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Cops Descend On 'Smash White Supremacy' Fun Run In Westwood
About a dozen protesters participated in the "Smash White Supremacy" Fun Run in Westwood Thursday night, which resulted in at least one arrest.
The small group gathered at the Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard to protest the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case, LA Daily News reports.
Wearing signs with messages like, "Every 28 hours, a black man is killed by law enforcement," strapped to their chests, they jogged east through the neighborhood, beginning at 7:45 p.m.
After other recent protests and the bash mob in Hollywood, police were not giving the group much leeway.
As soon as the joggers left the sidewalk and began to run in the street, the group was surrounded by more than a dozen LAPD officers, according to the LA Daily News. One protester, who had been cycling with the group of joggers, was arrested.
"I just feel like it's the LAPD, and they needed to make another arrest in order to show that these protests can't be peaceful," said Camille Miller, 26. "This was peaceful. I know they said to stay on the sidewalk, but he was on a bike."
The protesters found out about the event on Facebook, as did the LAPD, who are closely monitoring social media. "We heard about it through social media, and we decided to mobilize additional officers to the area," said LAPD spokeswoman Rosario Herrera.
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One person, who posted a photo to Twitter, estimated that for every jogger, there were at least 10 cops.
20 to 1 cop to protest jogger ratio? maybe 10 to 1 #trayvon #la #jog pic.twitter.com/09vHypFKkf
— Yasha Levine (@yashalevine) July 19, 2013
According to KTLA, three people were arrested in the "Fun Run."
"Black people ran through the streets on the news and it was called a riot,"one of the demonstrators told KTLA. "Here I guess we're going to have white people running through the streets, and we'll see if they call that a riot as well."
More protests are expected across the country on Saturday. The Reverend Al Sharpton will lead a national "Justice for Trayvon" day, with rallies expected in 100 cities.
Related:
Long Beach Police Prepare For A Bash Mob Today
Roaming Youth Mobs Wreak Havoc On Hollywood Boulevard
Photos: 14 Arrested During Violent Trayvon Martin Protests In South L.A.
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