A Long Hot Summer?


By Jim Smith

There have been three town hall meetings in Venice since the last issue of the Beachhead hit the streets. Two of them - focusing on a possible moratorium on condominium conversions, and on clean money for election campaigns - were well attended and mild mannered.


The Town Hall on community race relations held on June 6 was something else again. Although it came just one day after the shooting of 17-year-old Agustin Contreras at Venice High, it had been planned for weeks. The murder, and the resulting police activity in Oakwood, simply added fuel to the fire.

The Town Hall at Oakwood Recreation Center had been initiated by Venice 2000, the local gang-intervention organization, which invited L.A. Councilmember Bill Rosendahl and the city’s Human Relations Commission to participate.

Rosendahl chaired the raucous meeting that also took up the insulting and racist letter that had been circulating in Oakwood for several weeks. The letter bore the names of Lisa Feingold and Gary Buckland, who in a letter to the Beachhead last month, said they did not write the letter. In their Beachhead letter, and at the Town Hall, they pointed out errors in the letter including the spelling of their names. Their denial was accepted at the meeting. However, a loud argument broke out in the back of the hall between several community members and someone suspected of actually writing the letter.

Meanwhile, a number of speakers at the open microphone pointed to the lack of jobs available to residents of Oakwood. Stan Muhammad of Venice 2000 said that Developer Frank Murphy and Abbot’s Pizza Company were the only businesses that will hire high-risk youth. Others said that having a police record makes it hard for anyone to get a job and “go straight.”

A Public Safety and Development committee is being formed to focus on finding more jobs and friendly employers. It will meet Thursday, July 13, from 6-8 pm at the New Bethel Church, 5th & Brooks 6-8 pm. The meeting is open to the public.

Others spoke about the gentrification of Oakwood that is contributing to a feeling of disrespect from new, mainly white, arrivals towards older, Black and Latino residents. Speakers commented on the high fences that have been erected by many of the new home owners.

The biggest uproar of the evening came in response to police activity after the Contreras shooting. Swarms of LAPD headed to Oakwood - either on instinct or in response to a tip - to find the shooter who was identified as a 17-year-old African American.

Of all the houses and apartments in Oakwood, they surrounded and laid siege to the home of Laddie Williams, a community activist. Williams, whose family has lived in Venice for the past 100 years, is a former elected official of the Neighborhood Council, the Venice Neighborhood Action Committee and numerous other groups.

Her two sons and a daughter were the unlikely targets of the police. One son tried to hide on the roof of the Williams house, apparently afraid of the massive firepower of the LAPD Swat Squad.

When Williams, joined by Rev. Sherwood Fleming, reached the microphone she expressed her outrage at the previous day’s police behavior. She insisted on an apology from the police. Captain William Hayes and Officer Teresa Skinner, sitting at the front table, were representing the LAPD. The following exchange took place:

Laddie Williams - I saw my house on TV, guns pointed at my kids heads. My daughter was held in that house for four hours. Those young men need to be apologized to. We should all respect each other by living and learning from each other. Two of them were landscaping, with 12 guns on them. They and the community need an apology (applause).

I couldn’t get in to my own house to my kids.

Rev. Fleming said “jail is not the answer.” Education is the answer, but until you put teachers of color into Venice High, it’s not going to happen.

My heart goes out to that mother who lost her child, but I almost lost my child yesterday, with Swats surrounding them.

Can no one give me a response? I want an apology. If you really want to help this community apologize for what happened yesterday. Those boys were almost shot yesterday. I think right now, Captain, an apology should be given to this whole room. I haven’t heard you guys say I’m sorry once tonight.

Bill Rosendahl - Ms. Williams, I apologize for anything I did or the police did to you or your daughter.

Laddie Williams - That’s fine – but the Captain is sitting right here.

Bill Rosendahl - Ok but the capt. was part of a larger group of men who were looking for a shooter. And they’re professionals. The good news is that when they came to Oakwood, nobody was shot. I want to apologize to Jasmine, your daughter.

Laddie Williams - The community has said loud and clear that the shooter did not come from Venice. I called and told Officer Pickering that I will take him through my house.
I still haven’t heard one word. Don’t speak from the Police Handbook. Speak from your heart.

Captain Hayes - Ms. Williams, I am a parent and my concern was the safety of everyone in this community.
We had information related to that shooting that the suspect was in this area. The young man taken off your roof matched the description very closely. He ran and hid in your house.
Your son was detained originally because of some other activity. I believe we did the best thing for this community.

Laddie Williams - You’re telling me these young men were out there doing something, but at the same time you were out there chasing after a murder suspect? I don’t get the correlation.

Captain Hayes - I just explained to you that we have information that the suspect came from this area and the young man on the roof of your house fit the description almost to a “t.”
Stan Muhammad - Can I ask you something? Did you make a mistake?

Captain Hayes - No sir, we didn’t.

Stan Muhammad - Did you apprehend the person who committed the crime?

Captain Hayes - No sir.

Stan Muhammad - So what I’m hearing is all she’s asking for is an apology. Yes we made a mistake we arrested the wrong individual I think that would solve everything. Did the LAPD make a mistake yesterday?

Captain Hayes - No sir, we did not make a mistake.

Bill Rosendahl - All the Captain is saying is that this young man matched the description.

Captain Hayes - what I said was we had a suspect who we detained. We had a field show up where witnesses in which he was eliminated. Those witnesses said he very closely matched the description.

Laddie Williams - These two back here match the description of a 17-year-old? At 27 and 26 years old?

Captain Hayes - We did professional police work attempting to locate a murder suspect. we followed all the investigative leads. The fact that he was eliminated is not a mistake, we did the best he could.

(crowd uproar)

Bill Rosendahl - you heard the answer. You didn’t like the answer, but that was the answer. you don’t have to agree with what he said.

Laddie Williams - This is the type of tension that goes on within a community.
I’m big enough to say I did something. It was wrong information.

Captain Hayes - Your son was on the roof of your house.

Laddie Williams - I understand he was on the roof of the house. He has to answer to me for that.
The mothers in this community don’t want our children doing wrong, but we also want the police to protect and to serve this community.

In the end, the Town Hall underscored the broad gulf that exists between the Oakwood Community and the LAPD. At the same time, gang intervention programs are being cut back by the city, Stan Muhammad told the Beachhead. “We are going to have to lay off our last Latino staff member because of lack of funding for the position, said Muhammad. “Right now there is no intervention program at Venice High,” he added. “We are trying to get African Americans and Latinos from Venice and Culver City to sit down together, but the city’s budget for these programs is being cut,” continued Muhammad.

The murder of Contreras did not produce a gang-war in spite of the breathless predictions of some media outlets. However, the threat of gang-violence and/or police-community violence should not be discounted.

The LAPD website displays a graphic showing the “Current Threat Level” as Elevated. It’s unclear if this refers to a terrorist threat or a prediction of a long, hot summer in Venice and L.A.

Posted: Sat - July 1, 2006 at 11:17 AM          


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