers that followed the shutdowns caused by the coronavirus outbreak .
Garcetti had originally proposed a 7 % increase to the LAPD budget , only to change course in the wake of massive protests over police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis .
Councilman Mike Bonin , who represents coastal neighborhoods stretching from Westchester north to Pacific Palisades , said L.A. and the nation were at a moment of reckoning similar to the fall of the Soviet Union .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the LAPD budget and “ holding everything else hostage , ” he said .
Now , Angelenos are asking their leaders to take a different approach to how L.A. deals with homelessness , mental health crises and other pressing needs , he said .
“ Things that seemed impossible two days ago now seem like they don ’ t go far enough , ” he said .
But Councilman Paul Koretz , whose Westside district stretches from Westwood north to Encino , said he fears that city leaders are responding to an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus outbreak and calls to address racial injustice — without keeping track of the money .
That type of spending , left unchecked , could push the city into bankruptcy , Koretz warned .
“ We could look up suddenly and find we ’ re a billion dollars short in our budget and have no coherent way to address it , ” he said .
The size of the police budget has been a source of criticism during previous budget cycles .
But it hasn ’ t drawn such widespread scrutiny — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The LAPD budget , when pensions and healthcare are included , is expected to consume $ 3.15 billion of the city ’ s $ 10.5 billion budget in the coming year .
Brady Collins with the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance said the city “ has still not done its part ” since the 1992 civil unrest that followed the verdicts in the beating of Rodney King by police officers .
Improving access to housing and economic opportunity is the best policy for preventing crime and recovering from the pandemic , he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in communities , not policing , ” he said .
No one from the Los Angeles Police Protective League , the union that represents rank-and-file officers , testified during Monday ’ s hearing .
But in a statement , league spokesman Dustin DeRollo called the notion of laying off 9,000 officers “ absurd ” and “ reckless.
” “ It would literally leave a city of millions protected by under 900 officers , ” he said .

The Los Angeles Police Department’s budget was the main focus of Monday’s budget committee hearing at City Hall.
For years, Los Angeles city budget hearings have mostly drawn the usual collection of business, labor and nonprofit leaders who weigh in on such issues as sidewalk repairs, new bicycle lanes and the cost of feeding the animals in the city’s zoo.
But in the midst of a nationwide movement to end police brutality, Monday’s budget committee hearing drew an angry chorus of new voices demanding that council members defund the Los Angeles Police Department and invest more money in housing, social workers and jobs programs.
Some callers cast City Council members — many of them veterans of local and state politics — as out of touch with a public pushing for a complete reworking of city spending priorities and an end to police abuse.
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“You are the past. Black Lives Matter and their allies are the future. Commit to our demands,” said Kendall Mayhew, a community organizer with Ground Game L.A., which is seeking to cut police spending by 90% and reinvest the funds into mental health counselors, tenant advocates and others assigned to respond to social ills.
Hundreds of people signed up to speak during Monday’s hearing. The vast majority of those who got through called for the LAPD budget to be dramatically scaled back or eliminated altogether.
One caller described the LAPD as a “scar” on the city, while another compared the department to a cancer that needed to be cut out.
“This is our time to lead,” said yet another caller. “It is happening with or without your agreement.”
Many at Monday’s hearing spoke in favor of the People’s Budget, an alternative spending plan for City Hall advanced by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and several other organizations.
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The plan would allocate 5.7% of the city’s general fund to the LAPD, a reduction of about 90% when compared with Mayor Eric Garcetti’s spending plan for the upcoming budget year.
The meeting was the first since Garcetti and Council President Nury Martinez promised to find up to $150 million in savings at the LAPD and redirect those savings to job programs, health initiatives and other services for black Angelenos and other communities of color.
The budget committee won’t take up the proposal from Garcetti and Martinez until June 15. Instead, council members heard two hours of public testimony and a grim report on the city’s reserve fund, which has been nearly depleted as city leaders work to balance the budget for the current fiscal year.
Council members typically review and approve the mayor’s budget each year. This time, however, they allowed Garcetti’s citywide spending plan to go into effect without a vote, saying there was too much uncertainty about the city’s revenue numbers that followed the shutdowns caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Garcetti had originally proposed a 7% increase to the LAPD budget, only to change course in the wake of massive protests over police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents coastal neighborhoods stretching from Westchester north to Pacific Palisades, said L.A. and the nation were at a moment of reckoning similar to the fall of the Soviet Union.
The city has spent generations expanding the size of the LAPD budget and “holding everything else hostage,” he said. Now, Angelenos are asking their leaders to take a different approach to how L.A. deals with homelessness, mental health crises and other pressing needs, he said.
“Things that seemed impossible two days ago now seem like they don’t go far enough,” he said.
But Councilman Paul Koretz, whose Westside district stretches from Westwood north to Encino, said he fears that city leaders are responding to an assortment of urgent issues — homelessness, the coronavirus outbreak and calls to address racial injustice — without keeping track of the money.
That type of spending, left unchecked, could push the city into bankruptcy, Koretz warned.
“We could look up suddenly and find we’re a billion dollars short in our budget and have no coherent way to address it,” he said.
The size of the police budget has been a source of criticism during previous budget cycles. But it hasn’t drawn such widespread scrutiny — and public outcry — until this year. The LAPD budget, when pensions and healthcare are included, is expected to consume $3.15 billion of the city’s $10.5 billion budget in the coming year.
Brady Collins with the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance said the city “has still not done its part” since the 1992 civil unrest that followed the verdicts in the beating of Rodney King by police officers. Improving access to housing and economic opportunity is the best policy for preventing crime and recovering from the pandemic, he said.
“The city budget should invest in communities, not policing,” he said.
No one from the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents rank-and-file officers, testified during Monday’s hearing. But in a statement, league spokesman Dustin DeRollo called the notion of laying off 9,000 officers “absurd” and “reckless.”
“It would literally leave a city of millions protected by under 900 officers,” he said.