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Vandalism at LAPD HQ May Have Been Done By Occupy Protesters
Chalk photo by Robyn Mackenzie via Shutterstock
Authorities believe that vandalism at the downtown headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department was done Monday by protesters with the Occupy L.A. movement.
L.A. Now reports that the graffiti was done on sidewalks, marble walls, and a statue. Chalked messages like "Pigs" and "Protect and serve the 1%" evoke Occupy L.A.'s adversarial relationship with local authorities, and were left on the ground. Other messages, however, were inked, and someone appears to have defecated next to the statue.
Monday was the one-year anniversary of Occupy L.A.'s occupation of the lawn at City Hall, which they call Solidarity Park. To mark the occasion, the group gathered in Pershing Square and marched to City Hall for a gathering. Chalk messages were part of the event; chalking has become symbolic of the movement in recent months, and a semantic and legal point of contention, since the LAPD believe it is, in some cases, vandalism, while "chalkers" see it as a protected act of protest. This disagreement came to a head recently during a clash between protesters, the LAPD, and passerby at Art Walk.
When it comes to getting the message across, the LAPD don't think graffiti is the best method:
"It's unfortunate the way some people choose to protest things they don't like," said LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith. "I can't see how vandalizing public property helps anybody's cause."
The LAPD are considering a potential criminal investigation into this recent vandalism.
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