Activists call for dialogue with deputies

Community leaders denounce violence, urge South L.A. to help identify gunman.

In the wake of Saturday night’s shooting of two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies in Compton, several activists have come forward to denounce the violence and urge the department to engage in more dialogue with the community.

Najee Ali, an activist at the forefront of protests around the Aug. 31 fatal shooting of Dijon Kizzee, and LaWanda Hawkins, founder of Justice for Murdered Children, a group that represents families of homicide victims, stood Monday morning outside St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood to deliver a reconciliatory message amid rising tensions between residents and law enforcement.

“We don’t support shooting. We don’t support the murder of anybody,” Ali told a group of reporters. “At the end of the day, we’re not against the Sheriff ’s Department. We’re not against law enforcement. We are simply against police abuse, police racial profiling, police mistreatment of Black and brown residents within the city.”

Both deputies were shot in the head near the Compton Metro station in what authorities have described as an ambush. They were listed as stable, and authorities are looking for the gunman.

Officials have not offered a motive for the attack, which came amid tense nightly protests near the South L.A. sheriff ’s station to condemn the shooting of Kizzee, 29, by a deputy in Westmont. Some of the demonstrations have escalated into violent clashes with deputies, and protesters have said they’ve been injured by projectiles fired by officials.

Sheriff’s officials have not linked Saturday’s shooting to the protests.

Ali and Hawkins referenced videos that have surfaced showing people celebrating the shooting of the deputies. On Saturday night, some demonstrators showed up at St. Francis Medical Center, with one identifying himself as a member of an activist group called the Africa Town Coalition. Videos capture at least one person in the crowd yelling, “I hope they ... die.”

Ali said the activists “don’t represent our community, our movement, our struggle for justice.” Hawkins urged residents to help identify the shooter.

“What happened to those deputies should never have happened, and those who know anything should call in immediately,” she said.

County Supervisor Kathryn Barger also condemned the actions of the group outside the hospital. She said she supports peaceful protest but that a line had been crossed.

“The events of this weekend have made it clear to me that the anti-law enforcement rhetoric expressed by many elected officials, community leaders and others has created a toxic environment amid the time of civil unrest,” she said.

Before approaching a group of sheriff’s officials outside the hospital with a bouquet of flowers to deliver to the injured deputies, Ali called on the department to fire deputies who are part of tattooed cliques known for an aggressive policing style.

He asked for “honest dialogue” between the community and the department.

“I would not be a leader if I did not hold both sides accountable,” he said.