USC graduate details her HORRIFIC arrest by LAPD cops during a peaceful protest, revealing she was zip-tied, subjected to FOUR cavity searches, then abandoned an hour from home with no phone
A University of Southern California graduate has detailed the horrifying ordeal of being detained by the LAPD during a peaceful protest — detailing how she and her fellow detainees were zip-tied in a crowded bus, left outside a cemetery for hours, and then abandoned an hour from home with no working phones or transportation.
Laura Montilla, 22, said she and her fellow protesters were arrested for curfew violations on June 1, revealing that many were actually trying to leave the scene peacefully or laying face-down on the ground when they were taken into custody.
In a harrowing Instagram post, Laura recalled how officers zip-tied her wrists tightly enough that she lost feeling in one hand, loaded her on a bus, blasted heavy metal music over their pleas for help, aimed guns at her multiple times, performed four cavity searches, and eventually abandoned her and the others in an unfamiliar neighborhood after midnight.
Peaceful: Laura Montilla, 22, has detailed her horrifying ordeal of being detained by the LAPD during a peaceful protest
Scary: She called what happened to her 'not only unnecessary and illegal, but inhumane'
Curfew change: Laura said that the curfew had been suddenly bumped up, and LAPD arrested people who were leaving and who were flat on the ground in compliance (pictured: LA protesters and police on June 3)
'I was arrested for peacefully protesting in DTLA,' Laura began the June 1 post. In her Stories, she also included a short video from the protest.
She explained that the night of the arrest, Los Angeles' curfew changed from 6 p.m. to 5 p.m. — and the change was only announced at 4:21 p.m., hardly giving people enough time to abide by the new curfew, much less even learn about it.
'When people tried to leave the protest, as we had now passed the updated curfew & police tension increased, we realized we were cornered,' she said.
'There were hundreds, HUNDREDS, of cops and National Guards that cut us off for blocks. Those who tried to leave peacefully were jumped on my multiple men and tased.
'Everyone was peaceful, getting on their knees and even laying face down to show compliance. Then each person was arrested.
'What happened next was not only unnecessary and illegal, but inhumane.
'We were zip-tied and put in cages on a bus separated by gender, and without telling us where we were going, they took us to a cemetery parking lot and left us there for five hours.
Terrifying: Laura said she and other protesters had their wrists zip-tied and were put on busses. Her was left in a cemetery parking lot for five hours
No compassion: They were left in the dark. When a mentally ill homeless woman had a panic attack, police blared heavy metal music to drown her out
Calm: What it looked like: Laura shared what the protest had looked like before police charged in
'My zip-ties were so tight that when they finally were cut off, I couldn't even hold my arms up to sign my citation or feel my right hand. Days later I still have painful bruises,' she said
In her Instagram Stories, Laura shared photo and video of the injuries to her wrists.
Democracy at work? Laura said that the women were never read their Miranda rights
'We were never read our Miranda rights,' she said
'When I asked where we were being transported, the copts admitted they had no idea. They turned the lights off, leaving us in the dark, cuffed. People started having panic attacks, even pissing themselves.'
Laura shared video taken in the bus that shows the zip-tied wrists of the woman sitting next to her. Panicked screams for help can be hear from the other passengers.
'We called for help as a mentally-ill woman (a homeless woman who wasn't even protesting but was ripped from the street) began have a major panic attack.
'An officer came on board to "help" by drowning out the sound of her cries with BLARING HEAVY METAL & ROCK MUSIC. The music was so deafening and triggering that more girls on the bus had attacks, to we begged for them to turn it off.
'After 20 minutes they finally did, so again, we asked if we could: 1. Get medical attention for those who needed it and 2. At least know where we were/how long we'd maybe be there.
Threat: When Laura stood up to ask a question, an officer reached for his gun, even though she was tied up. She also says her vagina was searched four times
The women were dropped off an hour away. When Laura gestured toward her personal belongings with her head, several cops grabbed their guns
Laura shared a disturbing video inside the bus in which multiple women can be heard screaming for help
'There were too many people speaking at once, so I volunteered to ask the officer for us. As we were piled together in cages, I stoop up because he said he couldn't see where the voice was coming from.
'When I stood up to ask, he reached for his gun and threatened me. Even though I was clearly still cuffed. Had no possessions.
'Trust me,' she added, 'They checked my vagina more than my pockets ... four times to be exact, although I was cuffed the entire time with my possessions removed.
'Still,' she went on, they 'received no clear answers.
'When I got off the bus, an officer told me I was in Westwood (an hour away from home). We had to point out what bag was ours from a giant pile & I had a small black fanny pack way at the end.
'They ask which is mine and I'm still cuffed, so I just point [with] my head. I SLIGHTLY LEAN SLOWLY & MULTIPLE MEN GRAB THEIR GUNS READY TO SHOOT ME!!???
'When we were finally let of the bus, a girl slipped out of one of her cuffs, so a cop pulled it tighter. She expressed that it was too tight, so the cop responded by laughing in her face & making it even tighter to the point where she cried in pain until another officer said it went too far.
Injuries: Laura said that when a woman complained that her zip-ties were too tight, an officer made them tighter. When another intervened, they cut her hand with bolt cutters
The women were all abandoned without transportation or working phones in an unfamiliar neighborhood
Laura said that the group didn't face the 'level of brutality' that the black community does, but the 'mockery,' 'inhumanity,' and 'evil of the LAPD' were still 'unacceptable'
Laura said her bruises were 'some of the least severe' but still 'so, so painful'
'They attempted to cut off the cuff with bolt cutters but only managed to slice her hand open & left the cuff on her to figure out how to remove it herself. She was sent up the hill in the dark, sill cuffed, bleeding, and phone-less.
'My phone has been dead for hours at this point, so I asked if I could borrow a charger or use their phone to call someone. An officer told me no, that I had to figure it out, but I could walk up the hill into a nearby neighborhood & hopefully find a safe option there.
Laura signed off directing people to work to defund the police, vote, sign petitions, donate, and continue to share experiences and say the names of those who have been killed
'So they abandoned a bunch of young women into an unknown neighborhood at midnight, phones dead.
'But don't worry, they wished us the best!' she said. 'No, really, it was very reassuring to be sent off with the final wishes of, "hope you find a way home safely" from someone whose job it is to keep me safe.
'I caught a ride with a stranger who, thankfully, proved to be a friend. I pray no one was kidnapped that night.'
Laura said that the group didn't face the 'level of brutality' that the black community does, but getting a taste of the 'mockery,' 'inhumanity,' and 'evil of the LAPD' who were 'abusing power' was 'unacceptable.'
What's more, she added, they weren't even wearing face masks.
Laura signed off directing people to work to defund the police, vote, sign petitions, donate, and continue to share experiences and say the names of those who have been killed.
USC graduate details her HORRIFIC arrest by LAPD cops during a peaceful protest, revealing she was zip-tied, subjected to FOUR cavity searches, then abandoned an hour from home with no phone
![USC graduate details her HORRIFIC arrest by LAPD cops during a peaceful protest, revealing she was zip-tied, subjected to FOUR cavity searches, then abandoned an hour from home with no phone]()
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June 06, 2020
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