Jesus Alegria was skateboarding with some friends at a Compton park on an afternoon in April when Deputy Miguel Vega and his partner, Chris Hernandez, pulled up.
🧵👇 latimes.com/california/sto…
Hands on their holsters, the deputies approached a group of teens. Alegria and his friends shouted at them to stop harassing the kids. The deputies, he said, rounded on them and words were exchanged. latimes.com/california/sto…
Vega suddenly grabbed Alegria’s wrists and shoved him into the back of the patrol car. The deputy didn’t handcuff him and didn’t ask Alegria’s name. latimes.com/california/sto…
The minutes that followed ended with Alegria bleeding from the head and eventually triggered a criminal investigation into the deputies, who also face a civil lawsuit filed by Alegria that alleges they kidnapped him and then lied to cover up their actions. latimes.com/california/sto…
This account of what happened is based on interviews with Alegria, his father and others, as well as the lawsuit, video footage, and law enforcement and medical records.
Lawyers for the deputies declined to discuss the case. Sheriff’s officials did not respond to questions about Alegria’s claims, leaving it unclear whether the department challenges his account of what happened. latimes.com/california/sto…
Sheriff’s officials have also not explained why it took more than two months to open an investigation into the incident and nearly eight months before Vega and Hernandez were stripped of their badges. latimes.com/california/sto…
That timing meant Vega and Hernandez were still on the streets one night in June when they came upon 18-year-old Andres Guardado and Vega killed him in a controversial shooting that led to widespread protests and remains under investigation. latimes.com/california/sto…
The Times reported last month that Vega and Hernandez have been relieved of duty pending the outcome of the investigation into the incident, but the details of what occurred have not been reported. latimes.com/california/sto…
Now, Jesus Alegria thinks back on the day with disbelief.
“I thought it only happened in movies,” he said. “I’m just glad I made it out alive.”
Trump has been delegating daily responsibilities to Mike Pence while hunkering down with a small group of aides and contemplating additional presidential pardons. latimes.com/politics/story…
Since the pro-Trump mob smashed through the Capitol, Pence has taken over.
Pence was the one who authorized the deployment of the National Guard to quell the mob.
Breaking: During his first days in office, President-elect Joe Biden plans to send legislation to congress that would provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants who are in the country without legal status.
Biden’s legislation does not include money to support detention and deportation. Previous immigration bills passed under both Democratic and Republican administrations linked an expansion of immigration with stepped-up enforcement and security measures. latimes.com/california/sto…
The bill would provide a shorter pathway to citizenship for people with Temporary Protected Status, for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients and likely also for certain frontline essential workers, vast numbers of whom are immigrants. latimes.com/california/sto…
In the crowded kitchen of a McDonald’s in Oakland, it was as though the coronavirus didn’t exist.
Social distancing wasn’t enforced in the early weeks of the pandemic. As workers boxed Big Macs and bagged orders, they often stood shoulder to shoulder. latimes.com/california/sto…
There weren’t enough masks, so managers told workers to improvise, offering up a box of dog diapers somebody had left at the store. Often, the outlet was so busy that workers said they had no time to wash their hands, let alone disinfect the countertops.
When the coronavirus surged through the store in May, employees — even those with symptoms — said they were pressured to keep working, according to formal complaints filed with the local health department and the state.
Five large COVID-19 vaccination sites are slated to open next week in Los Angeles County:
• Pomona Fairplex
• The Forum in Inglewood
• Cal State Northridge
• L.A. County Office of Education in Downey
• Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia latimes.com/california/sto…
Each site is expected to vaccinate 4,000 people a day. Appointments and proof of employment in the healthcare industry will be required to get the shot, the county said. The five sites are expected to remain open for at least four weeks. latimes.com/california/sto…
They are run separately from the city’s Dodger Stadium vaccine site.
Can workers be fired if they refuse to get vaccinated? Should they lose their jobs if they won’t do their part to achieve herd immunity?
Questions like these will be asked with increasing frequency as more doses of COVID-19 vaccine become available. latimes.com/science/story/…
The legal issues alone are complicated.
An employer can establish a mandatory vaccination policy if the need for it is job-related or if remaining unvaccinated would pose a direct threat to other employees, customers or themselves. latimes.com/science/story/…
But there are two main exceptions.
Employees can object to the vaccine if they think it will exacerbate an established disability or medical condition. They can also turn it down if it goes against their sincerely held religious belief. latimes.com/science/story/…