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Black Lives Matter activists delivered a petition with more than 8,000 signatures to Mayor Eric Garcetti's office Monday afternoon, calling for LAPD Chief Charlie Beck to be fired.
Activists have been camped outside of City Hall for nearly a month as part of the campaign, although Mayor Garcetti has been out of town for the majority of the group's 28-day-and-counting sit in. Black Lives Matter activists were joined by allies from Latino, Asian American and faith groups, according to City News Service. Noted intersectional feminist and Orange Is The New Black actor Matt McGorry, who has vocally supported the movement in the past, also participated. A deputy mayor accepted the boxes of petitions, as Mayor Garcetti is currently in Rio with the LA 2024 delegation.
The City Hall encampment grew out of a July 12 protest against the Police Commission ruling that the LAPD officer who fatally shot Redel Jones last year was justified in his use of force, according to the L.A. Times.
Activists associated with the movement have criticized Mayor Garcetti's frequent absences over the past month (he was at the Democratic National Convention and also took a four-day vacation before traveling to Brazil), arguing that he has ignored them and the situation. The mayor had previously offered to hold a meeting with five Black Lives Matter activists in his office, which member Jasmine Abdullah told City News Service would put the group at a disadvantage.
"White silence is violence." - Actor @MattMcGorry, who joined @BLMLA activists calling for Beck's ouster. @KNX1070 pic.twitter.com/XZxKZ4eQmH
— Claudia Peschiutta (@ReporterClaudia) August 8, 2016
"We decided he needs to come downstairs. It's all right, he can come downstairs, these are his stairs, and ours, he can come talk to everybody as a whole," Abdullah said at the press conference. McGorry, who also appears on the show How To Get Away With Murder characterized the mayor's absence as "incredibly disrespectful" while talking to reporters Monday. Black Lives Matter activists have also created a "Where In The World Is Eric Garcetti" hashtag (à la Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?) critiquing the mayor's absence, which they've been sharing on social media.
#WhereInTheWorld is @ericgarcetti ? Eric’s been gone since Day1 of #DecolonizeLACityHall #RioOlympics2016 #FireBeck pic.twitter.com/WyOQgX5BsX
— #BlackLivesMatter-LA (@BLMLA) August 8, 2016
Carl Marziali, a press secretary for Mayor Garcetti, told LAist that his office had received the petition and would share it with Mayor Garcetti.
