Protests turn violent in Anaheim after an off-duty cop fired a gun while telling kids to get off his lawn
Hundreds of people turned out to protest in Anaheim, California, on Wednesday evening after an off-duty Los Angeles police officer fired his weapon while attempting to detain a 13-year-old boy in an argument about kids walking across his lawn. Some of the protests eventually turned violent.
The altercation happened Tuesday afternoon, and partial video of the incident soon surfaced online. The boy, whose name has not been released, said he spoke to the officer after the cop began using profanity against a 13-year-old girl who walked across his property to get to a nearby school.
All parties agree the officer fired his gun, but the 13-year-old and his family reject the cop's claim that the boy threatened to shoot the officer. They say he threatened to "sue," not "shoot," when he became afraid for his life. Nevertheless, the boy and a 15-year-old friend were both arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats and battery and on suspicion of assault and battery, respectively. The officer was not arrested and is on administrative leave.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wednesday night, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the officer's home. Most protested peacefully, though 24 people were arrested after a minority of those gathered smashed house and car windows, attempted to enter the officer's home, and spray-painted a garage door. The mayor of Anaheim has promised a full investigation. Watch a local news story below, including footage of the gunfire incident and subsequent protests. Bonnie Kristian
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published