Hollywood Joins Nationwide Protests Against Ferguson, Garner Decisions

Hollywood Joins Nationwide Protests Against Ferguson, Garner Decisions
Adelle Nazarian

Hundreds of demonstrators convened on Hollywood Boulevard at noon on Saturday to protest peacefully and stage a die-in expressing their frustrations over grand jury decisions not to indict the officers involved in recent civilian deaths resulting from a variety of different scenarios. Protests have been staged across the nation following news of the deaths and decisions that have been dominating headlines and dialogue.

A knife-wielding suspect was shot and killed by police the night before the protest, just blocks away from the site of Saturday’s demonstrations, according to the local CBS News affiliate in Los Angeles. He had reportedly been non-compliant with officers’ orders, was shot in the head, and pronounced dead shortly after at the hospital.

The protest had reportedly been planned before Friday night’s death occurred, but the die-in coincided with the location of the alleged suspect’s death on the busy intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and North Highland Avenue. Traffic in the often busy area was reportedly blocked off for quite some time as a result.

“There are a lot of guilty people but there are a lot of innocent people who are dead who didn’t deserve to be treated like animals,” an unidentified protester reportedly said, notes CBS.

Chants of “I can’t breathe,” rang through the air. Those were the last words uttered by Eric Garner who died after nonviolently resisting arrest in New York when police used a choke hold to apprehend him for illegally selling single cigarettes on the street. 

Autopsy reports noted that Garner died due to pressure placed on his neck resulting from the officer’s physical restraint on him, but other factors such as his acute and chronic bronchial asthma, underlying obesity and heart disease also likely contributed to his untimely death.

“Hands up, don’t shoot,” refrains were also shouted by demonstrators as references back to Mike Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri several months ago. The situation surrounding Brown’s death was starkly different, however: Brown had allegedly attacked a police officer before the fatal shooting.

A Facebook post by local Fox News affiliate in Los Angeles KTLA 5, captured the afternoon die-in.

The event reportedly gained attention with the help of a trending #BlackoutHollywood hashtag on Twitter, which was organized by a man named Darnell Appling after the grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer involved in Garner’s death.

Among those present on Saturday was soap opera actress Victoria Rowell:

More protests are set to take place on December 9. Rowell will reportedly be present for those as well:

Photo: @direct7000/Twitter

Follow Adelle on Twitter @AdelleNaz

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