Ferguson protesters in Los Angeles will be freed in time for Thanksgiving dinner
Los Angeles protesters, who remained in police custody after being arrested in connection with demonstrations against the grand jury’s decision in Ferguson, Missouri, will be released in time for Thanksgiving dinner. On November 27, 2014, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Charlie Beck ordered that the approximately 90 people still jailed on Thanksgiving Day be released on their own recognizance.
“We have every legal right to keep them until they post bail," LAPD Commander Andrew Smith told the Los Angeles Times, "but in light of the holiday … [Beck] called and said he wants everybody who is eligible for release to be released by dinner time." Before they can be released, protesters currently being held in jails, downtown Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley and South L.A. facilities, will have to sign a promise to appear in court. They won’t need to post bail. Any protesters with warrants out for their arrest will not be eligible for this release.
The Los Angeles Police Department has made more than 338 arrests in the last three days, as protests continued over the grand jury’s decision not to indict a police officer in the shooting death of Michael Brown. On Wednesday, demonstrators marched on the LAPD's headquarters, before heading to the downtown county jail, chanting, "Kill killer cops." Most of the arrestees were adults who failed to disperse when ordered to do so by police, according to the LAPD. The number of arrests in Los Angeles surpassed those reported in other major U.S. cities on the second and third night of protests.
