LOS ANGELES – A college professor who is also one of the co-founders of the Los Angeles Chapter of Black Lives Matter sued the city of Los Angeles and former LAPD Chief Charlie Beck along with several officers after she was charged in an eight-count criminal complaint for disrupting Police Commission meetings. The anti-police activist lost her lawsuit on Thursday when a jury found the woman’s arrest was lawful.
Melina Abdullah filed suit two years ago, alleging that during a dissonant May 8, 2018, meeting she was “falsely, wrongfully, and intentionally detained, imprisoned, and arrested,” according to the civil complaint for unspecified damages filed in Los Angeles federal court.
However, the federal jury saw it differently. After a two-day trial, they sided with the city, the former chief and the officers by determining the arrest was justified, Los Angeles Daily News reported.
Abdullah is a professor at Cal State University, Los Angeles. Her pro bono attorney, Carl Douglas (ala O.J. Simpson fame), said when the lawsuit was filed that LAPD “unfairly caused her arrest and attempted to silence her. She will not be silenced.”
Abdullah was arrested at the Police Commission meeting, along with another woman, Sheila Brim, who authorities said threw a powdery substance at Beck.
The activist women alleged the ashes were the remains of Brim’s niece who died in police custody in 2016.
Abdullah was charged with several misdemeanor counts that occurred in 2017 and 2018. The charges included battery on a police officer, interfering or obstructing a public business establishment and interfering with the lawful business of the Police Commission, according to the Daily News.
However, the charges were ultimately dismissed. City prosecutors agreed to drop the criminal complaint if Abdullah adhered to guidelines aimed at preventing her from disrupting the weekly meetings.
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