LAPD Seeks Reversal of Protest Site Designation

Los Angeles police officials on Wednesday painted a dire picture of the potential for civil disobedience and mass protests during the Democratic National Convention in August, and they appealed to the City Council to overturn its decision designating Pershing Square as a gathering place for demonstrators.

But the council, after a long and impassioned debate, referred the Pershing Square issue to committee. Final action is expected next week.

The issue arose unexpectedly last week and already has cost downtown Los Angeles a coveted convention perk: Vice President Al Gore, who will be nominated for president in Los Angeles, has elected not to stay at the Biltmore but rather to move to a hotel in Century City, sources said. Although that decision, made by the U.S. Secret Service, was under consideration before the Pershing Square issue, the prospect of angry demonstrators gathering so close to the vice president sealed the deal, according to officials close to convention planning.

Authorities said Wednesday that they expect 10,000 to 50,000 demonstrators during the convention.

The council’s reluctance to immediately revoke last Friday’s decision left open the question of whether the broad plaza opposite the Biltmore Hotel and adjacent to the jewelry district will be a gathering spot for protesters during the convention, Aug. 14 through 17.

Even if the council rescinds its Pershing Square decision, Gore probably will not stay at the Biltmore, officials said. That’s because authorities now fear that Pershing Square will attract demonstrators whether or not it is officially set aside for them.

The Pershing Square issue has created deep divisions within the council and beyond. Police and others have argued that it creates a needless security risk and will force adjustment in detailed plans for keeping the city safe during the convention. On the other side, protesters and their supporters see the issue primarily in terms of the city’s role in providing a safe place for spirited civic dialogue. Trying to thwart that expression, they say, creates the real danger.

In the debate Wednesday, council members were clearly split about the necessity for rescinding their action after hearing Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and LAPD Cmdr. Thomas Lorenzen voice the department’s strong opposition to the Pershing Square designation.

“The big issue for us is draining our resources to provide additional security at that location above and beyond all the other things that we are confronting,” Parks said.

“Our No. 1 mission is to ensure that the 4 million people who reside and work here do not lose control of their city,” Parks added. “We certainly have to make sure the convention goes on uninterrupted and that the delegates and the people who are participating fulfill the business of the convention.”

Lorenzen, who heads the LAPD’s convention planning effort, said “the greatest challenge . . . is the issue of civil disobedience and mass arrests.”

He said the department fully expects and fears that “a very small but very effective” group of demonstrators will engage in civil disobedience while the convention is underway.

James V. DeSarno, who heads the FBI office in Los Angeles, said the estimate of 10,000 to 50,000 demonstrators could increase if there is sizable participation by organized labor.

DeSarno said the FBI is gathering and sharing intelligence with other law enforcement agencies about some of groups planning to come to Los Angeles to protest. He said the federal agency is prepared to deal with any crisis situation involving terrorism.

But it was the LAPD’s presentation of a dramatic video of the demonstrations that rocked Seattle and disrupted Washington, D.C., in recent months that heightened lawmakers’ concern about the potential risk of demonstrations in Los Angeles.

At the same time, council members and others--some of whom were offended by the LAPD’s characterization of the protesters as a threat--argued that Los Angeles’ best response would be to welcome dissent and not to assume that it poses a danger.

Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who introduced the motion last week that touched off the latest controversy, chided police, calling their video “trash.”

“We cannot demonize activists,” the councilwoman told Parks.

Representatives of various groups that intend to come to Los Angeles during the convention said they need a safe place such as Pershing Square to gather and to exercise their lawful, constitutional rights. They suggested that the police, not protesters, are creating a climate of fear that could contribute to a volatile situation when demonstrators arrive.

“There has been a well-organized misinformation campaign to whip up public sentiment against people who are exercising their 1st Amendment rights,” said Margaret Prescod, who is helping organize the protests through the group called the D2K Network.

She said her group is interested in conducing peaceful protests--using Pershing Square as a “gathering place where people can get information.”

In light of the debate of the past few days, Prescod warned that Pershing Square will act as a magnet for protesters--whether the city likes it or not.

“We know very well protesters are going to be going to Pershing Square,” Prescod said. “The city has a choice of an organized event going on at the square where protesters feel welcome. If they say this is off the zone for you, that’s a confrontation that’s bound to spill out into the business community.”

Goldberg agreed, as did some other council members who accused law enforcement authorities of overreacting to the possibility of protests.

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter urged her colleagues “stop overreacting.”

“Just chill out,” Galanter said.

Others were more apprehensive.

Councilman Nate Holden, never prone to understatement, told his colleagues that the city “better start notifying the National Guard.”

“There are people among these people who are going to come here with the intention of disrupting by any means necessary this convention,” said Holden, who voted in favor of the motion last week that called for setting aside Pershing Square.

And Councilman Hal Bernson, who also supported that motion, said on Wednesday that he believes the police “have their hands full.”

“This city may regret the day it voted to bring this convention here,” Bernson said. “”I feel sorry for the people who have to keep the city safe.”