LOS ANGELES — The state’s attorney general said Monday that thirty cops at a juvenile detention center in Southern California have been charged for their part in giving kids in their care so-called “gladiator fights.”
An indictment from a grand jury says that between July 2023 and December 2023, officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles County either let or urged nearly 70 fights to happen. There were more than 140 deaths between the ages of 12 and 18.
Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “We believe that this was planned; it was meant to happen.” “They often wanted them to happen in the morning, at a certain time, and in a certain place. A place and a time were set aside for the fights, and it was planned that they would happen.”
The cops are being charged with battery, child endangerment and abuse, and conspiracy.
On Monday, 22 of the cops were set to be arraigned at the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The police started their investigation after the Los Angeles Times released video of at least six other teens attacking a 17-year-old. The teens attack him one by one while the police watch. As the beating goes on, some police officers laugh and shake hands with the people who are being hit.
The 17-year-old’s public attorney told the judge that he was not safe at Los Padrinos and should be freed before his trial. That’s when the video was first shown to the public.
Two probation officers are named in the indictment as the ones who reportedly told other staff members ahead of time that fights were going to happen and that they should “not say anything, write anything down, and just watch.” One of the cops is also said to have told the teens involved to “refuse treatment when they went to medical to get treated by nurses.”
The facility is run by the LA County Probation Department. In a statement, they said they “fully support and applaud” the attorney general’s office for the indictments on Monday. They also said that all officers involved are on leave without pay.
It said in the statement, “When wrongdoing was found, our department asked for help from law enforcement.” “Since then, we’ve worked together with our law enforcement partners in every way.” Our goal is based on accountability, and we will not stand for any police officer acting badly, especially those who work with young people in our system.
In a civil case against the county, the 17-year-old and his family are being represented by Jamal Tooson. He said that Monday’s charge was just “the tip of the iceberg” of a bigger problem in the probation department.
Tooson said, “as shown in the video, there is a culture that encourages a lack of accountability, violence, and policies that tell officers to look the other way.” “The fact that the kids who were eating their lunch didn’t seem shocked or shocked at all tells me that this happens every day.”
Tooson also helps other families whose children were hurt at Los Padrinos. One child was hurt badly when they were knocked out in class and has a traumatic brain injury, the lawyer said.
