November 17, 2006
"In the Loo with LAPD!"

LOS ANGELES - Geffen Playhouse. A small band of animal rights activists met at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood last Friday evening - at which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was scheduled to appear - in order to leaflet event goers about Antonio's ongoing complicity in the slaughter of tens of thousands of loving, adoptable animals in the six municipal 'shelters', by appointing Ed Boks to be the General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services (LADAS). Referred to by activists as "Death Camps," the pounds are mired in an archaic "catch-and-kill" paradigm whose General Manager, Ed Boks, refuses to implement proven no-kill protocols, policies and programs employed successfully by progressive shelters elsewhere nationwide. The shelter system is riddled with mismanagement, sexual trysts, and cover-ups of animal abuse. Mayoral corruption - past and present - contributes to and compounds the internal and external problems whose victims are the thousands of animals dragged unceremoniously to the "bump rooms" to be administered lethal injections of "Fatal Plus."

Antonio hired two-time loser Ed Boks (fired in New York City and asked to leave Maricopa County) because he was a friend of billionaire Gary Michelson. Antonio envisioned big bucks for his future gubernatorial campaign and - rejecting the several eminently qualified and highly recommended local candidates and consultants, who not only had the skills, but were willing to take a cut in pay - traded the lives of innocent animals in service to his political ambitions. And so the battle continues between incompetent shelter staff, sleazy politicians, and determined animal rights activists.

The trouble began almost immediately when activists showed up at the playhouse to pass out leaflets describing the systematic murder taking place at the six City shelters and delineating the Mayor's indifference and history of broken promises to the humane community. The event officials were not happy campers when they saw the material being presented to attendees. They immediately informed the activists that the Geffen Playhouse had "rented" an entire city block and had the authority to anyone from handing out literature!! A retired copper (who gave us a name of Michael Klein yet refused to give his card or badge number,) who had been hired by the city to try and intimidate activists--we call them "rent-a-cop"--threatened to citizen's arrest anyone who tried to exercise their constitutional right to hand out leaflets on a public sidewalk! When activists asked to see the ordinance which gave him the authority to silence free speech, he told them "I don't have to show you anything! You have to obey me!"

Considering that no one could physically produce the reputed document, activists intuited that none such existed, and stood their ground and continued leafleting and displaying a banner reading "Mayor Villaraigosa is L.A.'s #1 Puppy Killer!" One activist overheard the rent-a-cop ask an undercover security agent for Villaraigosa when the Mayor's limo was going to pull up to let him out? Villaraigosa's security replied, not for another half hour. . .and the rent-a-cop stated and we quote "He's probably fu#@king his girlfriend!"

The activists continued to politely hand out leaflets to those event goers about No Kill Solutions and why the Mayor needs to keep his promise and have them consult and hire those who will truly revamp the city's CESSPOOL of a "shelter" system. But, next came more threats of arrest for trespass from the rent-a-cop with the news that LAPD was in fact on its way to execute said apprehensions. One activist commented, "Listen, we will be happy to speak to someone who can show us the ordinance we are supposedly violating and to have our lawyer speak to the officer by phone." The officer with whom we subsequently spoke in fact agreed that we had the right to leaflet, and even though he felt awkward having to go against this retired colleague (the rent-a-cop) he told the activists under his breath, that we indeed could be on the public sidewalk and conduct a peaceful demonstration.

The crowd, some paying five hundred dollars to see the Mayor interview Jon Stewart, was made up of mostly rich, arrogant and indifferent people, who were much more interested in the valet not scratching their Mercedes then the animals inside the six Death Camps. So, right before the activists called it a night, they bid farewell to the crowd by talking about the killing of animals using a bullhorn for about ten minutes and trying to be heard over the noise of all the buses and cars backed up on Le Conte Avenue in Westwood. At this point, another contingent of LAPD was dispatched by the rent-a-cop, coincidentally arriving just as activists were rolling up the banner and leaving the picket to walk to their cars and go get something to eat.

Upon arriving at the parking lot, the real drama began. Several police vehicles with their lights flashing cruised up and down Le Conte looking for activists walking back to their cars! Two police cars in fact drove into the parking lot (without paying the fee like everyone else has to) apparently to try and apprehend activists! Three activists proceeded to put the picket materials in their cars and then walk to dinner, not knowing that police were in hot pursuit! But, one of the activists decided to use the toilet at Jerry's Famous Deli.

As the activist walked into the corridor of Jerry's Famous Deli officers from behind issued a direct order: "Ma'am, stop right there - NOW!" The activist continued on toward the deli. We are above ground activists, certainly the officer was not speaking to her she thought. By this time, the activist had reached the restaurant's entrance and ducked (excuse the expression) into the ladies' room. But then, she heard a second order "Ma'am, come out of the bathroom NOW!" The officers opened the door and issued a no-nonsense directive for her immediate exit!

She stepped out of the ladies room and the officers immediately surrounded her and backed her against a wall inside Jerry's. They asked if she'd been a participant in a "disturbance" down the block at the Geffen Playhouse. As deli diners looked on, wondering what she could possibly have done, the activist at first replied, "I have nothing to say to you." The officers told her that she matched perfectly the description of a female participant who was "very tall, with red hair, wearing a colorful long skirt and flip-flops, and carrying a bullhorn."

Busted! "OK," she confessed. "Yes, I was there. It was a legal animal rights picket. Am I being charged with a crime? Are you going to arrest me?" Deliberately avoiding those questions, the officers asked, "Do you mind telling us what it was about?" Well, the protester didn't mind at all educating the police and speaking on behalf of the thousands of animals slaughtered in the six City Death Camps. She even threw in some gratuitous information about animals tortured and murdered in the vivisection labs across the street at UCLA.

One officer commented and we quote him verbatim, "Well, torturing and murdering animals is legal. It's not a crime. Read the law on animals. You have no right to bother the Mayor like this. He's our Chief. You'd better stop it!"

The activist replied, "We have the constitutional right to protest. And, yes, you are correct. We live in the kind of society where murdering animals inside the city 'shelters' is still legal. But the terms 'legal' and 'moral' are not synonymous. It was legal to send Jews to the gas chambers in Nazi Germany. Did that make it moral or right?"

The officer replied, "I don't know, ma'am. I wasn't there." The activist pressed on: "I happen to be a Jew. If you had me in your custody - like you do right now - but in Nazi Germany rather than here in Los Angeles, California, would you use your authority as a police officer to have me arrested and sent to the camps?" Again, he said, "I don't know, ma'am."

Well, at this point, in typical "bad cop, good cop" fashion, another officer now took over and asked the activist lots of questions, like her phone number--which she replied that, she was flattered he asked but she did not legally have to share that with him. It went round and round until he said, "Next time Ma'am, you need to get a permit to use amplified sound here, but you're free to go now."

So the LAPD, chased this woman down, pinned her against a wall, and interrogated her just to let her know she needed a permit to use amplified sound (did the buses and cars honking their horns on Le Conte Avenue need permits as well, since they made a lot more noise then the bull horn?)

Antonio's security forces probably told them to "instill some fear into those activists." Comments the protester: "I'll admit that it was scary to be backed against a wall and held there by police officers. I don't deny that it was frightening to be completely at the mercy of people who had the power to arrest me - and who, acutely aware that I was anguishing over whether or not they intended to do so, purposely kept me in suspense for half an hour. But how much scarier must it be for the animals to face being dragged to the kill room on a daily basis? I knew that even if I had to spend the weekend in jail, I would be free by Monday. For the LADAS animals, the end of the line comes through the delivery port of a lethal injection barrel - when all they want is to be adopted into loving homes. Yes, I went through an unnerving experience - but nothing like what the animals endure."

Courageous activists like her, refuse to back down and will continue to stand up and speak out against the slaughter -carried out by General Manager Ed Boks and condoned by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - of tens of thousands of innocent animals in the six City shelters.

In closing we say "Looking forward to seeing you at your next speaking engagement, Tony!" Hopefully there will be even MORE activists there willing to educate the public.

"When they cam to arrest the Jews, I did not say any thing. I am not a Jew.
When they came to arrest the communists, I did not say anything. I am not a communist.
When they came to arrest the socialists, I did not say anything. I am not a socialist.
When they cam to arrest the homosexuals, gypsies, mentally retarded, etc. I did not say anything, I am none of the above.
When they came to arrest me, there was no one to speak for me."

ADL-LA Disclaimer: Nothing contained in this publication is intended to encourage or incite illegal acts. Many of the reports contained in our Action Alerts and on our web site at www.StopTheKilling.net have been received anonymously and the Campaign cannot make any guarantees for the accuracy of these reports. Any views or comments stated in reports, Action Alerts or on the web site are not necessarily the views of STK or ADL-LA.