Motorcycles and horses in Compton march for racial justice
Protesters amped up the decibel level in Compton on Sunday, where the sound of rumbling motorcycles and the clip-clop of equestrians led about hundreds in a march for justice.
Like so many that have dotted the Southland and the world, the outcry in Compton was for an end to racial injustice and police brutality. Also the din of an idling, supped up motorcycles did not drown out a fundamental theme: That black lives matter.
“My color is not a crime,” read one sign held up at the front of the Compton march. Another read: “Injustice Anywhere is a Threat Everywhere,” conjuring the words of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1963 “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
Already, in L.A. County, the moment has spurred attempts at change. L.A. County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Mark Ridley-Thomas are urging the Sheriff’s Department and 46 other police departments in the county to review their use-of-force policies with the goal to:
Require officers to intervene to stop another officer from using excessive force;
Restrict or prohibit the use of chokeholds, strangleholds, and carotid restraints;
Require officers to de-escalate situations, when possible, before using force;
Use a “Force Continuum or Matrix” that defines and limits the types of force that can be used to respond to specific types of resistance;
Require officers to give a verbal warning before using deadly force;
Prohibit officers from shooting at people in moving vehicles unless the person poses a deadly threat by means other than the vehicle;
Require officers to exhaust all other reasonable alternatives before resorting to using deadly force;
Require comprehensive reporting that includes both uses of force and threats of force;
A motion is on the Board of Supervisors’ agenda for its Tuesday meeting.
Compton joined Sunday demonstrations that dotted the Southland — reflecting the continued outpouring that that has filled each day in Southern California since Floyd’s death.
Protests were organized in Downtown L.A. and Glendale, Pomona and Carson, among others.
Another march — in support of Dalvin Price — was to follow Sunday afternoon in Compton, at 3 p.m. in front of the Compton Sheriff Station, at 301 S. Willow brook Avenue in the City of Compton.
Price was arrested on suspicion of assault on a peace officer during civil unrest on May 31. A part of that arrest was captured on cell-phone video that has gone viral, showing deputies appearing to strike Price when he was on the ground.
