Horses used against demonstrators in ninth day of Anaheim protests

By Arturo Garcia
Monday, July 30, 2012 9:26 EDT  The Raw Story

Anaheim police arrested nine demonstrators, at one point using horses against protesters during a march, during the ninth day of protests over police shootings Sunday.

The Orange County Register reported that more than 200 protesters took part in the demonstration, which forced some street closures as they marched toward Disneyland before converging on police headquarters. Among them were members of the Occupy Wall Street movement, one of whom filmed officers using horses to move people back toward the sidewalk.

According to KTLA-TV, eight people were arrested for blocking traffic and another was arrested for allegedly assaulting people at a nearby gas station.

However, OC Weekly also reported that officers reacted angrily when some protesters tried to document at least one of the arrests.

“While two officers handcuffed the suspect, other cops rushed up, formed a perimeter, pointed rifles directly at the faces of photographers, snarled and screamed, ‘Back up!’” R. Scott Moxley wrote on the weekly paper’s blog.

The latest round of protests is part of a round of demonstrations touched off by the police shootings of Manuel Diaz and Joel Acevedo earlier this month. Last week, Diaz’s mother, Genevieve Huizar, urged residents to protest peacefully after reports of vandalism during demonstrations.

Sunday, Theresa Smith, whose son was also killed by police three years ago, said an earlier demonstration against the local city council brought “very negative attention” to the issue, according to The Los Angeles Times.

“It’s their anger and I understand the years of frustration,” she said. “It’s not right. I don’t condone it, but I understand it.”

KTLA-TV is reporting that state Attorney General Kamala Harris will hold a press conference in Los Angeles at 11 a.m. Monday. A petition calling for her to investigate the shootings has garnered more than 17,000 signatures.

Watch video of officers’ use of horses during the protest at the 58:21 mark of this video shot by OccupyFreedomLA on UStream July 29, below:  (To view this video, click on the link below.)

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/24341523

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