E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSProtests in Anaheim, Calif., turned violent in the wake of two controversial shootings involving local police. And as KNBC's Angie Crouch reports, at least several arrests were made.
ANAHEIM, California -- Protesters broke the windows of least a half-dozen storefronts in Anaheim on Tuesday resulting in 24 people being arrested and leaving six injured in the second major clash between police and demonstrators since an officer shot dead an apparently unarmed man.
Mayor Tom Tait had called on Monday for a state and federal review of the shooting of the man, a suspected gang member.
More than 600 demonstrators gathered at City Hall on Tuesday, where officials were holding a regular meeting, police said.
NBCLosAngeles.com reported that crowds converged on the building at around 4 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) to urge council members to investigate a series of recent officer-involved shootings and reform the city's police force, which residents have accused of racial profiling.
Officials say there have been eight officer-involved shootings in the city this year.
The council chamber reached capacity and police in riot gear blocked access to the meeting, according to NBCLosAngeles.com.
Some protesters threw patio chairs through the windows of a Starbucks, a witness told Reuters. No one in the coffee shop was injured, said Anaheim police spokesman Sergeant Bob Dunn.
In the same block-long strip mall, at least five other businesses also had windows smashed, a witness said.
Afterward, officers toting shotguns stood guard in front of the storefronts.
"We are happy to hear from any and all residents," Tate said. "But we will not accept any violent protests, vandalism or arson perpetrated under the guise of public protest."
Dozens of officers wielding night sticks faced off against the demonstrators, who at one point threw water bottles and rocks toward the line.
More photos: Protests in Anaheim
At least one person was transported to the hospital after being shot in the head with a pepperball, Dunn told NBCLosAngeles.com. No officers were injured.
He said the demonstrations lasted until about 2 a.m., hours after residents gathered outside the city counsel meeting.
Police fire pepper spray balls at demonstrators who pelted officers with rocks and bottles during a protest in Anaheim, California. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
Aerial footage showed several fires near the scene of the protest -- one in a trash bin, another near a bus bench.
The tensions flared after police shot and killed a man on Saturday afternoon.
Two officers had tried to approach three men in an alley who fled, Dunn said earlier this week. The officers followed on foot and one caught up to one suspect, police said.
The officer shot the man, who police said they later identified as Manuel Diaz, a known gang member. Diaz was not found to have been carrying a gun, police said.
The Diaz family filed a $50 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the city on Tuesday.
'Transparency is essential'
Police fired pepper pellets at angry residents near the scene of the shooting on Saturday.
Late on Sunday Anaheim officers tried to stop a car and killed a man who police said fled and opened fire on them during a foot chase.
Alex Gallardo / Reuters
A protester is arrested during a demonstration in Anaheim, Calif., on Tuesday.
He was the fifth person to die in an officer-involved shooting in Anaheim this year.
Tait called for a state and federal probe of the fatal shootings during a news conference Sunday, during which some 70 protesters stormed the lobby.
"Transparency is essential," Tait said Sunday. "The investigation will seek the truth. And whatever the truth is, we will own it."
At least four agencies are involved in or are expected to join the investigation, including the U.S. Attorney's office, the State Attorney General, the Anaheim Police Department's Officer of Internal Affairs and -- as is usual for officer-involved shootings -- the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Anaheim was among six California cities with a population over 100,000 that saw the biggest spikes in violent crime in 2011, according to an analysis of FBI crime data released last month.
Reuters contributed to this report.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- String of security scares at Batman movie screenings
- Miracle baby of the Aurora tragedy
- In Aurora massacre, trial may not shed much light on motive
- S.D. abortion suicide advisory upheld by federal appeals court
- Gunman on UConn campus commits suicide
- Mystery of Utah's 'goat man' is solved
- Day care video shows 9-year-old terrorizing tots
Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
Racial profiling ? How the hell is it racial profiling when everyone in the neighborhood are drug selling gangmember wetbacks ?
Sadly, I have been telling people that we could be facing an ugly summer. I do not know the facts surrounding the police incident in Anaheim, but the fact that a Police Officer lost control of his K-9 near a child, as shown on the news, is unforgivable, and I say this because I was a K-9 Handler. When Average People on the streets of Cairo or Tehran rise-up in protest for the way they are treated, Americans cheer their "Voice for Freedom and Relief". We cannot have it both ways. I await the report of what actually happened in Anaheim regarding a police shooting, and I pray that this matter is not swept under the rug.
i have no pity for california and this issue. they brought it upon themselves. want to guess how many of the protestors were illegals? no doubt a substantial number. and when the state chooses to provide so many 'free' services people become dependent, lethargic, and lack self-esteem which leads to disorder. california, like america, is getting what it paid for due to its lack of fortitude to do what is necessary regarding illegals.
cominform and debi, why don't you two just go off now and get a room?
He was a known gang member and now he becomes the poor kid that got shot. Where are all these protesters when the gangs are out killing and robbing people. Just look and read how many little kids were shot in the cross fire or people shot by drive bys. Go to Mexico and protest the killings their and where reporters can't even walk down the street. I have no love for cops but when it comes to gang members they picked their faith and want to live like a parasite off other people I have no pity.
Hmmm . . . Anaheim violent crime up by several hundred percent in past decade. Census figures show non-caucasian population up by three hundred percent in same period. (As a percent of population, not sheer nnumbers) Drug and prostitution arrests doubled. Gang violence tripled. And you wonder why people are fleeing such places for the relative safety of the non-minority places? Police are being accused more often of racism, because they are the holdovers from when the city was less minority proportionately, and rabble rousers love to accuse the good guys of racism when their brethren are caught in the act of crime. Close the $%^&*( borders !!!
Naaaah....got nothing to do with the type of person living there. It's all about the lack of economic opportunities for these poor people. Never mind the fact that no grocery stores exist in the inner city because they get burned to the ground, looted, etc.....
Gandhi changed an entire country without lifting a finger.
Yes, because he was able to protest without getting arrested.
So what's prompting the arrests? Plenty of people protest without getting their faces beaten in. Me doth think the protestors need to rethink their strategy when it comes to their behavior when they protest. I doubt they're behaving terribly gandhi like.
learn some history if you are going to invoke Gandhi, understand he was imprisoned multiple times and his fasting occurred in prison. and running from the police is a stupid act. just answer their questions and go on your way. if you run you bring extra suspicion upon yourself which will make you seem to be more of a threat to the officer and at that point any movement could be misinterpreted as agression or reaching for a gun. you should understand just how quickly an unarmed innocent teenager can become the armed thug who just capped your dying self on a street corner. but in that split second you have to make a life or death decision. most people never have to make a decision like that, that is why a lot of the times cops are not criminally charged for mistakes, because they will have to live with their mistake and its consequences like lost careers and pensions etc. they have a tough job, try to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I hope the protestors don't act more"Ghandi-like". He let his wife die instead of agreeing to give her life saving medication because it was apparently God's will. Weeks later he came down with malaria and took the antibiotics to save his own hide. He also was known to "sleep" with young virgins to test his vow of abstinence.
Hopefully the protestors stick to petty vandalism instead of the above.
Whats up with that women in the picture covering her face? She wants everyone to hear what she has to say, but doesn't want us to identify her. What a coward.
Probably islamic.
They're men " freedom fighters " do that all the time.
The protesters are hiding their faces out of fear of being identified later and being deported...they are illegals.
Now we're talking.
Maybe we can finally get the summer juiced up with protests.
I see several people posted the most valued point, the right to assemble. The destruction was a demonstration of foolishness. I wouldn't trust the investigating bodies for an honest report. The cops are always "right"! I've been the victim police aggressiveness over a traffic stop, yet because I chose not to answer questions by the police the charges were dropped. I didn't destroy anything in my protest. We have the right to demonstrate and protest, in an orderly manner! Any time we destroy property we put ourselves in the cross-hairs of justice (police) and only God can keep us safe. I don't know the full story behind the shooting but I do know MOST gangs (if he was involved in one) participate in criminal activity. But none of that gives anyone the right to do destructive acts. Most of the laws of the past 20 years that have changed our rights are because our government didn't like the outcome of civilian actions. The concept of "by the people for the people" disappeared when Nixon was president. Thank You, Mr. President!! Now it's up to us, the voters, to change things. But since we are not organized to do so, well you know the rest. Still, rioting and violent protests or demonstrations only serve the fuel for police action. So, now, it's OUR choice. What are we, the people going to do about it other than sit and watch it happen?
Let's just stop and consider something for a moment... Those of you with your anti police agendas, anti government control propaganda and otherwise misguided view of what is or should be, really need to get a clue. You are narrow minded with your eyes on the opposite end of the spectrum. None of us were at this shooting and I don't know the cops so I can't say what happened, neither can you. Let's not forget cops are just citizens but with training and MUCH stricter standards so when you preach citizens should police citizens you are not going to gain anything other than a bunch of problems. Take our latest evil doer with the Batman movie shooting. Do you really want someone like him being part of "council"?
Cominform, how old are you because something about you stinks to high heaven as a fraud and a propaganda spewer.
Police state.
Go OWS !!
well all this is just and example of the illegal immigrants in this Nation exercising there rights that they don't really have to began with ,,,,go back to Mexico
Cominform,you are nuts.I'm a Vietnam vet(199th inf).You prob never heard of it.My brother is also(big red one)You prob never heard of it either.We both think these rioters are wrong.Yes the cops shot a punk that was running away but does that give people the right to destroy others properties.We both think the people owning these bussinesses should have the right to defend themselves and thier stores any way they can.The cops may have been wrong but the rioters are deff wrong.
G White,,AMEN,, and with these sanctuary cities, and the socialist lib moocher teachers teaching false history to the children growing up, I cannot see anything getting better! HEY CALIFORNIA, how is that liberalism taking care of ya now!
Ive seen illegal residents here work hard and never break the law (except for being here) however their kids dont seem to inherit their parents work ethics and are looking for the easy big bucks. This is why we have so many Mexican gangs, they never did well in school because all we get is poor Mexicans and schooling isnt important to them except as a day care center. Seems the Asian culture is the opposite from that where Asian immigrants also work hard but their kids are much more successful.
I bet that evil George W.Bush had something to do with this!
Dubya?
There is no doubt that it was his failed policies.
His policy should have been to kick their illegal asses back across the border, in that regard he failed, and now Obama has taken that failure and compounded it.
Why is it always minorities who are causing the problems.
I never understood vandalizing businesses. I am surprised there is a Starbucks there.
The franchisee is most likely trying to re-locate, soon it will be juan's taco hut.
These people are probably illegal so dump them across the border where they belong and those that are legal punish them for there stupidity. The protesters are the ones that burn down stores, kill children on the street, all in the name of freedom. WRONG!!! Police need to line up and shoot those bastards in the head with a real bullit you won't have so many pieces of crap roaming our streets. Just plain trash!!!
I'm so thankful I live so far away from sh!t like this. My 2 little acres out in the country is heaven compared to what some of you tolerate on a daily basis. I told myself long ago my that my life will be based on peace and happiness. Those are the 2 things I desired, so those are the two things I pursued.
The only gun shots you hear is from a far off hunter during hunting season and about the worst crime you hear about are the DUI arrest during the weekend. MY weekends are spent sitting by a bonfire with my fiance and our 2 dogs. Stop by sometime and pull ya up a chair. Were friendly, peace loving folk and all good souls are welcome.
Where is it?
Friscaid
Sounds like you live in paradise, its ashamed what this kind of human vermin has turned our cities into.
No this is a sign of whats to come. Dallas nearly had a full scale riot on Tuesday because of the exact same thing. Police man shoots suspect twice in the back. Welcome home martial law.
BeeCee
Thanks for spelling "Martial Law" correctly, I cant tell you how many times Ive see "Marshall Law", and these same people actually want us to listen to what they have to say.
here we go again....blacks,gang members,other trouble makers...they NEVER do anything wrong...even when caught in the act...good reason then to riot...get to steal more things from the WORKING class...
How many of these rioters were illegals, I mean “undocumented felons” they should have rounded them all up and made to show proper id or deported on the spot. This is crap exposing the PD to danger like that, if the current administration would not interfere with border patrol and ICE maybe there would not be any riots.
Cominform:
I agree with you! Our constitution is the only thing we have to protect our freedom and rights. Although, with any form of government there is greedy and power hungry people that want complete control over it's subjects! I fear for this country and the end is nearing!
not enough information
did the shot person acted like he was carring a gun?
did the shot person threaten or get near innocent peeps?
did the shot person run in circles and spit nickels?
why would a cop shoot someone running after they were told to stop
why run? im pretty sure this questions awnsers why the person got shot
sounds to me like gang bang boy asked for it somehow
but thats me not enough info so why riiot???
sounds like alquida gang banger attitudes
which is real weak in my books idiots
protest peacefully and be proud when you dont act like a idiot
and treat people unlike what you say the police are treating them
so the rioters are just like the police in this state of mind
and will have no backing from me
Good thing you weren't around for the Boston Tea Party.
It did get a little messy and you may have wound up back on British soil.