FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chalk Walk Organizers Call for a Day of Action for Rights and Against State Violence

 LOS ANGELES – Wednesday night, at Occupy Los Angeles’ General Assembly, participants came to consensus to call a global day of action and solidarity, on August 9, 2012, to assert Freedom of Speech, Assembly, and Association and to celebrate the Human Spirit with Chalk.

Occupy LA released a solidarity call for protesters and communities that experience state violence, censorship, and repression throughout the World.

Activists say City Council Ignored Their Pleas for Help before Art Walk Incident

LOS ANGELES – Tuesday morning, participants of Occupy LA’s Chalk Walk return to City Council chambers after a two week recess of council sessions. Chalk Walk activists say they want to know why LA City Council ignored their requests for help with chalking arrests before the Council went on recess.

Two Videos of Public Comment and copies of public records show the Occupiers contacted City Hall about two weeks prior to what the LA Times dubs the “Art Walk Melee”.

Participants of Chalk Walk Respond to Mayor’s Statement & Selective Enforcement

LOS ANGELES – After Thursday Night’ Downtown LA Art Walk Melee, the City blames Chalk Walk organizers for the mini riot and Chalk Walk participants blame the City for excessive show of force, violence, abuse of power, and selective enforcement.

Los Angeles City Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, told reporters that what Chalk Walkers did was against the law and not protected by the Constitution.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said "vandalism has always been illegal" and defended the city's approach to Occupy L.A. "That’s not free speech, that’s criminal behavior,” the Mayor told news crews after Art Walk.

Now, participants of Chalk Walk accuse the mayor of similar parttaking in vandalism and “criminal behavior”.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LAPD PUSH, SHOOT, KICK MAN IN FACE, ARREST HIM AT ARTWALK

LAPD Arrest and Harm More Artwalkers than Occupiers at “Chalk Walk”

LOS ANGELES – Early Sunday morning videos and images surface online of LAPD violence at Thursday’s Downtown LA Art Walk.  LAPD pushed at least one unknown man, shot him in the chest at close range, kicked him in the face while Occupiers were trying to help,  the cops squish his face into the ground, then the cops arrested him.  

As seen in a youtube video recorded from above, the man was clearly backing up from a line of at least 30 police officers. He turns and walks onto the sidewalk when a police officer pushes him into the street and another officer shoots him in the torso at close range.

After the man stumbles to the ground, two Occupiers come to his aid but police move in, chase the occupiers off, 14 officers surround the man, while one officers kicks the man in the face, then two other officers smash his face into the pavement, and violently arrested him. Another youtube video, shows the incident from on the ground. And another vimeo video has surfaced of the same event.

[Update: Another video of this incident has been posted on Vimeo and it clearly shows the skateboard kicked into the man's face at  13:11.]

Occupy activists say at least 4 people were injured with police projectiles.

A chalk walk event was planned for DTLA's art walk on 07/12/12 for free expression in our communities to raise awareness of the criminalization of free speech. Occupiers from LA were dedicated to a peaceful action and handed out pieces of chalk with notes explaining the repression and arrests for chalking we've experienced over the last month for protesting the privatization of public space and criminalization of the poor and disenfranchised.