"Smith said the assistant Los Angeles city attorney wanted his signature on a prewritten sworn declaration that described how LAPD officers had no choice but to use force against a volatile crowd hurling bottles and smoke bombs during a 2020 protest in Tujunga. He refused to put his name on it. Instead, eight months later, Smith filed his own lawsuit against the city, alleging he faced retaliation for trying to blow the whistle on a range of misconduct within the LAPD."
"Smith's lawsuit says he felt pressured to give a misleading statement to cover up for reckless behavior by officers. The captain's claim, filed December 2021 in Los Angeles Superior Court, has taken on new significance with the city facing fresh litigation over LAPD crowd control tactics during recent protests against the Trump administration. The 2020 protests led to a court order that limits how LAPD officers can use certain less-lethal weapons, including launchers that shoot hard-foam projectiles typically used to disable uncooperative suspects."
April 2021 protests prompted a Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles complaint alleging officers fired less-lethal weapons at nonthreatening demonstrators. A captain said the assistant city attorney sought his signature on a prewritten sworn declaration describing officers as forced to use force during a 2020 Tujunga protest; he refused. Eight months later he filed a December 2021 lawsuit alleging retaliation for whistleblowing and pressure to give misleading statements to cover reckless officer behavior. The lawsuit reveals coordination and friction between LAPD and the city attorney’s office. Federal and related litigation produced court limits on certain less-lethal weapons while the city seeks to lift those restrictions.
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