Special Report from BLM Occupation of LA City Hall

FEATURING BLM ACTIVISTS – The Los Angeles Police Commission cleared officers involved in the killing of a black woman named Redel Jones this week. The commission voted 3 to 0 that Jones’ killing was justified because her “actions while armed with a knife presented an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.”

Members of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles have been attending police commission meetings for weeks, demanding justice for Jones’ death and holding up signs with her name on it. On Tuesday when the commission vote was announced, protests swelled into the hundreds and activists marched and demonstrated. A smaller group decided to spend the night in front of the commission building.

Redel Jones was among 3-dozen people shot by Los Angeles police in 2015. So far this year, the department has killed 9 people. Meanwhile, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch recently recognized the LAPD as a model department – a move heavily protested by Black Lives Matter. The protests in LA come amid nation-wide demonstrations from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to St. Paul, Minnesota, and beyond. Rising Up producer Anna Buss and I went to LA City Hall on Wednesday and bring you this report.

That’s a special report from the streets of down town Los Angeles where activists with Black Lives Matter have been camped out since Tuesday after the LA Police Commission absolved police in the killing of a black woman named Redel Jones.