June 1st, 2020 marks a week since the death of George Floyd, a victim of police brutality who was murdered by Derick Chauvin and his three accomplices of the Minneapolis Police Department. Across the nation, thousands of people have attended peaceful protests to honor his death, as well of those of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Sean Reed, Tony McDade, and countless lives of other black Americans. Together, people are standing in solidarity for those who have lost their lives to law enforcement as well as showing resistance to the systemic racism in America through the Black Lives Matter movement.

Unfortunately, many of these peaceful protests have turned into violent riots, often at the hands of the police. Many of our protesters in Los Angeles have suffered being shot at with rubber bullets, tear gassed, run over, beat down and other forms of police brutality. In addition, the police’s confrontational presence through riot gear and aggressive behavior has only exacerbated the situation.

Due to the hostile environment created by the police at the protests, many protestors are forced to flee in order to stay safe and not risk getting injured or potentially losing their lives. This creates an indirect abuse of our 1st Amendment Right, the right to assembly, and it shows the injustices of the policing system who respond with force, violence, and deviate the peaceful protests into intense riots.

Only 2 weeks ago, white supremacists were protesting the COVID-19 stay-at-home order armed with military-grade assault rifles, harassing law enforcement, and threatening to form a militia yet were still protected by police. Today people who attend the nonviolent Black Lives Matter protests are met with inhumane treatment.

We need a place to express our mourning and frustration of the lives taken by law enforcement and face no harm in our safety. As a result, we the people of Los Angeles demand that LAPD stand back and give Angelenos a platform to safely and peacefully protest. We the people of Los Angeles demand minimal police presence and no riot gear in order to keep our people safe. We the people of Los Angeles demand that Michel Moore resign as LAPD Chief of Police due to the insensitive comments made about the killing of George Floyd and the protesters of the Black Lives Matter movement. We the people of Los Angeles demand that Mayor Garcetti and the LA City Council witness firsthand the mistreatment of their civilians and stand up in solidarity at the frontlines with them.