Several dozen people gathered outside Los Angeles Police Department headquarters Thursday for a rally and march to protest what activists decry as police brutality.
The event, along with similar gatherings in New York City and about 30 other cities, are part of the 20th "National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation."
The rally outside the Police Administration Building at 100 W. First St., began with a small group of protesters that grew to about 40 people by 3 p.m.
The group began marching at 3:30 p.m., heading south on Spring Street and bound for Skid Row at Sixth and San Pedro streets.
The march was expected to end at 6 p.m.
Rolling street closures between West First and West Seventh, and Spring and San Pedro streets were planned to accommodate the march, police said.
Drivers were advised to avoid that stretch of downtown.
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The rally featured as speakers relatives of people killed by Inglewood police and Los Angeles and San Bernardino sheriff's deputies, according to a statement from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network.
Protesters gathered outside the LAPD headquarters carried images of people killed in confrontations with police and posters with slogans such as, "stop police terror and murder," and "which side are you on?"
Some attendees made speeches in front of a banner displaying images of the deceased and the words, "stop murders by police."
Activists planned to march to downtown sites "where people have been killed by police," according to Stop Mass Incarceration Network.
