[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]ens of thousands of Angelenos have taken to the streets all over the city demanding justice for George Floyd and an end to a system that has brutalized Black people for generations. Neither a deadly pandemic, hastily changing curfews, nor a militarized police presence could stop them.
Of the hundreds who were arrested, women and gender non-conforming people took to social media to document the abuses they said they endured, which included accounts claiming mental, emotional, physical, and even sexual abuse. L.A. Taco spoke to several individuals who lived through these incidents. According to these multiple accounts, women of color and trans people faced the most egregious treatment at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Here are their accounts.
Ale’s story
On Sunday, May 30th, Ale left her job to get food with three coworkers. They walked from their job on 14th Street and Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica to 9th Street and Broadway Street. Police were on the scene clearing out protestors from a nearby protest and were throwing “tear gas,” according to Ale. Three of Ale’s coworkers ran, with two of them running out of sight, and another staying across the street.