They gathered in downtown Los Angeles, to rally against the death penalty. But their issues aren't drawing near as much attention as their potential to disrupt. The protestors felt compelled to appease. But no one's quite sure where all their anger will lead. Dozens of businesses simply boarded up and closed.
Lawyers working with protestors charge the heavy presence is counterproductive.
Let's say one person in a crowd gets disruptive and you have 20 cops who respond. Police, in turn, worry about the crowd's freedom to move. The protestors in Los Angeles won a major victory when a federal judge told the city it had to allow demonstrations to occur directly outside the convention. The city responded by encircling a 20 block area with a ten foot high fence. The city even removed downtown newspaper racks because of their potential to be thrown through a window.