Police Response to Hip-Hop Dance Probed

A Los Angeles Police Department investigation will probe whether police overreacted when they summoned more than 100 officers in riot helmets to clear Venice Beach during a hip-hop dance exhibition Feb. 28.

At a meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday, Inspector General Deirdre Hill said there were still numerous questions that needed to be answered regarding the incident, which police have described as a riot.

The meeting drew nearly a dozen youths who attended the event and criticized the police for breaking up the event with batons and beanbag shotguns. Police in turn were showered with rocks and bottles and two cruisers were heavily damaged at the Venice beach clash. No serious injuries were reported among the police or the exhibition participants.

Among those who attended Tuesday’s meeting was Asia Yu, an organizer of the event. Yu had been arrested on suspicion of inciting a riot.

Her lawyer, John Duran, says that police violated Yu’s civil rights when they ordered a stop to her dance exhibition, staged with a permit from the city Department of Recreation and Parks.

Police have said they want to bill Yu for the cost of clearing the beach that afternoon.

The report is to be delivered to the commissioners in three weeks, according to commission spokesman Ken Ferber.