Hundreds of activists gathered Wednesday in protest of video allegedly showing an off-duty LAPD police officer firing a gun in front of a group of minors.
Many chanted, “Don’t shoot the kids,” and “Arrest violent cops!” as they stood outside of the Los Angeles Police Department cop’s Anaheim home.
The Huffington Post reports that two teenagers were arrested in connection to Tuesday’s confrontation. But Activist Gaby Hernandez says she wants the officer arrested for “child abuse” in relation to the incident.
Two videos captured by witnesses shows a dispute between a White man and a 13-year-old Latino boy. In the footage, the man, later identified as a plainclothes LAPD officer, can be seen pulling the child by his collar as a group of minors repeatedly ask him to let the teen boy go.
The officer’s name has not been released, but the department did verify that he was an employee of the LAPD.
In what looks to be an effort to help the boy, one kid rushes at both the officer and the teen, causing them to fall in a bush. Another teen then attempts to punch the officer but misses. The officer then pulls a gun from his waistband and a single shot rings out.
Police arrive at the scene later.
While the video doesn’t show what led up to the incident, in a press release police said it all started when a group of kids walked across the officer’s property on Tuesday around 2:40 p.m.
“The confrontation began over ongoing issues with juveniles walking across the officer’s property. During the confrontation, a 13-year-old male is alleged to have threatened to shoot the off-duty officer, at which time the officer attempted to detain the male until APD arrived,” Anaheim PD said. “This led to a physical confrontation between the off-duty officer and several other juveniles. During the confrontation the officer discharged his firearm one time.”
Demonstrators who gathered where the incident took place condemned the officer’s actions.
“If it would have been a [white kid] this would have never happened,” Naui Ocelotl Huitzilopochtli said. “White kids don’t [get arrested]. Only people of Mexican descent or Black people.”
