Police officials have refuted an accusation that an LAPD officer repeatedly yelled “white power” and made racist hand gestures at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Hollywood last week.
The misinformation was spread via social media by Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles (BLM-LA), a sanctioned chapter of the global organizing network. The group captured a 15-second video clip of a man donning a shirt that read “Los Angeles Police” which included what looked like department logos. He appeared to be taunting activists that were protesting outside of a 24 Hour Fitness health club on Thursday.
“We have identified the individual in question related to a video involving the use of racially insensitive remarks,” LAPD announced early Friday afternoon. “As first suggested by some, this individual is not, and has never been, an LAPD officer or employee.”
The Los Angeles Times reported:
Members of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Lives Matter organization were protesting the death of Albert Ramon Dorsey, who was fatally shot by an LAPD officer inside the gym in October. As the group was protesting, it encountered the man – who appears to be of Asian descent – wearing a shirt with LAPD logos on the chest and sleeves.
In the video, the man is seen chanting “white power” repeatedly, while gesturing toward protesters. He appears to be making white power symbols with his hands.
The Times went on to claim that “protesters asked the man to verify his law enforcement status,” however, the publication failed to acknowledge BLM-LA’s tweet embedded in its article which had already incorrectly identified him as an “LAPD officer.” Other local media outlets that wrote about the video also omitted any references to BLM-LA’s false allegation.
Still, the footage attached to BLM-LA’s misleading tweet generated more than 1.2 million views. The activist group, which advocates for the abolition of police, had instructed its followers on other social media platforms to “make this video go viral” even though its description of the incident was not based in fact.
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“LAPD officer repeatedly yells ‘white power’ and throws up white power sign as he antagonizes the family of Albert Ramon Dorsey and Black Lives Matter protestors,” alleged BLM-LA.
“This is what LAPD practices and condones,” the group wrote, again inaccurately describing the individual as “off-duty LAPD.”
City officials were forced into damage control mode after the untruthful information began to disseminate throughout the country, amplified by national criminal justice reform organizers such as Shaun King, who has more than 1 million Twitter followers (the tweet has since been deleted).
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“The person shown in a video that has circulated online is not affiliated with LAPD in any way,” affirmed Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Racism has no place in our city.”
Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff described the provocateur as “just an idiot with a t-shirt.”
LAPD said in a statement: “The apparel worn by the individual, specifically the T-shirt with LAPD insignia, is not Department issued and is accessible to the public. We will be working with our Entertainment Trademark Unit to ensure violations of our trademark on apparel are addressed.”
Meanwhile, BLM-LA’s deceptive social media postings from four days ago still have not been deleted at the time of this publication.
BLM-LA’s leader, Dr. Melina Abdullah, is scheduled to attend a pretrial hearing on Thursday for criminal charges related to her anti-LAPD activism from 2017 and 2018 – including one count of battery on a police officer.
Follow Jeffrey Cawood on Twitter @Near_Chaos.