Residents and business owners gathered Wednesday in the Pacific Palisades as they pointed the finger at local and state officials for bungling the recovery and prevention of last year's deadly wildfires. Called the They Let Us Burn demonstration, it was held on the one-year anniversary of the Palisades and Eaton blazes, which damaged or destroyed some 16,000 residential and commercial structures across mostly Altadena, Pacific Palisades and parts of Malibu.
Debs Newman, 60, was bearing witness to the loss of three mature lime trees in Falmouth when she was seized by officers. Newman, who said she had never been in trouble with the police, fell to the floor and hit her head, leaving her needing treatment from paramedics. She said: It all happened so quickly. I think someone had my arms, someone my feet. I heard a crack and my head hit the pavement.
"I just think it's bullshit what they're doing," one attendee, Erin Poland, told Streetsblog about the NYPD push, which, she said, is "not actually protecting cyclists [but] putting them in more danger and in more harm."
