200 Rally in Support of Koon and Powell : Activism: Protesters decry decision mandating longer prison sentences for former LAPD officers involved in the Rodney King beating.

Calling them “the first political prisoners in the history of our country,” more than 200 people were present at a rally Saturday to protest the extension of jail sentences given to two former Los Angeles Police Department officers convicted in the beating of Rodney G. King.

Family and friends of ex-Officer Laurence M. Powell and ex-Sgt. Stacey C. Koon said a petition will be circulated nationwide seeking support for the two men, who were convicted by a federal jury last year of violating King’s civil rights.

An appeals court ruled in August that the 30-month sentences given to the former officers were too lenient. The sentences could be increased to 70 months or more.

“No one’s ever been resentenced like that after serving a year in prison,” said Michael Paran, a Granada Hills resident and friend of Powell.

Participants pinned yellow ribbons to their shirts and wore headbands made of police barrier tape as they gathered at Canyon Country Park for the rally. Koon and Powell were both residents of the Santa Clarita Valley, in Castaic and Valencia, respectively.

U.S. Rep. Howard (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), who signed the petition supporting the two former officers, told demonstrators that he will look into the feasibility of introducing legislation to help Powell and Koon.

“There is still a silent majority that knows what’s really right,” he told the cheering crowd.

About 100 of the demonstrators spent an hour marching two miles east on Soledad Canyon Road to the park, carrying signs that said, “Stop Triple Jeopardy,” and “Don’t Put the Good Guys in Jail.” Other signs asked passing motorists to honk in support of the officers, which many drivers did.

“We want to prove that more people care about him,” said Powell’s 12-year-old brother, Louis, who walked among the front of the protesters.

The collecting of signatures on the petition began locally about a week ago, said Powell’s father, Ed, wearing a T-shirt with his son’s picture underneath the slogan, “Fight Crime Not the Police.” The elder Powell, a lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, said he hopes to collect up to 50,000 signatures.

“We need graphic evidence that there is strong support for the officers,” he said.

T-shirts and bracelets were being sold at the rally to raise money for Powell’s legal defense. Ed Powell said the event’s purpose was to also show support for Koon, but the former officers are handling their fund-raising efforts separately.

The 9th District U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 19 ordered U.S. District Judge John G. Davies to resentence Powell and Koon for their involvement in the beating of King. A resentencing date has not been set. Both men are appealing the ruling.