This particular protest started at the Staples Center on Tuesday night. I arrived a few minutes too late, police had already declared an unlawful assembly and arrested a handful of protestors.
A group of around 50 people, clad in all black with helmets sporting either ACAB or ANTIFA, splintered off from the main group and began to march south down Figueroa Street.
Staying on the southbound lanes, they blocked traffic and marched down to the corner of Washington Boulevard.
This was a turning point, as the group’s numbers and energy had dissipated, and they had picked up a tail of a dozen LAPD motorcycle officers.
An organizer with a bullhorn told everyone they couldn’t keep it safe and to go home, effectively dispersing the protest without the LAPD.
A contingent of the men and women in black began to walk down W. 18th Street, half a black away.
I saw this as my opportunity to get one of them to talk.
Huddled on the steps of an Adventist church, they talked about other plans for the night, maybe gathering at a friend’s house to plan for tomorrow.
The calm before the storm, as it were.
After a few minutes of silence, three personnel carrying trucks rounded the corner, a dozen riot officers clinging to each, like possums on their mother’s back.
The street was now blocked to the north, so south they went.
Too late! Half a riot police began closing off those streets.
Let’s keep in mind that, at this point, there was no protest. The only people out on the street are a dozen or so ANTIFA “soldiers” and a smattering of others just trying to go home. There was no dispersal order given for that protest or on this street.
And for those who might say, “Well, you shouldn’t have been in the street if you didn’t want to get arrested,” the LAPD saw fit to deploy more than a hundred cops, three dozen police vehicles, and three helicopters for a protest that wasn’t happening anymore.
What does this communicate to people who want to take to the streets? It tells, as loudly and plainly as possible, that if you want to protest, you must be prepared to be hunted down by the LAPD. You don’t have to be a protestor, or even be remotely involved, to end up in cuffs.
One of my fellow detainees had just left his apartment on 18th to go to the corner store, and he just happened to be near people suspected of protesting.
And if you are arrested, good luck.
My processing was quick, especially considering they didn’t read us our Miranda rights, and relatively painless: a pat down, citation and release in half an hour.
Others were not so lucky. Another demonstration had sprung up in response to us being detained, and LAPD eventually broke that line, driving protestors onto the LATTC Metro Station.
Those unlucky people were lined up against the wall for nearly an hour before they were herded onto a school bus converted into an LAPD paddy wagon.
What continually struck me throughout the experience of being arrested and then watching others detained was the futility of it all.
I understand that the LAPD was on a tactical alert for election night, I understand that civil disobedience will always be countered by law enforcement.
But the only reason that second group was arrested was because people came back after they learned we were being arrested. Everyone was already on their way home, it was over.
But they can’t deploy all of that human and vehicular power without having something to show for it. The futility of the scale of their response is what led to my arrest. They have to justify that show of force in one way or another, and I just happened to be that justification on election night 2020.