Brickbat: The Usual Suspect

Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto's push for criminal charges against a man she suspected was among protesters caused friction between her office and the Los Angeles Police Department, according to a memo by one of her deputies. Feldstein Soto told then-Police Chief Michel Moore to assert that Ricci Sergienko was involved in the protest, in which activists sprayed red paint and set off smoke devices at the home of a prominent Jewish civic leader. But police officers said Sergienko could not be identified in video footage from the scene. "For reasons unknown, the City Attorney expressed inordinate interest in the progress of a mass protest investigation, going so far as to suggest the identification of a specific individual for prosecution to the Chief of Police," wrote Dennis Kong of the city attorney's office. In a meeting with police officials, members of Feldstein Soto's staff admitted she may have implicated Sergienko without probable cause. Sergienko is an activist with the People's City Council, a left-wing group that has long been critical of Feldstein Soto.