Ezell Ford shooting draws comparisons to police shooting of Michael Brown

People sit in the pews at Paradise Baptist Church in South LA. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck addressed a community meeting about the fatal police shooting of Ezell Ford.

The controversial shooting of Ezell Ford has been compared to the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and raised tensions between the LAPD and South L.A. residents.

The Los Angeles Police Department Thursday released the names of two officers involved in the fatal shooting of Ezell Ford. The 25-year-old African American man, who is mentally ill, was shot more than two weeks ago as he was walking in South Los Angeles.

His death sparked outrage in Southern California, especially since it happened only two days after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. Yet there were no riots in Los Angeles; no big clashes between police and protestors.

Connie Rice, the co-director of the Advancement Project, a non-profit group focused on racial justice, says that's a sign of how much things have changed in the years since the 1992 L.A. riots.

Connie Rice is also a member of Southern California Public Radio's board.