Protesters March To LAPD To Demand Action
Video by Marc Sallinger
Activists took to the streets today to protest the killing of a homeless man on skid row by LAPD officers.
Protestors cried for justice and held signs demanding the prosecution of police officers. On skid row today, the divide between police and citizens could not be contained to the sidewalk.
A man known as Africa was shot and killed by police after an altercation on skid row last Sunday. Today, protestors marched from the site where he was shot to LAPD headquarters demanding their voices be heard.
“Why does this continually have to happen,” said Suzette Shaw, a skid row resident. “This is a community of mentally ill people, people in recovery. Why can’t people sometimes get it right. At what point can they get it right.”
The identity of the man who was killed is still unknown. It was reported that he was a french national who had recently served 14 years in jail for bank robbery. Those reports have since been questioned. The coroners office has yet to release the man’s name.
Police responded to a call in the skid row area of downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. The man known as Africa was the suspect in a robbery or battery call.
“The radio operator could hear someone demanding money in the background,” said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. “What the officers knew is that they were responding to what was either a robbery or a battery.”
The investigation is ongoing. Body cameras worn by some of the police officers will provide key evidence to the case.
