Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti released a statement overnight as a group protesting the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man continued to camp out Monday morning in front of his Hancock Park residence.
About 10 to 15 people were outside Getty House early Monday morning. Posters with Ford's image and signs with the words "Stop Police Violence" were posted on the front gate and brick wall outside the mayor's official residence, NBC Los Angeles reports.
Protesters vowed to remain at the site until Tuesday as part of a protest organized by Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles in response to reports in the Los Angeles Times that Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and Inspector General Alex Bustamante have found that officers were justified in shooting 25-year-old Ezell Ford Aug. 11 near the intersection of 65th Street and Broadway in South Los Angeles. The protesters demanded that Tuesday's police commission vote on the matter be held in public and not in closed session.
Ford, 25, was shot in South LA during a scuffle with officers, according to the police account. The LAPD said Ford did not comply with a request to stop, made suspicious movements and grabbed for an officer's gun after tackling them, according to the Times, which cited two sources who spoke on condition that they not be identified because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.