October 9, 2007

Last evening, a Kucinich volunteer, wearing a Kucinich T-shirt, was standing by his bicycle eating a mango at the Metro Rail station in the vicinity of 5th and Hill  in Los Angeles when a motorcycle police officer  rode up and told him he was not allowed to have food on Metro Rail property.  According to the volunteer, the officer was Caucasian, fair-complected, round-faced with a mustache and glasses.  The  volunteer started to move his bike from the area, at which point the officer attempted to run him over.  In dodging the attack, the volunteer dropped the bike, but grabbed it.  He attempted to get to safety as quickly as possible.  The officer followed him and again tried to run him down.  The volunteer got on his bicycle and tried to get to a place where he would be safe.   The officer followed him, causing the volunteer to continue to fear for his life.  The volunteer boarded on a bus headed towards the Green Line but  feared the officer was still following him and might attack him when he exited the bus or that the officer might enter the bus to finish the job.

The volunteer called the chairman of a Democratic club to which he belonged.  The call interrupted the executive board meeting of the Democratic Party of Orange County.  The Chairman of the Democratic Party of Orange County suggested the volunteer hang up and call 911 to create a  trail or record of what was occurring.  The volunteer hung up and called 911.  He was put on hold and got mostly a runaround but did state what had happened.  The club chairman called the LAPD and reported the incident.  The club chairman,  reportedly, was told by the answering officer that  the assailant may have been someone impersonating an officer. 

How often do impersonators, dressed in police attire, ride police motorcycles through the streets of Los Angeles?  Why would  desk officers respond to calls about police violence with this suggestion?  Is there an automatic response aimed at diffusing public concern about police violence?

The Los Angeles Police Department is the same police department involved in the Rodney King beating, the May Day Melee and a significant number of other attacks on innocent individuals.  On occasion, Congresswoman Maxine Waters has spoken out about abuses by the LAPD.   The abuses have sometimes resulted in the deaths of innocent children, including a baby.  Marches through the streets of Los Angeles have been led by parents of children killed by police violence.

 A day before, Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich spoke out against police misconduct during a speech he gave at the National Latino Congreso, not far from the location of this latest act of police violence.  The Kucinich volunteer believes that, if his reflexes had not been what they were, he would have been killed.

The name of the volunteer is being withheld in this report to protect him against retaliation for reporting the incident. 

Copyright ©2007 by the Creative Youth News Team.