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CBS News
a day ago
- Politics
- CBS News
L.A. city attorney charges 14 people with misdemeanors related to downtown protests
More than a dozen people face misdemeanor charges related to the immigration protests in downtown Los Angeles. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said her office filed 10 criminal cases involving 14 people. Some of the charges include battery of a peace officer, petty theft, trespassing and resisting arrest. Each charge carries a possible penalty of one year in county jail and up to a $1,000 fine. "The right to peacefully protest and to free speech is protected under the First Amendment; however, protests must not cross the line into criminal conduct. This Office will continue to prosecute individuals who violate our laws, especially when they threaten public safety, assault our police officers or damage property," Feldstein Soto said. Demonstrators holding signs and flags face California National Guard members standing guard outside the Federal Building. APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images On Wednesday, L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman charged more than a dozen people with felonies related to the ICE protests. "If people want to hurl insults, we will protect that. If people want to engage in crimes, we will prosecute that," Hochman said on Wednesday. "So hurling bricks, hurling cinder blocks, hurling fireworks, will not be tolerated in this county now or ever." However, he did remark that the vast majority of protesters did not commit crimes during the demonstrations. He estimated that about 4,000 people had marched without doing something illegal since June 6, and possibly up to 400 had engaged in unlawful activity. "That means that 99.99 percent of people who live in Los Angeles city, or live in Los Angeles County, have not committed any illegal acts in connection with this protest whatsoever," Hochman said on Wednesday.
Los Angeles Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Few among hundreds of campus protesters in L.A. facing charges, reigniting debate
When pro-Palestinian protesters erected encampments at two of Los Angeles' most prominent college campuses last year, the weeks-long demonstrations ended in dozens of arrests at USC and hundreds more at UCLA after a violent overnight attack by counterprotesters. Law enforcement officials promised swift action against those who broke the law. But late last month, Los Angeles City. Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto announced that only two people — out of nearly 350 people arrested — would face criminal charges from her office. Feldstein Soto's decision not to charge in all but a handful of cases has reignited debate about how the protests were handled and left some campus officials wondering whether future agitators will be emboldened. In the year since the dramatic scenes on both campuses, Jewish groups and the Trump administration have accused USC and UCLA of tolerating antisemitism, and Jewish individuals have sued UCLA and pro-Palestinian groups. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, meanwhile, have sued UCLA three times, claiming it failed to protect them from a violent mob that attacked their encampment last May. In charging only two suspects, the city attorney has frustrated campus officials, law enforcement leaders and demonstrators, who were on opposite sides of a skirmish line last year, for different reasons, with some alleging she has shown bias against pro-Palestinian demonstrators. A spokesperson for Feldstein Soto did not respond to a question about those allegations. In a previous statement about the charges, Feldstein Soto thanked prosecutors in her office 'for their dedication to the rule of law and their commitment to objectively evaluating the evidence and referrals received on each of these matters.' Most serious violent crimes are handled by the L.A. County district attorney's office, with lesser charges referred to the city attorney for review. Feldstein Soto declined to charge 338 protesters arrested by Los Angeles and University of California police on both campuses on suspicion of failing to disperse, trespassing and conspiracy to trespass. In a statement issued last month, her office said it rejected most of those cases for lack of evidence or because a university had shown 'failure or inability to assist in identification or other information needed for prosecution.' Her office reviewed nine other cases of people accused of resisting arrest, obstruction, disturbing the peace, battery, vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon. Four of those cases did not result in charges and three were referred to a city attorney hearing, essentially a diversionary process that often ends without the filing of charges. That left two men facing misdemeanor offenses, both related to violence near UCLA. The incident at the center of the cases unfolded after days of complaints from some UCLA faculty and students that a protest encampment was blocking free movement on campus and leading to the harassment of Jewish students. On the night of May 1, 2024, a group of pro-Israel demonstrators attacked, triggering mayhem. Dozens of people were involved in the violent incident, and videos showed assailants dragging pro-Palestinian demonstrators to the ground, beating people with weapons, hurling items at the encampment and, in one case, pepper-spraying a journalist in the face. Though several people were involved in the violence, Feldstein Soto charged only Edan On, 19, who is now believed to be in Israel. On was first identified by CNN last year. Multiple videos showed him in a white hoodie and face mask wildly swinging a pipe at demonstrators. University police initially asked the L.A. County district attorney's office to bring felony charges against On, but prosecutors declined, citing his age, the minimal injuries suffered by his victim and his lack of a criminal record, according to court documents. Still, prosecutors referred his case to Feldstein Soto for misdemeanor charges. Feldstein Soto last month charged On with battery and exhibiting a deadly weapon, records show. He is due in court in late May. On's attorney declined to comment. Last month, independent journalist Eric Levai published photos that purported to show On standing outside an Israel Defense Forces recruitment center near Tel Aviv. Levai also highlighted a TikTok post, purportedly from On, showing him in IDF fatigues. A city attorney's office spokesman didn't respond to questions about On's whereabouts. The IDF did not respond to multiple inquiries; On's attorney declined to comment on this issue. Last year, court records show, On successfully petitioned a judge to return his Israeli passport, which had been seized after his arrest. His attorney argued in court filings that On was not a flight risk. A second defendant, 31-year-old Matthew Katz, was charged with battery, false imprisonment and resisting arrest related to conduct near UCLA on April 30, 2024, records show. Attorney Sabrina Darwish denied the allegations against Katz, whom she described as a 'peaceful participant' who was demonstrating in support of Palestinians. Darwish said in an email to The Times that the charges 'lack both legal merit and evidentiary support.' 'Mr. Katz is the only protester charged from the pro-Palestinian encampment, which resulted in over 200 arrests last year,' Darwish said. 'The decision to prosecute appears to be an overreach influenced more by public pressure than by the rule of law.' Pro-Palestinian demonstrators say Feldstein Soto has failed to hold the group that attacked the UCLA encampment accountable. A lawsuit filed in March against UCLA and police agencies identified an additional 20 individuals allegedly responsible for violence. 'There's overwhelming evidence of over four hours of assaults and batteries on these kids,' said one UCLA encampment demonstrator, who asked to be identified only as 'Huey,' for fear of reprisals. 'The city sat back and watched as these people were brutally attacked.' One person accused of attacking the encampment was charged with felonies by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office last year. Prosecutors accused Malachi Marlanlibrett of assault with a deadly weapon and battery with a hate crime enhancement, according to court records. A district attorney's office spokesman declined to comment on the reason prosecutors pursued a hate crime. Marlanlibrett's attorney didn't respond to an email seeking comment. Another man, Noel Padilla, was charged with resisting arrest and battery, records show. Both men are due back in court this week. It was not clear which side of the clash Padilla was on. Natalin Daldalian, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County public defender's office, said Padilla had been granted pretrial diversion but declined to comment further. Indignation has followed Feldstein Soto's claim that charges had to be dismissed in hundreds of other cases because of campus officials' 'failure or inability to assist in identification.' The head of the union that represents the UCLA Police Department officers assailed Feldstein Soto's assertion as 'flat out false' and accused her of refusing to charge for 'political reasons.' The union official, UC Officer Wade Stern, noted that campus police presented similar evidence against protesters at UC Irvine last year, which prompted Orange County prosecutors to file dozens of misdemeanor charges for failure to disperse. UC Regent Jay Sures, who said he was briefed on the information police presented to the city, accused Feldstein Soto of ignoring evidence that clearly identified people suspected of wrongdoing. 'She issued a blanket dismissal,' Sures said. He called the decision a 'travesty of justice' that sends a 'terrible message to her law enforcement partners.' Spokesman Ivor Pine said the city attorney's office 'received full cooperation from UCPD based on the information available to them and to us, and we did not mean to suggest otherwise.' Further explaining the dropped charges, Pine said, cases were presented 'without sufficient information to establish the elements of a crime as to any individual.' Judea Pearl, an Israeli American UCLA computer professor and vocal supporter of Israel, said the decision not to charge 'tells students that there are no consequences to these actions that broke the law and university rules, that they can just do them again.' 'It will embolden them,' Pearl said. For years, the city attorney's office has rarely, if ever, charged protesters with failing to disperse or other nonviolent offenses related to constitutionally protected demonstrations. Such was the case with most arrests that followed President Trump's first electoral victory in 2016, the 2020 police murder of George Floyd and raucous celebrations after the Dodgers' 2020 World Series victory. But last year, Feldstein Soto took a more aggressive stance, filing obstruction charges against 31 Jewish demonstrators who blocked a portion of the 110 Freeway while calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Attorney Colleen Flynn, who represents those demonstrators, called the cases a 'glaring exception' to the standard charging policy and showed bias against 'people who are protesting for Palestine.' The city attorney also drew concerns from LAPD officials last year when she personally lobbied for the arrest of a prominent leftist activist she alleged was involved in vandalizing the Brentwood home of the president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Detectives said video evidence did not definitively show the activist, Ricci Sergienko of People's City Council, committing a crime, records show. The organizers of last year's campus protests have said their goals were to convince university leaders to divest endowments of connections to weapons companies aiding Israel's war efforts. The encampments featured many Jewish members but also faced criticism from Jewish communities, which said they were antisemitic and demonized Israel. More than 52,000 Gazans have been killed during Israel's military campaign, according to Hamas' Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel that triggered the latest conflict. At a moment when the Trump administration has targeted pro-Palestinian demonstrators on college campuses, some celebrated Feldstein Soto's decision not to charge in all but two of the cases as a victory for the 1st Amendment. Most of those detained last year were simply exercising their right to protest, Amelia Jones, a professor and vice dean of faculty and research at USC's Roski School of Art and Design, wrote in a statement to The Times. 'As a supporter of the students and someone who attended the entirely peaceful protests almost every day, I am thrilled to see this issue resolved, and freedom of speech ratified,' Jones said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DWP hires law firm, at up to $1,975 an hour, to defend against Palisades fire lawsuits
Faced with a deluge of litigation from the Palisades fire, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power approved a three-year, $10-million contract with a top law firm to defend the utility. The Board of Water and Power, which is made up of mayoral appointees, voted Tuesday to retain the L.A. firm Munger, Tolles & Olson to investigate anticipated claims related to the fire and respond to lawsuits from residents whose homes were destroyed or damaged. Under the deal, partners at the firm will charge the city up to $1,975 per hour for their legal work. Associates will bill from $745 to $1,180 per hour. A spokesperson for L.A. City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto said this "discounted rate structure" was among the factors that led to the selection of the firm. The agreement was formally approved this week, but Munger, Tolles & Olson began representing the city on Jan. 12, five days after the Palisades fire broke out, destroying nearly 7,000 homes and other structures and killing at least 12. The swift hiring of the law firm contrasts sharply with DWP's pace in finding a contractor to repair the Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 117-million-gallon water storage complex in the Palisades that was empty during the Palisades fire. Utility workers found a tear in the reservoir's floating cover in January 2024 and emptied it a few months later in preparation for repairs. Why the reservoir was taken offline, and why it has remained out of service for so long, is likely to be a major part of Munger Tolles' work. DWP has pointed to the competitive bidding process for the repairs as among the reasons for the delay. The law firm is also expected to defend against claims about DWP's fire hydrants running dry. Karen Richardson, another spokesperson for Feldstein Soto, said in an email that the law firm was retained for several reasons, including its specialized expertise and the DWP's "pressing need" for representation during an emergency. The city interviewed three law firms before selecting Munger Tolles, Richardson said. In a memo discussing the firm's scope of work, DWP Chief Executive Janisse Quiñones and general counsel Benjamin Chapman noted that Munger, Tolles & Olson lawyers have handled lawsuits related to several large wildfires. As part of the massive litigation from the 2023 fires in Maui, about 75 Munger Tolles staffers and lawyers helped represent Hawaiian Electric Industries and Hawaiian Electric Co., according to the law firm's website. Those lawsuits were ultimately settled for more than $4 billion, although the payouts have been held up after insurance companies opposed the deal. Munger Tolles also represented Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in connection with the 2018 Camp fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise and left 84 people dead. PG&E ultimately pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Munger Tolles also represented the utility in regulatory matters and litigation arising from the fire. In their memo, the DWP officials wrote that wildfires involving utilities "require aggressive and thorough investigation and defense on multiple fronts," with numerous claims brought by individuals and insurance companies. Seeking out significant prior experience, they wrote, was "proper and prudent." Munger Tolles was also chosen because of its presence in L.A., Feldstein Soto spokesperson Ivor Pine said. A spokesperson for the law firm, which also represents Southern California Edison, declined to comment, referring The Times to the city attorney's office. Munger Tolles partner Daniel Levin will serve as the point person for day-to-day work on the DWP cases. He was part of the team defending the city of L.A. in a lawsuit that accused the city of creating affordable housing that was not accessible to people with disabilities. That long-running suit was settled in August, with the city agreeing to pay $40 million. For that case, Munger Tolles partners billed $1,045 to $1,245 per hour, according to a 2024 rate sheet reviewed by The Times. The city is expected to face hundreds, and potentially thousands, of claims from homeowners, businesses and insurance companies over the Palisades fire. So far, at least five lawsuits with more than three dozen plaintiffs, including reality TV stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, have been filed against the city in L.A. County Superior Court. The lawsuits are alleging "inverse condemnation," which allows landowners to pursue compensation when damage to their property is caused by public use. In these cases, the homeowners are tracing the fire damage to DWP. Those who lost homes or businesses in the Eaton fire are suing Southern California Edison under the same concept. Plaintiffs have accused Southern California Edison of sparking the Eaton fire with its equipment, but the DWP's electrical equipment has not been implicated in the Palisades fire. The suits against DWP generally allege that "improper design, installation, construction, ownership, operation" or maintenance of the water system in the Palisades caused or worsened the damage from the fire. They also focus on the fact that scores of hydrants went dry as firefighters battled the Palisades fire. The DWP has maintained that its water system was built according to city standards and that only one-fifth of hydrants in the Palisades, largely in higher-elevation areas, lost water pressure. DWP officials said that they were required to empty the reservoir to comply with water quality regulations — and that the repair process was prolonged by the city's competitive bidding process and the availability of the contractor who was eventually retained to carry out the work. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
L.A. city attorney alleges mega real estate firm Blueground engaged in illegal price gouging
Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto has sued the apartment behemoth Blueground US Inc., alleging the provider of furnished rentals engaged in multiple instances of illegal price gouging in the wake of the region's fires. Under a state of emergency, landlords and their representatives are generally barred from raising rent more than 10% above what they charged or advertised before the fires broke out Jan. 7. In its lawsuit, announced Tuesday, the city attorney's office cited more than 10 cases in which it alleged Blueground engaged in illegal price gouging, including at one apartment in downtown Los Angeles where the company raised rent more than 30%, from $4,140 a month to $5,400. Blueground, which could not immediately be reached for comment, is not a typical apartment company. It leases units from property owners, furnishes the apartments and then rents the units to tenants and businesses that need long-term housing for their workers. Its website says Blueground operates worldwide, though it's unclear whether the entity the city attorney sued, Blueground US Inc., is only an American subsidiary. 'It is not only unconscionable for Blueground to take advantage of Angelenos when they are at their most vulnerable, it is illegal and must stop immediately,' Feldstein Soto said in a statement. The action announced Tuesday is the latest authorities have made since widespread reports of illegal price gouging became known after the fires. The California Attorney General's office has filed at least two criminal cases against L.A.-area real estate agents. Some real estate listings firms like Zillow have also moved to take down listings in which rent was raised beyond the 10% threshold. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
L.A. city attorney alleges mega real estate firm Blueground engaged in illegal price gouging
Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto has sued the apartment behemoth Blueground US Inc., alleging the provider of furnished rentals engaged in multiple instances of illegal price gouging in the wake of the region's fires. Under a state of emergency, landlords and their representatives are generally barred from raising rent more than 10% above what they charged or advertised before the fires broke out Jan. 7. In its lawsuit, announced Tuesday, the city attorney's office cited more than 10 cases in which it alleged Blueground engaged in illegal price gouging, including at one apartment in downtown Los Angeles where the company raised rent more than 30%, from $4,140 a month to $5,400. Blueground, which could not immediately be reached for comment, is not a typical apartment company. It leases units from property owners, furnishes the apartments and then rents the units to tenants and businesses that need long-term housing for their workers. Its website says Blueground operates worldwide, though it's unclear whether the entity the city attorney sued, Blueground US Inc., is only an American subsidiary. 'It is not only unconscionable for Blueground to take advantage of Angelenos when they are at their most vulnerable, it is illegal and must stop immediately,' Feldstein Soto said in a statement. The action announced Tuesday is the latest authorities have made since widespread reports of illegal price gouging became known after the fires. The California Attorney General's office has filed at least two criminal cases against L.A.-area real estate agents. Some real estate listings firms like Zillow have also moved to take down listings in which rent was raised beyond the 10% threshold. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
