Police Union Chief: Ezell Ford ‘Known Gang Member’

Craig Lally, the head of the L.A. police union, angered a public meeting Tuesday evening by referring to Ezell Ford, who was shot by police last year, as a “known gang member.”

Ford, who is described as mentally ill, was shot after he reached for an officer’s gun. A police commission recently found that one police officer acted outside of department policy during the shooting. Ford’s supporters in the community want charges brought.

Controversy has raged since the shooting as to whether Ford was, in fact, a gang member. Craig says that part of the story has been ignored, and blasted the commission for finding fault with the officers’ conduct.