LAPD declares tactical alert citywide after Zimmerman verdict
The LAPD has declared a citywide tactical alert amid a protest in Leimert Park sparked by the George Zimmerman not-guilty verdict in Florida on Saturday night.
The alert initially applied only to the agency’s South Bureau -- but it was expanded to include the entire city, an LAPD sergeant said. In a tactical alert, officers can be held over after their regular shifts and do not have to respond to low-priority radio calls.
LAPD Sgt. Carlton Brown said the decision was made as a precaution amid the controversial verdict. He said there have been no reports of problems at the demonstration in Leimert Park.
“We think it’s going to remain that way,” he said.
Brown said he heard the crowd grew to some 200 but was now starting to dissipate.
Twitter users were posting about the demonstration Saturday night in the historically black neighborhood.
“Just drove thru Leimert Park, they’re having an extremely peaceful rally,” wrote user @dj_RTistic. “News vans are out and a few Black cops are there to patrol it.”
Zimmerman’s shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in a confrontation in Florida last year touched off a national debate about race and guns.
The jury of six women returned the verdict Saturday evening after more than 16 hours of deliberation over two days. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder, but the jury had the option of finding him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
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Twitter: RobertFaturechi
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