Ezell Ford Shooting Protesters Confront LA Mayor Outside Mansion

HANCOCK PARK (CBSLA.com) — Angry protesters camped outside the Hancock Park home of Eric Garcetti confronted the Los Angeles mayor Monday morning as he left for Washington D.C.

Cellphone video captured the demonstrators confronting Garcetti. They were reacting to reports that LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and Inspector General Alex Bustamante have determined the actions of two officers were "justified" in the shooting of Ezell Ford, 25, who was unarmed during a South L.A. incident in August 2014.

WARNING: Video Contains Explicit Language

Ford died as a result of the shooting.

(credit: California DMV)

Los Angeles Police Commission President Steve Soboroff, while not denying the report, said the commission has yet to rule and will review the evidence at its board meeting Tuesday morning.

The demonstrators are part of the group Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and have formed the movement #OccupyLAMayor demanding for Garcetti to fire Beck in response to the fate of officers involved in the shooting.

"This morning Mayor Garcetti decided to try and sneak out of the back door of his Hancock Park residence in an effort to avoid the Black people out in front," members of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles said in a written statement. "When we confronted the mayor about the Ezell Ford situation, his lack of leadership and presence in South L.A., and the issues with the police in terms of abuse and killings, a member of the mayor's security detail physically assaulted one of our activists."

The protesters were also demanding that the Police Commission discuss the Ford investigation in public.

But, as KCAL9's Dave Lopez reports, the board along with Chief Beck were expected to meet behind closed doors in a closed session Tuesday while they discuss the findings. Soboroff is then expected to announce the board's decision. Soon after, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office is also expected to release its findings.

According to the group, members of Black Lives Matter Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia, will be waiting for Garcetti to keep up the pressure while he is out of town.

Garcetti is scheduled to meet with federal officials and will return to Los Angeles Tuesday, according to his office. Activists vowed to stay camped out in front of his home on South Irving Boulevard until Tuesday morning.

A statement released from the mayor's office explained that Garcetti looks forward to meeting with Ford's mother, Tritobia Ford, within the next few days.

"I don't feel very confident that anything different is going to happen," said Tritobia Ford. "I believe that they already know what they are going to do."

"Trust and transparency are the foundation of the relationship between the Los Angeles Police Department and people it serves," Garcetti added. "I have confidence that the Police Commission will conduct an impartial and fair-minded review of the investigations conducted by both the LAPD and the independent Inspector General."