Black Lives Matter Protesters Demand Mayor Garcetti Fire LAPD Chief Charlie Beck
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Protesters with the group #BlackLivesMatter stood outside the Hancock Park home of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti Sunday demanding he fire LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.
The group -- about a dozen holding signs -- says they will remain outside the mayor's residence until Tuesday.
CBS2's Brittney Hopper spoke to many of the demonstrators.
The group often chanted "Black Lives Matter." Hopper said they also lit candles. They also wrote Ezell Ford's name on the sidewalk in chalk.
Reports Friday said that after a nearly 10-month long investigation into the August 11, 2014 fatal shooting of Ford by the LAPD, the findings were going to suggest police were justified in shooting the unarmed 25-year-old black man.
LA Board of Police Commissioners President Stevc Soboroff denied those reports and said no decision has been made yet.
Police at the time said Ford was shot, three times, in a violent struggle where he reached for one of their guns.
The announcement of the report's findings is expected to come Tuesday evening.
Hopper said Ezell Ford's mother came to the protest and handed out water and chips to the demonstrators.
"I wanted to show my gratitude for them being here," said Tritobia Ford. "I know they don't have to be out here. They have their own lives."
She added, "The mayor sent someone out to my house a few days after my son was killed. And he asked my family what we wanted. We told him, all we wanted was a fair investigation, we wanted accountability and we wanted transparency."
She believes the hearing on Tuesday is already fated.
"I don't feel very confident anything that different is going to happen, I believe they already know what they're going to do," she said.
The meeting Tuesday is closed to the public -- something Black Lives Matter is not happy about.
"We need to be present so our demands are made clear so he understands we're not going to back down, continue to struggle for justice until we get it," said Melina Abullah, a group organizer.
Representatives of the mayor's office spoke to Ford's mother but declined to talk to reporters.
On Sunday evening, KCAL9's Erica Nochlin spoke to many of the demonstrators -- now about 30 -- who brought sleeping bags to camp outside the mayor's residence.
They vowed to camp out until Tuesday.
