Goeiemore, LA
In the days following the storms of the Capitol in Washington, DC, the FBI issues a memorandum outlining plans for armed protests in all 50 countries leading to the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
These uprisings have not materialized so far this week – neither have in Sacramento, where members of the National Guard has been stationed since last week – but local law enforcement is still strengthen security for the events of today in Washington.
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced yesterday that Los Angeles police officers will be in increasing numbers, and that 200 troops from the California National Guard are ready.
“If acts of vandalism or violence occur, we will act immediately,” LAPD chief Michel Moore told the same news conference.
The plans were made in part with the benefit of reflection. The rioters who violently tore down on June 6 broke windows and threatened lawmakers in DC planned, for weeks in public. The event even had its own name and website: the Wild Protest. (The site has since been removed.)
But top law enforcement officials at the House, Senate and Pentagon requests repeatedly rejected allegedly that day of the National Guard, and the requests made by the Capitol police during the days before the riot were allegedly not transferred to those who could approve the temptation.
Since that day, many activists, journalists and experts have compared law enforcement action during Capitol riot on their response to Black Lives Matter protests, which were regularly flooded with members of the National Guard. LA saw this reaction firsthand when wardens covered downtown while protest against systemic racism and police brutality.
The police also regularly appeared in riots and used methods of violence in the police language, which is called ‘less deadly’. kill, blind or maimed victims. Journalists at our organization were sometimes on the receiving end.
It remains to be seen how law enforcement – and protesters – will behave during today’s events.
Read on for more information on what’s happening in LA today, and stay safe out there.
What else do you need to know today
- From fear to misinformation to denial, the way people respond to pests has not changed much in the last few centuries.
- In South LA, gangs are invading try to slow down a dramatic increase in gun violence.
- Students have been more engaged in civic education following racial calculations, the siege at the Capitol and Trump’s second indictment.
- A red flag warning is in force today for much of Southern California due to strong Santa Ana winds, moderately low humidity and very dry plants and grasses.
- The Long Beach Convention Center parking lot – locally known as the “Elephant Lot” – is open as a mass COVID-19 vaccination site.
- California’s COVID-19 positivity rate and hospitalizations are finally go down after a holiday boom.
- Vaccinations for vaccines are open to residents 65 years and older – pending availability.
Before you leave … Here’s what you need to do this week
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have turned our previous weekly event column into a non-event column; in other words, a list of visual and / or socially distant activities. We will keep it that way as long as social orders and stay-at-home orders are in effect.
Some of the activities on our radar include watching Groundlings’ storytellers reveal deep, dark and hilarious secrets, celebrating women – owned restaurants with a takeaway and watching photos taken during The Year of Not Knowing was created. Look at the events, and more.
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