LOS ANGELES _ More protests were underway Monday in Los Angeles as people continued to take to the streets to decry the police killing of George Floyd and other black Americans.
Floyd died May 25 after Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin pinned him at the neck for more than eight minutes while detaining him on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder, and three other former officers were charged with aiding and abetting.
To commemorate Floyd's public viewing service, which was taking place Monday in Houston, four car processions were organized around Southern California. They departed from Leimert Park, Long Beach, Reseda and Santa Ana, and converged on downtown L.A. for a rally.
Some of the processions were led by hearses. One car had the names of dozens of people killed by police written on its windshield, images on social media showed.
Once the caravans reached downtown and people exited their vehicles, mourners could be seen carrying floral arrangements. At the intersection of Broadway and First Street, four hearses were parked in the middle of the street, surrounded by hundreds of protesters.
Those gathered clapped as a woman gave a speech about defunding the police, and she led them in a repeating chant of Floyd's and Breonna Taylor's names. Taylor was shot and killed in her Louisville, Ky., apartment by a police officer in March. No charges have been filed in connection with her death.
"Do not let this system of white supremacy define who you are and take you away from your community," the speaker said. "You have to fight for all black people, and that means all black people."
Near the front of the stage, four caskets were covered in flowers. They had photos next to each _ one for Floyd, Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Ryan Charles Twyman. Arbery was fatally shot by a white father and son as Arbery jogged in a Georgia neighborhood in February. Twyman was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies at a South Los Angeles apartment complex last year.
Family members of people fatally shot by police gave emotional speeches about losing their loved ones and fighting for justice.
The mother of Eric Rivera, who was killed by police in Wilmington in 2017, spoke about how her son was shot, run over and left in the streets, his body uncovered.
"I gotta come out, and I gotta fight for my justice," she told the crowd.
Santa Ana resident Samuel Justiss Vance, 64, clapped and chanted along with the crowd. Vance, a member of the Orange County Racial Justice Collaborative, said it was his third day protesting since the movement began nearly two weeks ago. He said he's been involved in fighting for equality since the 1960s.
"Our rights are never secured," he said, describing the never-ending struggle for equality as he stood in the crowd, the hot afternoon sun beating down. "This is a continuum."
His reason for being there? "Christ said, 'Blessed are the peacemakers,'" he said. "And so I am here today."
At 1:50 p.m., the caskets were returned to the hearse and a small procession followed.
Several other demonstrations also were scheduled to take place downtown Monday, including a sit-in outside LAPD headquarters and a protest outside City Hall.
Floyd's death has become a rallying point for many who say that police abuses against black people have persisted unchecked for too long, prompting sweeping protests across the U.S. and elsewhere around the world.
In Los Angeles, those demonstrations remained peaceful over the weekend.
They included a huge march in Hollywood that drew an estimated 20,000 people Sunday and a caravan of motorcycles, demonstrators and cowboys that made its way through Compton.
With the continued lack of violence, the National Guard pulled out of the Los Angeles area a week after being deployed.
A small number of units will be stationed nearby until Wednesday "to provide emergency support if needed," Mayor Eric Garcetti said Sunday in a statement.
"I'm proud that our city has been peaceful this week _ and that our residents are leading a powerful movement to make Los Angeles more just, equitable and fair for black Angelenos, communities of color and all of our workers, youth and families," Garcetti said.
Hundreds of peaceful demonstrators were arrested last week, many for violating curfew rules or for failing to disperse after the LAPD declared their protest unlawful.
Faced with growing criticism over the arrests, top Los Angeles law enforcement officials said Sunday they would not pursue criminal or financial penalties against the protesters.
On Monday, L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced she had directed her legal staff to decline to prosecute the cases of those charged with a curfew violation or failure to disperse.
"I believe wholeheartedly in free speech and support the right of protesters to demonstrate peacefully against historic racial injustice in our criminal justice system and throughout our nation," Lacey said in a statement.
Lacey's office prosecutes all felonies in L.A. County, as well as misdemeanors committed in unincorporated areas and many cities. Ten cities separately prosecute misdemeanors that take place within their jurisdictions, including Los Angeles, Long Beach and Santa Monica.
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said Monday that his office would take a "nonpunitive" approach to misdemeanor arrests arising from the protests. The approach will incorporate principles of restorative justice and allow the matters to be resolved outside of the courts, his office said in a news release.
"As we move forward, our restorative approach to these cases will bring protesters, law enforcement and other voices from our community together to foster the mutual empathy, understanding and respect that are essential to building a better version of our City," Feuer said in a statement.
"Ideally we'll develop a model on which jurisdictions across the nation can build at this crucial moment."
LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement that he supported the move and would work with the city attorney's office to ensure it was successful.
"Resolving these violations through alternative methods is a productive and appropriate way to address these offenses, and will have lasting positive effects on our community," Moore said.
