LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The city of Whittier filed court papers today taking legal action against approximately 10 people who have been occupying tents and other temporary structures on the lawns of City Hall since late June, as well as relieving themselves in public, including one woman seen on video footage urinating at the front doors of the building.
The still unofficial Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit names as defendants Lotti Hawthorne, also known as Lotti Bridgett, and refers to the other defendants only as “Does.'' The suit seeks a temporary restraining order and both preliminary and permanent injunctions against the defendants, saying the measures are needed to abate a nuisance.
The city wants the protesters temporarily enjoined from camping on public property pending hearings before the court and ordered not to urinate or defecate outside of public restrooms.
Hawthorne, described in media reports as a 20-year-old student at Cornell University in Ithica, N.Y., could not be immediately reached for comment.
The city's court papers state that the protesters arrived at City Hall to present their views on Black Lives Matter and the homelessness crisis on June 17. Whittier police determined they were from Orange County, the city's court papers state.
On June 25, the individuals began putting up tents and other temporary structures on City Hall lawns and have remained there since, according to the city's court papers. They have urinated and defecated in public walk areas and in air conditioning intakes, according to the city.
Surveillance footage taken on July 8 depicts Hawthorne dropping her pants to her ankles in front of the doors of City Hall “and urinating in full view of the public and building's occupants,'' according to the city's court papers.
Hawthorne uses a Twitter handle of “LOTTIE STILL HATES ALL COPS'' and posted a video July 4 in which she admits in the caption “that she along with her protesters had been peeing outside,'' the city's court papers state.
“Unless and until these activities are restrained by this court, they will continue to cause great and irreparable injury to the public,'' the city's court papers state.
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