[This story was originally published yesterday evening, shortly after the verdict was announced in the trial of Derek Chauvin. It has been updated slightly today.]
On Tuesday afternoon, the jury in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, announced its verdicts. As soon as the jury’s guilty verdicts on all three charges were rendered, individuals and organizations around the country began issuing statements and reacting to the news.
Locally, police and news helicopters have been circling over the Windsor Square neighborhood, observing a small group of protesters at Getty House, the residence of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti. Shortly thereafter, we checked in with Captain Shannon Paulson of LAPD’s Wilshire Division for her assessment of the situation, and received this response, which she also shared with the general Wilshire Division area:
Good Evening Wilshire Community,I have a brief moment free and wanted to reach out to you.There are currently no issues of concern within our Wilshire Community. There is a small but growing contingent of protestors gathered at the Mayor’s Official Residence (the Getty House) in the Windsor Square region, just over the border in Olympic Area. We are monitoring that protest with a small footprint of officers but have no issues with the activity. It is unknown if they intend to march or relocate.There are small demonstrations and gatherings in other parts of the City, to include Florence and Normandie in South LA and downtown. Again, we have had no issues and these demonstrations have been entirely peaceful.We are closely monitoring activity throughout the nation, especially as the hours of sundown reach the east coast and Midwest. We are aware that darkness can provide the opportunity for those who wish to take advantage of crowds and engage in criminal behavior, and activities occurring across the nation can lead to similar occurrences here.As we look to the days ahead, we are aware of several additional rally’s and protests being planned through this weekend in and around West Bureau and are planning resources to be standing by for them. These include a rally and vigil tomorrow evening in the Venice region, potentially large scale rally/protests on Saturday regarding the Armenian Genocide in Hollywood and at the Consulate just over our western border in Beverly Hills (both of which have the potential to impact Wilshire Area or march through portions of Wilshire Area), and a rally and potential march hosted by BLM planned for Pan Pacific Park on Sunday afternoon.We continue to have additional resources circulating our community in vehicles and on foot beats – this will continue as long as those personnel are not required for emerging issues elsewhere in the Bureau or City.Be safe and well.Captain Shannon K. PaulsonCommanding OfficerWilshire AreaLos Angeles Police Department
“There was a protest last night at 8pm at Beverly & Fairfax involving at one point approximately 75 persons. They did take the intersection where they kneeled for approximately 10 minutes, then marched several blocks east on Beverly, then marched back westbound to the corner where they met again for approximately another hour.
There were no major incidents beyond some traffic congestion.
There are no additional known rallies or protests in Wilshire Area until Sunday at Pan Pacific Park.”
