Black and Latinx communities in South Los Angeles are still recovering from a massive explosion the LA police department recently set off. After confiscating 5,000 pounds of fireworks, the LAPD decided to “safely” detonate them in a residential neighborhood.
But it wasn’t safe at all.
In a “catastrophic failure,” the fireworks exploded massively, injuring 17 people and destroying nearby houses and cars. Multiple families were displaced from their homes with no real explanation for why the explosion happened, and are now relying on crowdfunding for housing and necessities.
Community members are “outraged.”
And it makes sense – why experiment with something so dangerous right in the middle of where people live? "Would they have made that call if we were in Santa Monica?" Central Alameda Neighborhood Council President Alfredo Gama inquired.
For reference, Santa Monica is 75% white.
And like this white supremacist policing system tends to do, the LAPD hasn’t taken steps towards accountability for the harm they caused. Instead, the man they confiscated the fireworks from was arrested with a federal charge!
But he wasn’t the one who exploded the fireworks and upended an entire neighborhood.
Police always blame others to distract the public from the harm they cause. They, and this brutal system they're a part of, are the ones who constantly keep us in danger.