“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

Hawthorne Cancels Council Meeting After Website Crashes


 

The Tuesday meeting would have been the first time the public could address the council about the dog shooting

The Hawthorne City Council canceled its meeting Tuesday night after the city's website crashed because of public outcry over a viral video of a police officer shooting a dog.

Tuesday’s meeting would have been the first time the public could address council members directly about the incident.

Anonymous posted a YouTube video directed at the department last week, saying “we do not forgive…we do not forget,” regarding the incident where an officer fatally shot a pet dog in the street.

The department has said the dog was a threat to officers who had done all they could to avoid killing the dog.

The incident sparked protests outside of the Hawthorne Police Department Saturday.

The city clerk’s office told NBC4 that the regularly scheduled meeting would be canceled because it is required by the state open meeting law -- known as the Brown Act -- to publicly post the agenda prior to meeting.

"As you are aware, due to the public maelstrom of emotion caused by the police incident involving the Rottweiler, the city website crashed. The website has been down for nearly one week," said Mayor Daniel Juarez in an email to NBC4. "The Brown Act requires that city council agendas shall be posted on the 'local agency’s Internet Web site, if the local agency has one.'"

In Anonymous' video addressed to the Hawthorne Police Department, the narrator says the officer’s actions were “unacceptable” and the department was now Anonymous' "primary target."

The incident that sparked the controversy occurred on Sunday, June 30, as Leon Cordell Rosby walked his dog and lingered near a police scene at 137th Street and Jefferson Avenue. Rosby was shooting video at the time, and police had asked him to leave.

Rosby placed his pet Rottweiler, Max, in a car and placed his hands behind his back so officers could handcuff him.

The car’s windows were down and the dog escaped, as seen at right.

NBC4’s Facebook fans debated the dog’s intentions, saying Max was defending his owner. Others said the owner is to blame for not locking up his pet properly.

The shooting was posted to Youtube (Warning: Disturbing Content), and has since garnered more than 4.7 million views.

Calls and threats have flooded into the Hawthorne Police Department, according to earlier reports. Rosby publicly called for the threats to stop, saying "all police officers are not bad."

The next regularly scheduled City Council meeting will be held on July 22, according to the city clerk’s office.