2017 Anaheim protests

2017 Anaheim protests
2017 Anaheim protests
Date	February 21, 2017
Location	Anaheim, California, U.S.
Caused by	Altercation between LAPD officer and 13-year old civilian.
Methods	Protests, rioting, Vandalism
Parties
City of Anaheim Anaheim Police Department ;	Local demonstrators
Number
	300
Casualties
Arrested	24

Last updated January 12, 2024

On the evening of February 22, 2017, protests erupted in Anaheim, California, over the altercation between an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer Kevin Ferguson^[5] and unnamed 13-year-old that occurred on February 21 and was recorded on a bystander's cell phone camera.^[6] In the incident that sparked the protests, a 13-year-old boy was grabbed by an off-duty LAPD officer outside the officer's house, and the 13-year-old's acquaintances tried to confront the officer. The officer took out his handgun and fired one shot near a group of youth; nobody was injured. The 13-year-old and another boy were arrested.

Background

On the afternoon of February 21, a number of teenage boys were involved in an altercation with an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer. The unnamed officer and one of the boys got into an argument, which prompted one of the boys to threaten the officer. The officer drew his gun and shot away from the boys causing a fight between them and the officer. One unidentified 13-year-old was arrested and taken to the Orange County Juvenile under suspected allegations of criminal threat and battery. Additionally, a 15-year-old boy was arrested under suspicion of assault and battery, but was subsequently released to his parents.^[4]

The officer was not arrested, nor has he been identified, but has been placed on administrative leave by the LAPD.^[4]

Protesting

The next evening, several protestors gathered in the neighborhood where the altercation and shooting occurred. The protests began calmly as the individuals encouraged peaceful protests, although chants expressing concerns over police brutality and child maltreatment eventually started. The uprising led to damage to the officer's property, including his garage door and truck. The protesters were retained by other protesters before others threw garbage and bricks at Anaheim police officers.^[4]

Aftermath

Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait expressed concern about the video that showed the altercation between the officer and boys, and said the city is committed to an investigation on the incident. It was determined that the gun fired by the officer was not his service weapon.^[4]

LAPD Officer Kevin Ferguson was not charged with any crimes, despite allegations of excessive force, and questionable legal standing to detain the child.^[7]

The family of a child involved in the altercation filed suit against Kevin Ferguson and the LAPD, which were later dropped.^[8]

Related Research Articles

In the United States, a SWAT team is a generic term for a police tactical unit.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,967 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-largest municipal police department in the United States, after the New York City Police Department and the Chicago Police Department.

The 1992 Los Angeles riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, United States, during April and May 1992. Unrest began in South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after a jury acquitted four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) charged with using excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King. The incident had been videotaped by George Holliday, who was a bystander to the incident, and was heavily broadcast in various news and media outlets.

The Rampart scandal was a police corruption scandal which unfolded in Los Angeles, California, United States, during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The scandal concerned widespread criminal activity within the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division. More than 70 police officers were initially implicated in various forms of misconduct, including unprovoked shootings and beatings, planting of false evidence, stealing and dealing narcotics, bank robbery, perjury, and cover-ups thereof.

The Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) serves communities to the west of Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) including Silver Lake, Echo Park, Pico-Union and Westlake, all together designated as the Rampart patrol area. Its name is derived from Rampart Boulevard, one of the principal thoroughfares in its patrol area. The original station opened in 1966, located at 2710 West Temple Street. In 2008, the staff moved southeast to a newer facility located at 1401 West 6th Street. With 164,961 residents occupying a 5.4-square-mile (14 km²) area, Rampart is one of Los Angeles's most densely populated communities.

The Long Beach Police Department provides law enforcement for the city of Long Beach, California.

Kevin Lee Gaines was an American police officer assigned to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums unit implicated in the Rampart scandal.

Metropolitan Division, commonly referred to as Metro Division or just Metro, is an elite division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) under its Special Operations Group. Metropolitan Division is responsible for managing the LAPD's specialized crime suppression, K-9, mounted, and SWAT units, named "platoons".

The Anaheim police shootings and protests of July 2012 involve two fatal shootings by police officers in Anaheim, California, and subsequent public protests. On July 21, Manuel Diaz was shot and killed by Anaheim Police officer Nick Bennallack after he ran from the officers. Protests ensued after the shooting. On July 22, Joel Acevedo was shot and killed by Anaheim police in an alleged exchange of gunfire, making the seventh fatal shooting by an officer in Anaheim in twelve months. Both shootings were ruled justified by the Orange County District Attorney's Office, but a federal jury later found Officer Bennallack guilty of excessive force.

Christopher Jordan Dorner was a former officer of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) who, beginning on February 3, 2013, committed a series of killings against the LAPD in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County and San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California. The victims were law enforcement officers and the daughter of a retired police captain. Dorner killed four people and wounded three others. On February 12, Dorner was fatally shot during a standoff with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department after a shootout in the San Bernardino Mountains.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) is the police union representing Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers up to the rank of lieutenant. LAPPL has a membership of 9,900 sworn officers.

Jacquelyn Phillips Lacey is an American politician who served as the District Attorney of Los Angeles County from December 3, 2012 to December 7, 2020. Lacey is the first woman, and first African-American, to serve as LA District Attorney since the office was created in 1850.

The Ferguson unrest was a series of protests and riots which began in Ferguson, Missouri on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by FPD officer Darren Wilson. The unrest sparked a vigorous debate in the United States about the relationship between law enforcement officers and Black Americans, the militarization of police, and the use-of-force law in Missouri and nationwide. Continuing activism expanded the issues by including modern-day debtors prisons, for-profit policing, and school segregation.

Ezell Ford, a 25-year-old African-American man, died from multiple gunshot wounds after being shot by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers in Florence, Los Angeles, California on August 11, 2014. In the weeks and months that followed, Ford's shooting triggered multiple demonstrations and a lawsuit by Ford's family claiming $75 million in damages.

The killing of Charley Leundeu Keunang, a 43-year-old Cameroonian national, occurred in Los Angeles, California, on March 1, 2015. He was shot by three Los Angeles Police Department officers.

The Los Angeles Police Department Cadet Program, known informally as the LAPD Cadets, is a cadet program run and sponsored by the Los Angeles Police Department for youth aged 13 to 17. The cadet program is similar in nature to the police explorer programs that are present in many police departments through the Learning for Life program.

On July 21, 2018, a hostage incident occurred at a Trader Joe's store in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. 28-year-old Gene Evin Atkins, armed and fleeing police, crashed into a utility pole and ran into the nearby store. He fired at two pursuing police officers during the pursuit and after the crash; the two officers returned fire in Atkins's direction, hitting and killing a store employee, Melyda Corado, and hitting Atkins in the left arm. After escaping into Trader Joe's, Atkins barricaded himself and the rest of the store's patrons and employees inside the store. By the end of the incident, Atkins was arrested for various criminal felonies.

References

↑ Park, Madison (February 23, 2017). "Protests break out after off-duty LAPD officer fires gun in scuffle with teens". CNN . Time Warner . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
↑ Shyong, Frank; Etehad, Melissa; Mather, Kate; Hamilton, Matt (February 23, 2017). "300 protest in Anaheim after videos show off-duty LAPD officer firing gun in dispute with teens". Los Angeles Times . Tribune Media . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
↑ McDade, Mary Beth; Gutierrez-Jaime, Nisha (February 22, 2017). "Hundreds Protest in Anaheim Over Altercation Between Teenager and Off-Duty LAPD Officer Who Fired Gun; 24 People Arrested". KTLA . The CW . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
1 2 3 4 5 Haire, Chris; Sudock, Joshua (February 23, 2017). "Protesters gather in Anaheim over LAPD officer firing gun during confrontation with teens". Orange County Register . Digital First Media . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
↑ Vo, Thy (2018-01-25). "No Criminal Charges for Off-Duty LAPD Officer Who Fired Gun in 2017 Altercation With Anaheim Teens". Voice of OC. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
↑ Jamieson, Alastair; Abdelkader, Rima (February 23, 2017). "Protests in Anaheim After Off-Duty Cop Fires Gun During Clash With Teens". NBC News . NBC . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
↑ Vo, Thy (2018-01-25). "No Criminal Charges for Off-Duty LAPD Officer Who Fired Gun in 2017 Altercation With Anaheim Teens". Voice of OC. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
↑ "Family Drops Fed Suit Against Anaheim and LAPD". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved 2021-01-27.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Park, Madison (February 23, 2017). "Protests break out after off-duty LAPD officer fires gun in scuffle with teens". CNN . Time Warner . Retrieved February 23, 2017.

[2] Shyong, Frank; Etehad, Melissa; Mather, Kate; Hamilton, Matt (February 23, 2017). "300 protest in Anaheim after videos show off-duty LAPD officer firing gun in dispute with teens". Los Angeles Times . Tribune Media . Retrieved February 23, 2017.

[3] McDade, Mary Beth; Gutierrez-Jaime, Nisha (February 22, 2017). "Hundreds Protest in Anaheim Over Altercation Between Teenager and Off-Duty LAPD Officer Who Fired Gun; 24 People Arrested". KTLA . The CW . Retrieved February 23, 2017.

[oc_register_1-4] 1 2 3 4 5 Haire, Chris; Sudock, Joshua (February 23, 2017). "Protesters gather in Anaheim over LAPD officer firing gun during confrontation with teens". Orange County Register . Digital First Media . Retrieved February 23, 2017.

[5] Vo, Thy (2018-01-25). "No Criminal Charges for Off-Duty LAPD Officer Who Fired Gun in 2017 Altercation With Anaheim Teens". Voice of OC. Retrieved 2021-01-27.

[6] Jamieson, Alastair; Abdelkader, Rima (February 23, 2017). "Protests in Anaheim After Off-Duty Cop Fires Gun During Clash With Teens". NBC News . NBC . Retrieved February 23, 2017.

[7] Vo, Thy (2018-01-25). "No Criminal Charges for Off-Duty LAPD Officer Who Fired Gun in 2017 Altercation With Anaheim Teens". Voice of OC. Retrieved 2021-01-27.

[8] "Family Drops Fed Suit Against Anaheim and LAPD". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved 2021-01-27.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]