ANGER IN LOS ANGELES: Peaceful protests over Trayvon Martin verdict flare into violence as demonstrators jump on cars, break storefront windows

 A peaceful protest at a park southwest of downtown L.A. was marred by violence after some 150 angry demonstrators broke away and began smashing windows, jumping on cars and attacking bystanders.

 

 

 

PAUL BUCK/EPA A group of people in Los Angeles attempt to tear down a fence after attending a prayer rally Monday to protest the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial.

 A peaceful protest of the Trayvon Martin verdict in Los Angeles unraveled into violence late Monday after a large group broke off and began smashing store windows, vandalizing cars and attacking bystanders, authorities said.

More than 300 LAPD cops flooded the Crenshaw district in southwest L.A. after some 150 people splintered off from a prayer vigil in Leimert Park and blazed a trail of anarchy along nearby Crenshaw Boulevard, according to local reports.

Ringo Chiu/ZUMAPRESS.com Protesters jump on a pickup truck in Los Angeles on Monday.

 

Helicopter footage showed angry rioters jumping on cars, breaking storefront windows, setting fires in curbside trash cans and attacking bystanders, including two people sitting on a bus bench at Slauson Avenue.

Several of the rioters stormed a Wal-Mart and a mall at the Crenshaw Baldwin Hills shopping plaza, where witnesses said the goons stole merchandise, knocked down store displays and smashed furniture, local NBC4 reported.

 

JASON REDMOND/REUTERS Los Angeles police arrest an individual after a peaceful protest supporting Trayvon Martin in Leimert Park turned violent.

 

"The sounds I was hearing were plants being thrown, like the potted plants being broken on the floor…they were turning chairs over, they were throwing down garbage cans - whatever was moveable in the mall they were turning it over," one witness told local NBC4.

Among those targeted by violence were a TV reporter and a cameraman from a local CBS station, The Los Angeles Times reported. One of the journalists suffered a concussion in the attack and was taken to a local hospital, the Times reported.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images LAPD officers in riot gear detain a man after disturbances in the streets around Leimert Park following a prayer vigil protesting the acquittal of George Zimmerman. Since the verdict was announced thousands across the nation have protested the outcome of the case.

 

At around 10 p.m., cops officially declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and most of the streets were cleared within the hour, according to local reports. At least 13 people were arrested on charges ranging from vandalism to assault.
No one was seriously injured, police said.
 

 

JONATHAN ALCORN/REUTERS Angry demonstrators jump on a car on Crenshaw Boulevard.

 

The gathering had begun as a peaceful prayer rally at Leimert Park, with protesters chanting and singing to demonstrate their disappointment with a Florida jury's decision to acquit George Zimmerman for the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

"It originally started out as a peaceful protest…and we certainly support that, in fact encourage people to peacefully protest, exercise their First Amendment rights," LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith told local NBC4.

 

JASON REDMOND/REUTERSAt least 13 people were arrested on charges of vandalism and assault.

 

"But what happened here unfortunately is some people took this as an opportunity to break into buildings, to jump on cars, to commit acts of vandalism, to assault other people and to commit some thefts from some of the buildings here."

At a news conference and in tweets late Monday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti blamed the violence on a small group of angry protesters and urged L.A. residents to demonstrate their pain over the verdict peacefully.

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images Demonstrators hold placards and shout slogans while marching in Los Angeles on Monday. Local leaders and civil rights activists urged participants to remain peaceful as they express frustration with the trial's outcome.

 

"'Nonviolence is a powerful & justweapon..It is a sword that heals-MLK.'" Garcetti tweeted, quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. "Exercise 1st Amendment and practice peace in City of Angels tonight."
"We should respect Martin family's call for peace," he wrote later.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck echoed the mayor's call in a tweet: "Violence is never the answer. Urging all protestors around LA 2let peace prevail. This is OUR City and we need to work 2gether 2 preserve it."