The demonstration got an early start at City Hall on Saturday, calling upon tent dwellers to join in the National Day of Awareness Against Police Brutality.  Unaffiliated with one another, Occupy L.A. and the Oct. 22 Coalition soon found common ground. 

“If you say you’re against corporatism and capitalism then you have to be against police brutality,” said Oct 22 organizer Bilal Ali.  “Police are the instruments of capitalism and corporatism so that’s a direct link right there.”

Los Angeles’ first March Against Police Brutality happened16 years ago in response to the growing number of conflicts with police in African American and Latino neighborhoods. 

Today, activists point to cases like Oscar Grant and Kelly Thomas to shed light on the issue’s relevancy.  However, the most shocking testimonies came from those present at the rally. 

“I’m really afraid of the police and never was before.  Unless I thought I was going to die, that’s the only time I would ever call them,” said Deborah Destefano, who was dragged by police outside a local health clinic after an altercation.

“They think if your circumstance has left you kind of screwed up in life without money then you have to be insane, a criminal or a homeless drug addict," she said. "I am in none of those of categories.”

Los Angeles native Michael Brooks was present to tell the story of his daughter’s best friend, who was shot and killed by police after unknowingly driving into an undercover operation in a Studio City parking lot. 

Brooks runs the United Citizens Against Police Violence Facebook page that aims at connecting families and communities affected by lethal police conduct. 

“Families need to stick together because if it happened to one of us, it can happen to all of us,” he said.

The march, which started at 2 p.m. in Pershing Square and arrived at MacArthur Park around 4 p.m., permeated with energy and activism. Participants trailed behind a red truck bed filled with event organizers; chanting, banging drums and lancing protest signs in the air.

Halfway the group stopped to demonstrate in front of the controversial Rampart Police Station, known for its questionable involvement with L.A. gangs in the late 1990s, but continued on in a thunderous roar for peace.

Michael Slate, a writer who has lived in Los Angeles since the early 1990s views police violence as huge problem for an entire generation of Black and Latino people.

“This is slow genocide that’s going on in cities and in this case silence equals genocide,” said Slate. “It’s really posing the questions to everybody; are you willing to step up and put yourself in front of the machine?” 

The views expressed during the Oct. 22 March reflect ideas such as equality that are similar to the ideals being discussed at Occupy L.A.  However, police aggression is not an issue at City Hall encampment, according to Destefano.

“We’re lucky to be in Los Angeles because the police are leaving us alone,” she said. “So let everyone know to come down.  It’s safe; the police do not bother us.”