Three protestors were arrested and two were given citations on Saturday after an apparently peaceful protest of several hundred people at Getty House, the Mayor’s residence in Windsor Square, turned confrontational. The protestors called for Mayor Garcetti to cancel rent during the pandemic, saying more people are in danger of losing their housing since expanded unemployment benefits ended on Friday.
Nearby residents told the Buzz this protest vibe felt different from earlier civil justice protests at GettyHouse. This one was much smaller and very well organized, not a spontaneous gathering of thousands as happened in May. They also heard some of the protestors taunting police officers, who largely stood by watching. At one point, protestors placed an eviction notice on the front gate of Getty House, a replica of what housing advocates say residents could get if they don’t get rent relief.
By all accounts we heard, everything seemed calm for most of the three-hour event…until police attempted to disperse the crowd. LAist reporter Josie Huang, who was at the protest, posted this report with videos she previously posted on Twitter during the protest.
“The protest planned by the People’s City Council, was without major incident until the event ended nearly three hours later, when dozens of police started to clear out the street outside the Getty House.
After LAPD grabbed a teenager to be cited for being a pedestrian in a roadway, tensions escalated quickly, as protesters promised to help the teen get out of police custody.
LAPD said officers arrested three people on suspicion of battery on a police officer; on suspicion of resisting arrest; and suspicion of trying to free an arrestee.”
I spoke too soon— situation has quickly deteriorated pic.twitter.com/DUSGdaH8lK
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) August 2, 2020
According to Huang, Nicole Donanian-Blandón, a representative of the People’s City Council and the L.A. Tenants Union, said renters need to be protected from landlords pressuring them into predatory agreements that force them “to hand over their stimulus checks (and) set up these really impossible rent payback programs, which is all illegal.”
The City has taken some actions to help renters, including banning evictions for non-payment of rent, giving tenants up to a year after the pandemic restrictions end to re-pay late rent, and preventing landlords from forcing tenants into repayment agreements during the pandemic restrictions.
“The Los Angeles city attorney’s office has warned against cancelling rents, advising council members in a memo that it would violate the law and could cost the city more than a billion dollars in compensation to landlords. The council voted narrowly in April against imposing a broader ban on evictions after a city attorney argued it was unlikely to survive in court,” wrote the Los Angles Times who reported on the protests.
Another group of protestors representing Black Lives Matter – LA came back early Sunday morning to “wake” the Mayor up chanting calls to defund the police. Here’s another video posted by Haung.
We’re in front of @MayorOfLA’s mansion RIGHT NOW. Early Sunday morning wake up call on the heels of his announcement that he’s chartering a new, permanent LAPD Bureau appropriating our call to #ReimaginePublicSafety #DefundThePolice doesn’t mean fund the police. #FuckGarcetti pic.twitter.com/I0bWTtWho3
— #BlackLivesMatter-LA (@BLMLA) August 2, 2020
