A group of protesters marched through downtown Los Angeles on Monday night in response to the recent police shootings of two Black men in Pasadena and in Wisconsin.
The nature of the protest was reported by KCAL 9. Video broadcast by KCAL-TV showed dozens of people walking near City Hall shortly after 10 p.m.
Anthony McClain, 32, was fatally shot Aug. 15 during a traffic stop in Pasadena. Police have said that McClain pulled out a handgun while running from officers. Video footage released by authorities shows McClain fleeing on foot with what appears to be something shiny at his waistband. Police have said that it was a handgun.
Caree Harper, the McClain family’s attorney, has disputed that account and held that it was a large metal belt buckle.
Wisconsin’s governor called in the National Guard on Monday in anticipation of further protests in response to the police shooting Sunday of Jacob Blake, 29, in the city of Kenosha. Cellphone footage shows him being shot as he leaned into his car with his children inside. Blake was hospitalized in serious condition.
Police officials have said they were responding to a call about a domestic dispute and did not immediately say why they opened fire. The governor has said that the state’s Justice Department is investigating the case.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Mike Lopez said close to 11 p.m. that protesters gathered by the department’s downtown headquarters were peaceful.
“They are exercising their rights to protest, and we are there monitoring,” he said.
The Associated Press and Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
