City attorney files charges against protesters who disrupted L.A. City Council meeting
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office has filed five lawsuits, one criminal case and one administrative complaint against activists who disrupted the Los Angeles City Council meeting on Wednesday.
The five lawsuits were filed in Los Angeles Municipal Court on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice.
The first four complaints were filed on behalf of protesters who were arrested on suspicion of civil rights and immigration law violations after they interrupted the meeting, according to the department.
The complaints claim that the protesters disrupted the meeting by shouting, screaming or using other rude and offensive behavior, according to the Department of Justice.
“In short, the protests turned the meeting into a circus and it was a distraction from actual matters before the meeting,” said the department’s civil rights division prosecutor, Catherine Garcia in a statement.
The complaints say that the protesters, who were trying to make a point about the city’s budget, disrupted the meeting by trying to shout over others who spoke and by talking to staff during the meeting, which resulted in a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The fifth complaint was filed by a woman who claims that she was detained by police officers after she was approached by members of her group outside the library at the city’s Central Library.
In the complaint, filed by the woman, the woman claims that she was approached by a man who she believed was a member of the group from the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, according to the DOJ. The man was later identified as Michael Johnson, who has made news for his activism in the community.
The woman says that one of the officers approached her on the street and told her that he thought that Johnson had a permit to protest outside the library. The officer allegedly told the woman that she had to leave the area to allow him to investigate, according to the complaint. The DOJ says that the woman declined the officer’s offer.
The Department of Justice says that the woman has since sued the city for allegedly violating her free speech rights under the First Amendment.
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Unified School Board voted to put forward a resolution declaring the city’s public schools to be “a public forum” for the public to