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By Inglewood Today Staff
On Tuesday, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of Generations held a rally and press conference in front of LAPD Headquarters at 100 W. 1st Street in Los Angeles.
Community members, including family members of those killed by the LAPD demanded an end to police violence and the rejection of the militarization of policing through projects like “Cop City.”
The rally, organized by the Youth Justice Coalition and Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, is part of a national day of action taking place across more than 25 cities in the U.S. It is designed to bring together families, activists, and community organizations calling for justice and systemic change. Los Angeles continues to be at the forefront of the movement against police brutality, with its long history of police violence, from the beating of Rodney King to the killings of Ezell Ford, Wakeisha Wilson, and others.
Speakers included Helen Jones, mother of John Horton; Quintis Moore, father of Grechario Mack; Leticia Barron, mother of Mauricio Barron; Christopher Okamoto’s mother Tammy Nash Perry; Melina Abdullah, Black Lives Matter Grassroots and Black Lives Matter Los Angeles; Tauheedah Shakur, Youth Justice Coalition; Joseph Williams, Director of Students Deserve; and Greg Akili, Black Lives Matter Grassroots and Black Lives Matter Los Angeles
October 22 has been a national day of action since 1996, highlighting the ongoing crisis of police violence across the U.S. The movement to #StopCopNation is a vehicle to advance a unified struggle for liberation and against the expansion of fascism by building solidarity amongst movements for justice that are, at their roots, interconnected and interdependent.
Stop Cop Nation is a call to action to raise awareness and stop construction of militarized police training centers across America.
At $90M, Atlanta’s planned ‘Cop City’ is expected to become one of the largest police training centers in the United States. The influx of these facilities parallels the emergence of the Defund the Police movement, which—following the murder of George Floyd in 2020—saw thousands of people across the country mobilize to decry police violence against Black and Brown communities.
Independent Presidential Candidate, Dr. Cornel West said in an Instagram video on Monday: “We’ve got to fight militarism in all of its various forms. It could be in Gaza, it could be in Haiti, in Sudan, (or) the Congo. It could be in 86 sites in the American empire.”
This rally comes amid growing concerns about LAPD’s budget, which consumes roughly 50% of the city’s General Fund, while vital community services like housing and mental health care are underfunded. Families, advocates, and community leaders will demand the end of excessive police spending and the redirection of funds to critical social services.
Organizations against police brutality are calling for:
- Justice for those killed by LAPD and LASD, including John Horton, Ezell Ford, and others.
- Rejection of the proposed appointment of LAPD Chief of Police Jim McDonnell
- Rejection of militarized police 86 training centers like Cop” City in Atlanta, Georgia.
- Investment in community-based alternatives to policing, including housing, mental health services, and youth programs.
- Removing police from schools and creating police-free zones in vulnerable communities.
- Prosecution of officers involved in police killings and excessive force.
For more information about the Youth Justice Coalition, contact Emilio Zapién at emilio@youth4justice.org or (323) 616-8016. Connect with Nati Knobler of Black Lives Matter Grassroots at nati@blmgrassroots.org or (916) 937-3074.
For over 19 years, the Youth Justice Coalition has been building an abolitionist youth, family and incarcerated people’s movement to end mass incarceration, deportation, and police terror.
Black Lives Matter- Los Angeles was founded July 13, 2013 following acquittal of the murderer of #TrayvonMartin. Eleven years later, BLMLA, and the larger organization, Black Lives Matter Grassroots remains committed to the work to end state sanctioned violence against Black people.