Nearly 200 LA protesters stand in solidarity with demonstrators in Kenosha
LOS ANGELES - With signs held high, close to 200 people rallied outside LA City Hall, passionate about stopping police brutality, after an officer shot and paralyzed 29-year-old Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin last week.
With speakers from Black Lives Matter, Church without Walls and Community Control over Police, the Party for Socialism and Liberation organized the peaceful protest Sunday afternoon.
“We are a party that is not the Democrats and not the Republicans,” says Party for Socialism and Liberation co-organizer Carolyn Gomez. “We’re a party that’s building for the interest of the working class and that includes Black folks, LGBTQ folks, Indigenous community and undocumented folks.
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"The group then marched through the streets of downtown LA, saying they are pleading for unwarranted violence against black people to end.
The Kenosha police union says Blake, armed with a knife, fought officers who tried twice to stun him with a Taser and put one officer in a headlock.
RELATED: Kenosha police chief: 175 arrests in 7 days since shooting of Jacob Blake
But a police officer firing seven shots at Blake’s back, hitting him four times, protestors say, is inexcusable and has sparked outrage across the country once again.
“What’s happening in Kenosha is an indicator that if we don’t stay in the streets, if we don’t continue fighting back with everything we have, that the killing will continue,” says Party for Society and Liberation co-organizer Andrew Nance.