Group Denounces Arrests of 5 During Protest March

A group of activists Monday denounced the arrest of five people during a weekend march in the Crenshaw district to protest the scheduled Aug. 17 execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a onetime radio reporter convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer.

The group said Los Angeles police officers ordered about 100 marchers to disperse Saturday afternoon as they walked along Crenshaw Boulevard, then used batons on those who refused to comply. Five people were arrested on charges ranging from failure to disperse to assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

Police said protesters were ordered to the sidewalk after they refused to use only one traffic lane and insisted on blocking all traffic lanes.

“We had to move them off the street and people violently resisted,” said Lt. Robert Salkeld of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Southwest Division.

Salkeld said one person who was arrested suffered a facial cut when he fell to the ground. Another protester received several bruises when he “jumped on the back of an officer as he was making an arrest” and was hit with a baton, Salkeld said.

But Mark Engram, 33, said he was pushed from behind by the crowd onto the officer. He also said he was hit with a baton as he walked through a line of police officers. Engram was arrested on suspicion of battery against a peace officer.

Protesters said another arrested marcher, Kuldeep Kerr-Upal, 23, was injured when he was struck in the face with a baton and fell to the ground. The facial injury to Kerr-Upal, who also was charged with battery against a police officer, required several stitches, said his girlfriend Carla Cummings.