Los Angeles, CA – Black Lives Matter Los Angeles will begin day two of Occupy LA Mayor with a 6 a.m. wake up call for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in front of his Hancock Park home Monday morning. The activists plan to stay in front of Garcetti’s home until Tuesday morning when the L.A. police commission meets to decide the fate of the officers involved in the August 2014 South L.A. shooting of Ezell Ford.  Sunday, Tritobia Ford, the mother of Ezell Ford joined the protesters outside of the mayor’s home.
Occupy LA Mayor is in response to Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and Inspector General Alex Bustamate’s determination that the two officers involved in the shooting of Ford were justified.
BLMLA has called on Mayor Garcetti to fire Chief Beck or else suffer the same fate of former mayor James Hahn who lost his re-election after Black support waned in the wake of his decision to not re-appoint then Chief Bernard Parks. In addition the activists are calling on Garcetti to make sure that the police commission does not take up the decision of the two officers involved in killing Ford in closed session but instead in public and for Garcetti to craft a policy around providing reparations to the families of victims of police abuse and killings.
Citing what they say has been a dismal record of support for African-Americans in Los Angeles since taking office, BLMLA pointed to numerous issues with Garcetti’s representation of and relationship with Blacks in Los Angeles. Those issues include:
- Garcetti’s failure in securing any federal aid Promise Zone funds for South L.A. but instead opting for affluent areas like Koreatown, Hollywood and Los Feliz, where the needs aren’t as great.
- Garcetti’s silence and often times disappearing act whenever the issue of police brutality and protests pop up in Los Angeles conveniently leaving Council President and African-American Herb Wesson as the acting mayor to deal with the issue.
- Garcetti’s lack of a real agenda for South L.A.
- Garcetti’s support for redistricting maps that tore apart South L.A. and took away precious resources.
- Garcetti’s firing of Black L.A. fire chief Brian Cummings just three months after he became mayor.
- Garcetti’s seemingly non-existent presence in Black Los Angeles after stumping for the African-American vote to get into office.
Follow @BLMLA and @Jasmyne as well as the hashtags #OccupyLAMayor and #LAWakeUpCall on social media for the latest news regarding Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.
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