Los Angeles Police Officer Put in Chokehold and Kicked as Anti-Police Brutality Protests Turned Violent

A police officer was attacked, put in a chokehold and kicked in Los Angeles on Friday night as protests against the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Monday turned violent. Patrol vehicles were vandalized and at least one officer was taken to a local hospital after suffering injuries during the demonstrations of outrage at deadly police practices around the country, which have included chokeholds like the one that killed Eric Garner in New York City six years ago. “While the vast majority of individuals in Los Angeles have expressed those views in a peaceful manner, we have witnessed an increasing level of violence and property damage committed by small number of detractors,” the LAPD said in a statement issued Friday afternoon. “The violence involved dangerous projectiles directed at our people as well as some property damage to businesses in the area. While isolated, if left unchallenged we face the potential of those actions expanding and hurting innocent individuals.”