Anti-police protestors rallied in Downtown Long Beach Sunday and brought their message to the nearby campaign office of a former LBPD officer running for City Council.
Organizers said the protest was in response to a video of an LBPD officer hitting a man’s legs with a baton as police arrested him on suspicion of trying to carjack several people. Police said the man was refusing to obey officers.
Long Beach chapters of Antifa, the People’s Revolutionary Party and the Democratic Socialists of America urged people to fight back and supported cutting the department’s funding.
“This is a call to action against the LBPD, against all police violence, and against the existence of policing,” the Long Beach Anarchist Collective said in a statement on Feb. 20.
As we prepare to show the City of Long Beach that the institutionalized terrorism of the LBPD will be defended against this Sunday 10:30 AM @ Harvey Milk Park, the PRP has composed a list of demands on Mayor Garcia and the rest of the powers that be. pic.twitter.com/A8NjlKbEsz
— Long Beach People's Collective (@lbpcollective) February 21, 2020
A small crowd gathered at Harvey Milk Park Sunday morning before the group rallied outside the Downtown police station and the campaign office of Cindy Allen, a former police officer and advertising executive who is running for the 2nd District City Council seat.
“Cindy Allen’s campaign staff scurried like roaches when they saw us coming,” DSA Long Beach tweeted. “Guess they don’t want to talk to actual LB residents!”
Big thanks to the peeps & groups who made the Stop LBPD Brutality Rally today a success! Cindy Allen’s campaign staff scurried like roaches when they saw us coming. Guess they don’t want to talk to actual LB residents! https://t.co/KAlncKfD4Q
— DSA Long Beach 🌹 🏝 (@DSALongBeach) February 23, 2020
Allen said she was at the office where about four people were phone banking. She said she felt intimidated and reported the protesters to police.
Allen said the group yelled profanity, wrote or etched messages meaning “[expletive] the police” on the building’s windows and violently tried to open the locked door.
Jordan Doering, who helped organize the protest, said the group only lightly pulled on the doors.
“When we got there we saw nobody inside & proceeded to peacefully give speeches & chant in front of the office,” he said in an email. “It is also odd that the Allen campaign would make these claims considering I watched them lock up the office & scurry off to drive away in their cars as soon as they saw the coalition coming.”
Police confirmed they were investigating anti-police vandalism found at the office. Nobody was arrested during the incident, LBPD officer Ben Hearst said.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated there were 25 volunteers inside the campaign office when in fact there were about four. Allen clarified that there were about 25 protesters outside.