No charges have been filed against two people arrested at a widely-reported demonstration outside St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California, Discrepancy Report has learned. The incident in which a handful of protesters celebrated the shooting of law enforcement officers caught the attention of political pundits and media outlets throughout the world. But much of the coverage was not based on facts. In an effort to clarify the story, Discrepancy Report investigated the case including claims from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that protesters blocked the emergency entrance and exits to the hospital and that a reporter allegedly obstructed deputies.
During the protest, which started late the night of Sept. 12, some of the demonstrators were caught on camera yelling, “I hope they (expletive) die!” “(Expletive) the police!” “It’s a celebration!” and “I hope that (expletive) dies!” They were near the hospital where two L.A. County deputies were being treated for critical gunshot wounds. The sheriff’s department said suspected gunman Deonte Lee Murray, 36, ambushed the deputies earlier that evening while they sat in their car outside a transit station in the nearby city of Compton. The deputies were released from the hospital on Sept. 16 and 21 but each had a “long road to recovery” according to a tweet from the sheriff’s department. Murray has since pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges.
Videos of the demonstration recorded by three separate sources including one of the protesters appear to show a group of four to five people shouting expletives, taunting law enforcement officers, and waving flags outside the hospital.
“Y’all are gonna die one by one. This ain’t gonna stop,” one protester says to deputies guarding the facility. ”You’re next with the (expletive) Hot Pocket, (expletive)!”
At one point in the footage, the protesters try to walk onto the property before being stopped by security personnel and deputies.
“They got these pigs out here,” one of the demonstrators, Kevin Price, 60, says in a cell phone video. “They are telling us that we cannot come in here and see these individuals who’s been shot down at the mother-(expletive) train station.”
Price was arrested on suspicion of unlawful assembly according to a sheriff’s department spokesperson. Court records show no charges have been filed against him in the case. He was released without bail less than five hours after his arrest according to the jail’s website.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said he could find no record of the case being submitted to his agency, and the sheriff’s department would not answer questions as to whether it was sent to the DA.
In a YouTube video published on Sept. 13, Price, of Africa Town Coalition, acknowledges that the group “came with four people that night.”
He claims that another man who happened to be there shooting video joined them during the demonstration but it’s unclear to what extent the man participated.
“We are not Black Lives Matter,” Price says in the YouTube video. “We have an association with Black Lives Matter. We know some Black Lives Matter. You know, we’ve been on some actions with Black Lives Matter, but we have our own political agendas.”
The group Black Lives Matter Los Angeles did not immediately respond to three emails sent Monday and Wednesday seeking comment on Price’s claims.
Josie Huang, a reporter for the public radio station KPCC, was arrested on suspicion of obstructing deputies while shooting cell phone video of Price’s arrest. Prosecutors declined to file charges against her.
A charge evaluation worksheet the DA’s office filed on Sept. 22 says in part:
“It does not appear that (Huang) was intentionally attempting to interfere with the deputies, but merely trying to record the occurrence. While she was in close proximity to deputies making an arrest, and while deputies had reason to ask her to back up, Ms. Huang was not given the opportunity to comply with their demand.”
The DA’s office notes that Huang was wearing a KPCC work identification card which the sheriff’s department acknowledged during a news conference.
“It also appears that at least one deputy heard her say she was a reporter because he can be heard to say, ‘Do what you’re told if you’re a reporter,’” the charge evaluation worksheet says.
The account differs from tweets the sheriff’s department published early the morning of Sept. 13 that say in part:
“After deputies issued a dispersal order for the unlawful assembly of a group of protesters blocking the hospital emergency entrance & exits, a male adult protester refused to comply & cooperate…During his arrest, a struggle ensued at which time a female adult ran towards the deputies, ignored repeated commands to stay back as they struggled with the male and interfered with the arrest…The female adult, who was later identified as a member of the press, did not identify herself as press and later admitted she did not have proper press credentials on her person. Both individuals have been arrested for 148 P.C.”
Discrepancy Report contacted around 40 ambulance companies in Los Angeles County and none reported being blocked by demonstrators that night. They included companies that Susan Boyles, a hospital spokeswoman, said regularly frequented the facility.
“St. Francis Medical Center staff was not involved in responding to incidents that occurred outside our property,” Boyles said in an email. “Our ER went on a brief diversion until the situation was deemed under control. We defer to the ambulance companies and LASD for details on how they handled the event.”
Boyles did not immediately respond to follow-up questions regarding what the emergency room’s “brief diversion” entailed, how long it lasted, and whether any ambulances and/or patients were turned away during that time.
A tweet the sheriff’s department published early the morning of Sept. 13 said:
“To the protesters blocking the entrance & exit of the HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM yelling ‘We hope they die’ referring to 2 LA Sheriff’s ambushed today in #Compton: DO NOT BLOCK EMERGENCY ENTRIES & EXITS TO THE HOSPITAL. People’s lives are at stake when ambulances can’t get through.”
Discrepancy Report editor-in-chief Joe Douglass filed a public records request with the sheriff’s department on Sept. 22 seeking all police reports related to the incidents described in the agency’s tweets mentioned above. The agency has not yet fulfilled the request.
Additionally, the sheriff’s information bureau, which acts as a daily liaison between media entities and the sheriff’s department, declined to answer multiple questions regarding whether any ambulances or people were blocked from entering and/or exiting the hospital, if there was any surveillance video of the described incidents, and how many demonstrators deputies saw present during the protest.
“As stated previously your request has been forwarded to PRARequests@——-,” an information bureau spokesperson said in an email on Oct. 20. “SIB does not control when and how they respond to your request.”
That day, the sheriff’s department sent Douglass a letter asking for more time to respond to the request. But as previously noted the agency has still not fulfilled it.
The letter says in part:
“Although the Sheriff’s Department is obligated to respond within 10 days of receipt of the request, this time limit is subject to an extension of up to fourteen (14) days under the following circumstances as defined in Government Code $ 6253(C)(1).
The need to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request, and the need to appropriately examine potentially voluminous amounts of records.
In addition, please note that we may redact or withhold records if there are any exempt matters impacting the privacy rights of individuals (California Constitution, article I, $1, and Government Code SS 6254(k) and 6255(a)). Other exempt matters will include those protected by the attorney-client, official information and deliberative process privileges, pending litigation exemption, personnel exemption, or other matters otherwise protected from disclosure by law or where the particular facts and circumstances warrant nondisclosure of the information (Government Code SS 6254(b), (c), (k), and 6255(a)).
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is receiving an exorbitant amount of PRA requests and is currently experiencing an extended delay in processing them. Requests are processed in the order received; you will be notified when we start processing your request. Thank you for your patience.”
