Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

LOS ANGELES, October 3, 2010 – Death penalty opponents held a rally at the Westwood Federal Building this past Tuesday. The rally was called to oppose the threat of renewed executions in the state of California.

About an hour after the rally the news came that a federal judge has blocked the scheduled execution of Albert Brown, saying he needed more time to determine if the state’s new lethal injection procedures are free of pain to the condemned. Then the following day on Wednesday the California Supreme Court also moved to block the execution over the issue of procedure.

There is still a threat of state executions resuming in the near future, as the court rulings are based solely on the procedural methods of execution and not the constitutionality of the death penalty itself. Report with photos: Death Penalty Opponents Rally to Oppose Planned Execution

LOS ANGELES, September 21, 2010 – Manuel Jamines, a Guatemalan migrant, was shot twice in the head on a crowded street by an LAPD officer on September 5th. This past Saturday, a full two weeks after the shooting, the Westlake community continues to protest.

This past Saturday a community march was held, starting at Union and 6th (the site where Manuel was killed) protesters marched to the infamous Rampart Division police station, and then after a rally in front of the station, the march wrapped itself through the neighborhood and back to MacArthur Park. The march was made up of an impressive diverse group of all ages and many ethnicities.

There was apparently some confusion at one point as it seems that a second march was also staged on Saturday. This caused questions and some discussion among people confused about which direction to march for a moment. The outside group went on to march downtown to city hall and the community remained to march through Westlake with a rally ending at MacAthur Park.

Reports on the Westlake community march: Sept. 18, March to Support Manuel Jamines by Anna Kunkin | | PHOTOS: March & Rally: Justice for Manuel Jamines by Jen Kluu | | Manuel Jamines Protest Photos (both factions) Robert Stuart Lowden

Report from the downtown march: RALLY/MARCH FOR JUSTICE FOR MANUEL JAMINEZ by Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP)

Venice, CA – The gentrification of the Los Angeles beach district of Venice has been an ongoing struggle for longtime Venice residents and families for close to fifty years. Much of the initial devastation of lower income and working class communities in Venice occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. The 1970s saw an organized push back by Venice residents but much of the ground gained during that decade was eroded in the 80s and 90s.

Today the struggle to defend the last remaining areas of affordable housing and alternative lifestyle tolerant neighborhoods is exemplified by the work of a small handful of activists who are resisting the police crack down on the un-housed and those living in their cars or motor homes on the streets of Venice. Reports from the Newswire: Venice Homeless Protect LAPD Order to vacate public sidewalk after 9pm, Aug 26, 2010 by Lisa Green | | The Real Stink in Venice by Venice Justice Committee

Recent developments: Bill Rosendahl Helps Homeless Haters Win in Venice by Justice Committee

LOS ANGELES, September 9, 2010 - Manuel Jamines was shot and killed by Rampart police on Sunday, September 5th, 2010. He was a 37 year old indigenous man from Guatemala. Manuel leaves behind a wife and three children in who live in his native Guatemala. Manuel was a day laborer and had been working in Los Angeles for the past 8 years. Manuel was standing on the corner of 6th Street and Union when police were called to the scene. The police claim he had a knife and was threatening a pregnant woman.

What actually transpired next is unclear but many eye witnesses accounts directly contradict the police version of events that lead to Manuel’s death. Police claim that their use of deadly force was justified because Manuel failed to comply with orders to drop the 6 inch knife they claim he was welding. However friends of Manuel say he did not speak English or Spanish and that his native language was of a regional Mayan dialect.

The killing has sparked four days of continuous protests in the streets of Westlake. Protests have gone late into the night and groups of 100’s of outraged local community members have been directly engaging the police, taking and holding street intersections with impromptu blockades and trash fires.

The police response has been one of more violence against the community; beatings with batons, rubber bullets and chemical weapons, (tear gas, pepper spray) have all been deployed on protesters in the last four nights. To date close to 25 arrests have been reported. Two of those arrested are being charged with arson. There are also reports of many injuries from the police violence against the protests.

Reports from the Newswire: Pico Union/Westlake Rebellion after Rampart Police Murder Manuel Jamines - Indigenous Man by Joaquin Cienfuegos | | BREAKING: Street Clashes with Police in Westlake | | Report From The Street | | 9:55 pm - Rampart Firing Rubber Bullets!

During the Vietnam War, the Mexican-American (Chicano) community, realizing that so many youth from that community were being used as canon fodder and were dying at a rate of 3 to 1 Anglo deaths, rose up en masse on August 29, 1970.

Now, 40 years later, the still active Chicano Moratorium Committee, along with the Brown Berets, are keeping that moment alive. The Anniversary March and Rally took place on August 28, 2010 with a march down Whittier Blvd. in East L.A., culminating in a rally at the renamed Salazar Park in memory of the great reporter who has become the roll model for so many.

Today the march commemorates what happened 40 years ago, when the Los Angeles County sheriffs attacked an anti-war protest in the park…. opened fire on the protest with 12 gauge shotguns… killing three activists including a young Brown Beret. Later that day Sheriffs shot and killed Ruben Salazar a Los Angeles Times reporter, as he sat in the Silver Dollar café. The sheriffs shot Salazar with a tear gas gun canister, hitting him in the head.

At this years march people placed heaps of flowers on the sidewalk on Whittier Blvd where the Silver Dollar used to be. Marchers all stopped along the march to pay respects to the reporter assassinated by the Los Angeles County sheriffs department. Report from the newswire: Pics of Chicano Moratorium anti war protest and march by hellokitty siempre | | Past Coverage: 2009 | 2006

Related: Ramsey Muniz: Guilty of Being Latino and Activist in America