Nick Bernabe

March 3, 2015

(ANTIMEDIA) Los Angeles, CA — Anti-Media journalist Alissa Kokkins has been arrested by the LAPD while covering Skid Row protests against cops who gunned down an unhoused person known as Africa on Sunday night.

Details of the arrest are unknown at this time; the last we saw of her on Ustream she was filming a confrontation with LAPD cops guarding their police station. She was arrested at the LAPD headquarters.

What is clear is that the LAPD has no respect for the 1st Amendment or freedom of the independent press. Alissa has been arrested multiple times in recent months while covering police related actions in Los Angeles.

Another journalist who also works with us here at The Anti-Media, P.M. Beers, is facing up to 6 months in jail for journalism at an anti-police protest. Her court date is on March 11. An event to support P.M at her Fullerton, CA court date has been set up and can be found here.

Alissa’s last Vine post before she was arrested can be viewed below:

Please stay tuned. As more details emerge about this attack on free speech we will update this article.

UPDATE 2: Alissa has been release from jail. She sent us a statement: (unedited) At approximately 10:30am a member of the houseless community informed me that he had been ticketed for sleeping under a bridge during rainy season in LA. I was super concerned hearing this, so I began taking pictures of officers, while holding his ticket in front of my camera. As I did so, I asked each officer if they ticketed the houseless for sleeping. None answered my question. When I went inside the lobby of LAPD HQ to do the same and take the ticket to the police commission meeting, I was aggressively confronted by what I believe is a lieutenant. She told me that I was “trespassing” and could only be there if I was there on police business. I told her that it was a public space and I was on police business; I was there about a ticket given to a houseless man for sleeping under a bridge to escape the wet and cold. She then proclaimed that I was disturbing the peace and officers dragged me out of the building. Upon stepping my foot back in the building, she put me in cuffs.

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I was then taken to a back room in LAPD HQ that looked like it was set up for photo ops. It was filled with mostly higher ranking male officers who sat in chairs as a female officer patted me down in front of them. Commander Smith then walked in the room and said, “Hi, Kitten.” I was then taken to Central Division by Martinez and Dugo? (I think that’s his name, but I just got out of jail and it’s 3am) where I was locked in a holding cell in a room filled with cops. As I sat in the cell, a cop carrying a box walked in. The cop stopped at Dugo’s desk and as they riffed, the cop joked, “Haha, but you guys only kill homeless people.” The cops cackled. Only one cop, amongst a dozen cops threw him a side glance. One cop. It was disturbing none the less.

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Soon after I was booked at Metro for Disturbing the Peace with a $500 bail. About an hour into being booked, two UCLA students that I know, Evelyn and Andrea, walked in. Andrea and Evelyn had both been charged with 602 k Interfering with Business and issued $5000 bails for going into LAPD HQ to inquire about my arrest to Captain Graham. They informed me that during their arrests they were both physically and sexually assaulted. Both women were groped by male officers while being arrested. The most vocal and most affected by the police violence, Evelyn, was soon separated from us as Andrea and I were brought to the dorm upstairs.

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Andrea was released about 8pm – 9pm. Soon after, Evelyn, was brought upstairs and put into a solitary cell. Both Evelyn and I were released on OR by Captain Graham (who had Evelyn and Andrea arrested) at 2am.

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Also, the Officer that sexually assaulted one of the students was assigned as her transport officer. She told them he assaulted her and requested a new officer, but was denied. “You get who you get,” the cops said when she made the request. During transport the perpetrator mocked her the whole time.

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Both students have injuries. One was taken to the infirmary.

UPDATE 1: Lissa is being charged with 415.1pc “provoking a fight” for trying to walk into the police department which is public property.

Two UCLA students were also arrested trying to find our what happened to Alissa.

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