LAPD captain claims city pushed misleading statement to justify police tactics at protest
The city of Los Angeles had just been sued by the local chapter of Black Lives Matter and other advocacy groups when LAPD Capt. Johnny Smith claims he got a frantic call from an assistant city attorney asking for his help.
It was April 2021 and the LAPD was facing sharp criticism over its handling of mass protests against police brutality. The Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles complaint accused officers of firing less-lethal weapons at demonstrators who posed no threat, among other abuses.
Smith said the assistant Los Angeles city attorney wanted his signature on a prewritten sworn declaration that described how LAPD officers had no choice but to use force against a volatile crowd hurling bottles and smoke bombs during a 2020 protest in Tujunga.
He refused to put his name on it. Instead, eight months later, Smith filed his own lawsuit against the city, alleging he faced retaliation for trying to blow the whistle on a range of misconduct within the LAPD.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/lapd-captain-claims-city-pushed-031011666.html