Outraged community members and residents took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles Tuesday morning to protest the fatal police shooting of a homeless man over the weekend that was captured on video.
Tuesday’s demonstration got underway around 8 a.m. on the corner of San Pedro Street and Sixth Street. From there, protesters began peacefully marching toward Los Angeles Police Department headquarters.
More than 100 demonstrators had gathered outside police headquarters by 9 a.m. Some members of the group entered the LAPD’s weekly police commission meeting, which got underway around 9:30 a.m.
Steve Soboroff, the president of the commission, began the meeting by addressing the controversial shooting, calling it “a situation which seemed to begin with discussions quickly became a struggle and further escalated in seconds to a tragic death.”
Commenting on the investigation, Soboroff said in order to determine whether the use of force was justified, investigators would look through all of the evidence, including bystander video, security video, body cameras, witness testimony and 911 tapes.
Cellphone video of the incident was captured by a bystander who uploaded it to Facebook. New surveillance video showing a different angle of the incident was released Monday.
Noting that he watched the video of the shooting that was posted on Facebook, Soboroff added a key to the investigation would be the conversation that was caught on camera between the officers and the man.
Additionally, he stated there would be an investigation into the criminal culpability of the officers.
Most of the demonstrators who spoke at the meeting expressed anger over the use of force against the man, with one commenter even warning tourists to stay away from the city because they “aren’t safe.”
The protest and meeting came a day after Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck told reporters during a news conference that the man had grabbed an officer’s gun prior to being shot.
“While on the ground and struggling with the officers, the man forcibly grabbed one of the officer’s holstered pistols, resulting in an officer-involved shooting,” Beck said.
The incident began when officers responded to a robbery call in the area East Sixth Street and South San Pedro Street on Sunday and attempted to take the man they believed was the suspect into custody.
At some point, an altercation broke out and the officers attempted to subdue the man with a Taser multiple times, LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said.
After getting back up each time, the man allegedly grabbed for an officer’s firearm, according to Beck.
“I have reviewed video and audio. … Preliminary, you can hear the young officer who is primarily engaged in the confrontation saying that ‘he has my gun. He has my gun.’ … He says it several times, with conviction,” he said Monday.
The video was captured on cellphone video by a bystander who uploaded it to Facebook. New surveillance video showing a different angle of the incident prior to the shooting was released Monday.
Witnesses told KTLA the man went by the street name “Africa,” but officials still had not identified him as of Tuesday morning.
Police sources told KTLA that the man’s name was Charley Saturmin Robinet. Robinet, 39, was convicted of robbing a Thousands Oaks bank 15 years ago.
KTLA’s Anthony Kurzweil contributed to this story.
