It was deliberate as a peaceable day of mourning for a Watts neighborhood matriarch many knew merely as “Mama Curtis.”
As an alternative, attendees mentioned, a memorial in Watts over the weekend for 94-year-old Earlene Curtis descended into chaos when Los Angeles law enforcement officials swarmed the block the place the gathering came about. Cellphone video confirmed the officers wielding batons and shoving individuals down earlier than hauling somebody away on what the LAPD later mentioned was a felony arrest warrant.
The LAPD response has drawn outrage from Curtis’ household, Watts residents and the native metropolis council member’s workplace, who mentioned the overwhelming present of power was unwarranted on an evening when mourners had gathered to recollect and grieve.
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An LAPD spokesman mentioned two separate inner critiques of the incident are underway.
For a lot of the day Saturday, individuals had been stopping by at Curtis’ residence to pay their respects, in line with her granddaughter, Erica Dantzler.
Dantzler mentioned her grandmother — who died the evening earlier than at a hospital — was a fixture within the space for many years, identified for doting on the neighborhood’s youngsters as if they have been her personal. She was additionally an advocate for peace in her group, serving for years on the Watts gang job power, a volunteer group of residents, law enforcement officials and religion leaders who meet commonly to debate options to the neighborhood’s issues.
An solely baby herself, Curtis had had six youngsters and at the least 90 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, in line with Dantzler. Anticipating plenty of mourners and relations, Dantzler mentioned she shared particulars in regards to the memorial with Councilmember Tim McOsker’s workplace, which alerted the LAPD to what was happening.
So it got here as a shock, she mentioned, when police confirmed up on the occasion.
She mentioned she tried to strategy among the officers for a proof, however was ignored. As an alternative, she mentioned, they gathered on the sidewalk exterior the Curtis residence and commenced pushing individuals again.
They “remoted us off [and] put up yellow tape prefer it was a criminal offense scene,” she mentioned, including: “They stored like antagonizing on us.”
As time went on, the group bought an increasing number of stressed, she mentioned, and a few individuals started confronting officers. Movies of the standoff circulating on-line confirmed officers, some in riot helmets or holding Tasers, dealing with off with memorial-goers, some yelling angrily within the officers’ faces. In a single recording, a tow truck is seen leaving the scene with somebody’s automobile.
“We have been met with improper searches, detainment with out trigger, and a whole lack of communication or fundamental dignity. Our ache was ignored. Our security was threatened,” in line with one individual’s Fb submit in regards to the incident.
In an announcement to The Instances, police spokesman Capt. Michael Bland mentioned officers from close by Southeast Space station responded to the 10400 block of Juniper Avenue — a slender one-way road close to the Jordan Downs housing growth. Bland mentioned a number of vehicles that have been double-parked exterior the house, which have been “obstructing protected passage for emergency responders, in addition to residents.”
Of their “efforts to handle the scenario” on the scene about 9 p.m. on Saturday, officers arrested somebody on suspicion of illegally possessing a firearm, he mentioned.
Bland mentioned the division had opened an inner investigation after receiving a grievance from a group member, and individually has initiated a evaluate of the officers’ use of power. “Each personnel issues can be investigated completely and reviewed comprehensively, in adherence to our dedication to keep up accountability and transparency,” Bland mentioned.
In an try to make sure that “group voices are heard,” Bland mentioned, division officers reached out to “group members and key stakeholders to handle issues associated to this incident, in addition to foster dialogue.”
McOsker, the councilmember who represents the realm, mentioned he was troubled that the LAPD responded with such power within the space close to the Jordan Downs growth.
Among the many metropolis’s oldest housing tasks and lengthy one in all its most troubled, the realm was one of many founding websites of the LAPD’s heralded Group Security Partnership, or CSP, program, which prioritizes collaboration between law enforcement officials and group members over making arrests in neighborhoods hit by violence.
“The truth that Southeast patrol officers didn’t lead with a CSP-type of high quality is de facto disappointing,” McOsker mentioned.
He attended a gathering Tuesday afternoon at Morning Star Baptist Church, the place Curtis was a member, with LAPD officers, Curtis’ household and different group members.
“It’s a miss on LAPD’s half,” he mentioned. “When you may have a 94-year-old girl who’s a mom to the group and who’s beloved by plenty of of us, individuals will present up.”
The one rationalization he’s obtained from the LAPD thus far about what occurred was that there had been an “inner breakdown in communication,” he mentioned.
He mentioned he additionally desires the division to create clearer protocols for grieving households to report the planning of a memorial occasion or funeral to keep away from an analogous scenario.
On the identical time, he mentioned, he was heartened by the willingness of LAPD Cmdr. Ryan Whiteman, to publicly apologize to Curtis’ household Monday for the police response with out getting defensive.
“Whereas it’s a horrible disappointment that it occurred, that was the a part of the assembly that I used to be glad… and regarded the group within the eye and mentioned, we’re sorry,” McOsker mentioned.
Tanya Dorsey, who runs a nonprofit outreach group subsequent to the close by Nickerson Gardens tasks, mentioned she didn’t know Curtis, however understood her household’s frustration after watching a video of the LAPD’s response on Instagram.
It’s no secret that police routinely monitor funerals and repass gatherings the place they think gang members may very well be current, partly in an effort to push back violence.
Based on Dorsey, in Nickerson Gardens, officers are identified to indicate as much as harass and arrest individuals for probation violations, ingesting in public and different low-level offenses — encounters she mentioned can escalate as feelings are operating excessive.
“They know that [when] individuals go away within the ‘hood, they already know that there’s going to be a candlelight vigil they usually know there’s gonna be a repass,” she mentioned.
Jorja Leap, a UCLA professor who has studied Watts extensively, mentioned that the most recent encounter underscores the tenuousness of the positive aspects made in recent times by the LAPD.
“Watts desires to belief, however it will probably’t overlook previous historical past,” she mentioned. “These relationships can’t be taken as a right for that, and Mama Curtis is a reminder of that.”
