LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Families displaced by a botched Los Angeles Police Department 2021 fireworks-disposal operation gathered outside of the mayor's official residence in Hancock Park Wednesday demanding a meeting with Karen Bass to help them get back into their homes.
The protest began as early as 5 a.m. with protesters carrying megaphones, signs and a banner calling for the arrest of the LAPD officers involved in the failed operation. Union del Barrio, the group organizing families and community members of South L.A., contends that more than a dozen families continue to be displaced from their homes, which the city has not repaired.
Ron Gochez with Union del Barrio told Fox11 that "Today, if you go to 27th Street it looks like a war zone."
"The houses are completely boarded up. They're still destroyed. The foundations are destroyed. They haven't repaired a single house on that block. If they did, these people wouldn't be here. They would be inside their homes, but they're not. They're living in hotels," Gochez said.
Union del Barrio added that the families have written Bass seven times in the last three months, asking for a meeting, but the mayor's office "has ignored them."
Zach Seidl, deputy of communications for Bass' office, said in a statement that the mayor's office will continue to work with the local council office and city departments to assist the families.
"Earlier this month, members of senior staff met in the mayor's office with some of the impacted families and reaffirmed that commitment," Seidl said in a statement.
The June 2021 controlled detonation by the LAPD on East 27th Street sent 17 residents and first responders to hospitals, destroyed a bomb squad truck and damaged 22 residences, 13 businesses and 37 vehicles
The L.A. City Council previously approved a total of $5.3 million in funding to assist residents who were displaced by the fireworks explosion, and hired additional contractors to speed up the process.