FILE PHOTO: Protesters rally along Pine Avenue in Long Beach on Friday, June 5, 2020. Photo by Brian Addison. The Long Beach Police Department says one of its officers has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in the death of a man who was hit by a train during a struggle with the officer in 2017. Police made the announcement Thursday, two days before a planned Black Lives Matter protest calling for charges against the officer. The protest is set for Saturday, Aug. 29, the three-year anniversary of 23-year-old Cesar Rodriguez’s death. Rodriguez tumbled into the pathway of an arriving Blue Line train at Long Beach’s Wardlow Station when an officer tried to stop him from running away during a fare evasion stop and the two fell to the ground, police said. To mark the anniversary, the Long Beach chapter of Black Lives Matter plans to march from LBPD headquarters to the Wardlow Station, alleging Rodriguez’s death amounts to murder. Authorities, however, don’t see it that way. On Thursday, police released a letter that was sent to the department from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office showing that its prosecutors believe Officer Martin Ron acted reasonably when he […]
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