LAPD to have ‘adequate staffing’ for Donald Sterling anti-racism rally
The Los Angeles Police Department said it will have “adequate staffing” for an anti-racism rally scheduled to take place outside of Staples Center before Tuesday’s Clippers game.
Details on how LAPD officers would be deployed were not immediately available, but department spokesman Richard French said “we will always provide security whenever it is needed.”
The anti-racism rally and protest -- dubbed “Los Angeles is better than Donald Sterling” -- is scheduled to take place at the corner of Figueroa Street and Pico Boulevard at 5:30 p.m., will take place two hours before the Clippers and Golden State Warriors playoff game.
Among those planning to participate in the event are Minister Tony Muhammad of the Nation of Islam and more than 200 motorcycle and car clubs.
“You’re going to have a broad cross section of people from all walks of Los Angeles County,” said Jasmyne Cannick, co-organizer of the event.
Cannick said the goal of the protest is to support the Clippers while denouncing team owner Donald Sterling, who has faced a firestorm of criticism after an audio recording came to light Friday on which a man purported to be Sterling makes numerous racial remarks.
“Donald Sterling’s comments do not represent Los Angeles and the millions of collective voices of minorities who call Los Angeles home,” Cannick said, adding that together, “black, white, Latino, Asian and every other minority represented in Los Angeles will stand together and lift our collective voices in support of the players, the team and our city.”
The celebrity website TMZ posted an audio recording Friday that purportedly captures Sterling telling a woman identified as V. Stiviano that “it bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people.” In the recording, the people identified as Stiviano and Sterling argue about a photo posted on Instagram showing her with Magic Johnson.
The Clippers released a statement on Saturday in which President Andy Roeser said the team does not know if the man recorded is Sterling, but that the comments do not reflect Sterling’s “views, beliefs or feelings.”
Sterling, for his part, has remained silent on the matter.
The NBA planned to reveal the results of its investigation at a news conference Tuesday.
Twitter: @latvives
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