The tension eases. There are still dozens of heavily armed cops in position, but they ease off. A Hispanic family, with a baby in a stroller, makes its way across Figueroa Street. They go down the sidewalk, the police line now open. Police vehicles are moving in different directions.
Motorcycles cops race away.
Sirens whoop near and far. Someone comes back from the Rage Against the Machine concert and says the lead singer urged the crowd to give the finger to the cops. We all did,'' he says. Clinton is asking the Staples Center crowd, visible here on a TV screen. Arianna Huffington takes the microphone.