Activists Demand Firing of LAPD's Ezell Ford Shooters

Dozens of people critical of police shootings urged Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck today to fire the two officers who fatally shot 25-year-old Ezell Ford, and to do more to punish officers who use excessive force.

The first Police Commission meeting of the year grew heated as members of a group protesting under the motto “Black Lives Matter” demanded that Beck fire Sharlton Wampler, a 12-year veteran of the LAPD, and Antonio Villegas, an eight-year veteran. One speaker at the meeting lashed out at Beck, calling him a “coward.”

Wampler and Villegas have been on administrative duty since shooting Ford on Aug. 11 in South Los Angeles.

Protesters have been gathering regularly outside police headquarters since autopsy results were released last week showing Ford was shot once in the right side of his back, once in the right arm and once in the right abdomen.

Two protesters were arrested Monday, with police saying the pair disobeyed orders and tried to breach a barricade around LAPD headquarters. The women insisted they were only trying to deliver a letter to Beck.

Access around the LAPD headquarters has been restricted by metal gates, with officers standing guard during today’s commission meeting to allow a limited number of people into the building.

About 50 people filled the audience seats in the board room. Several addressed the Police Commission on behalf of people killed by officers, including Mark-Anthony Johnson, who said he was speaking as Ford.

“My name is Ezell Ford, a 25-year-old black male from Los Angeles,” Johnson said. “I come from a community that knew me well, a community that loved me. I come from a community that knew I had a mental health condition and a county that believes that harassing people with mental health conditions is public safety.”

Johnson said protesters will continue occupying the sidewalk in front of LAPD headquarters until they get a response from Beck and other top LAPD brass regarding their demands.

“We’re demanding justice,” he said. “Black lives matter. It’s not a request. It’s a paradigm shift.”

“Instead of every 28 hours a black person being killed in this country, we’re calling for every 28 hours an officer be terminated by law enforcement,” he said.

Brandi Brown, who said she was a friend of Ford’s, pleaded to Beck not to let officers off the hook for shooting civilians.

“You guys need to stop and think (about) what’s really happening to us - - you’re taking people out of our lives,” she said. “You cannot keep killing people and go off by saying it’s justified ... that’s not right.”

Her voice cracking with emotion, Brown added, “We are here for a reason.”

“We all have pain in our hearts. We all are angry,” she said. “You guys, please, just hear me, when I say this, just stop this. It does not make any sense.”

In addition to calling for the two officers to be fired, the group also demanded that the Police Commission urge District Attorney Jackie Lacey and Attorney General Kamala Harris to investigate and press charges against officers who use excessive force. They also requested the release of the autopsy report on 37-year-old Omar Abrego, who died in August about 12 hours after a struggle with a pair of LAPD officers who had pulled him over.

The group also said they want the police to work with the community on a plan for how officers should respond to calls.

• City News Service