Dozens of men and women were rounded up and towed from a Los Angeles street in November 2018 and kept in jail until two weeks later. A viral video taken of the incident shows plainclothes officers dragging a woman tied with ropes by her feet, two other women standing aside, and others in handcuffs watching as they were torn out of the intersection and driven away in vehicles, reports the New York Times. Video footage published by Mother Jones also shows officers kicking a man in the head and handcuffing a woman as she begs them to let her go. All of the detained people have since been released. According to Los Angeles Times reporter Melissa Rohlin, the groups have not been charged with any crime.
A subsequent investigation by CNN reported that the legal department of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department disagreed, writing a letter on Jan. 7 to the city’s prosecutor requesting charges of trespassing and assault. The city attorney approved the charges. The LA prosecutors’ office is not involved in the video, however. The letters sent by the sheriff’s department states: “We have reviewed all the relevant information and are still evaluating this situation.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was not involved in the video. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sent a letter to the city’s prosecutor requesting charges of trespassing and assault. CNN amended the statement to clarify that the sheriff’s department was also not involved in the actual filming of the protest and that the charges were approved by the city attorney.