Los Angeles – Police Chief William Bratton said Wednesday that he was “gravely concerned” about tactics officers used in dispersing a crowd at an immigration- rights rally, where police wielded batons and fired 240 “less-than-lethal” rounds at demonstrators and reporters.
Bratton promised an aggressive probe as outrage grew over police actions Tuesday that left at least 10 civilians – including seven reporters – with minor injuries. Eight officers also were treated for minor injuries.
“The treatment you received yesterday from some Los Angeles police officers … we can’t tolerate and won’t tolerate,” Bratton told reporters at a City Hall news conference.
Bratton and top LAPD officials said problems in Tuesday’s incident included how police issued the order for the crowd to clear an area.
Bratton said the initial order, made only in English, appears to have come from a helicopter, but it was not clear whether it was hovering over the park or a crowd of agitators nearby.
At least 240 rounds made of foam, sponge or fiber were fired as police swept through the park after clashing with the agitators.
“Two hundred and forty rounds with no arrests is of grave concern to me,” Bratton said, acknowledging that the rounds fired were not related to the arrests of eight adults and one juvenile near the scene.
“Our officers gave a legal dispersal order and were met with violence. In the coming days, it will become clear what transpired,” police union chief Bob Baker said in a statement.
In footage captured by Fox News and Telemundo reporters, officers can be seen grabbing Fox reporter Christina Gonzalez and forcefully pushing her as she crouched to protect her camerawoman, who had fallen after being struck by a police baton.
Telemundo anchor Pedro Sevcec said that at one point, an officer took a camera and threw it about 15 or 20 feet. Then officers started hitting reporters and cameramen with their batons.
