Protests over injustice and the police killing of George Floyd have lasted six days in California.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore said on Monday, “We saw roving groups of individuals who were not compliant with the curfew, and we believe were out to loot and prey on businesses in our community.”
He continued saying that officers arrested 700 people during Sunday demonstrations. “Within those 700 arrests were 70 individuals who were either burglarizing or looting, victimizing businesses further. … We had criminal acts. We didn’t have people mourning the death of this man, George Floyd. We had people capitalizing. His death is on their hands as much as it is those officers.”
Moore ended up apologizing for his remarks.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti defended Moore in a press conference on Tuesday: “When I heard him say what he said, I knew that he did not mean that. And I know that he corrected it right away. … That statement is a wrong statement — that looters are the equivalent of murderers. Looting is wrong, but they are not the moral equivalence. The officers who killed George Floyd are murderers.”
Retired LAPD sergeant Cheryl Dorsey tells KCRW that she believes Moore will not be fired, but as a police chief, he can’t express how he feels.
“He can’t just say what he thinks if that, in fact, is how he feels,” Dorsey says. “Should he be fired? If he feels that way, he’s no different than any other police officer who is operating day-to-day with animus towards a certain group of folks, black folks in this case. And I don’t care what rank you are. And so if that’s who Mike Moore is, then yeah, he needs to go.”
Dorsey is concerned that the motivation behind the protests might be getting lost among the looting and violence. “There seems to be more chatter about that than about the murder of George Floyd.”
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