Protests over US police beating

The protest follows the videotaped arrest of 16-year-old Donovan Jackson, during which he was punched in the face and slammed onto the side of a patrol car.

The peaceful protest outside the Inglewood police headquarters was described by the organisers as a unity rally.

Several high-profile members of America's black community are expected to attend another rally on Saturday.

'Justified force'

Carrying banners with slogans such as "This happens every day in LA" and '"No justice, no peace, no racist police", the demonstrators called for an independent investigation into the beating.

They said the way in which Donovan was arrested amounted to criminal behaviour.

And they demanded that the white officer, Jeremy Morse, be arrested and charged with assault.

Officer Morse has been suspended on full pay while the local police investigate the incident.

The FBI is also conducting an investigation.

Officer Morse's lawyer says he used justified force in detaining Donovan, saying the youth had grabbed the policeman's testicles while his hands were handcuffed behind his back.

But that argument cut no ice with the demonstrators.

"The community wants justice, and we won't rest until we get justice," said one protester.

"We want to make sure the investigation is swift and thorough, but we believe that those officers should be punished, fired and some of them criminally prosecuted."

'Nothing has changed'

The main speaker at the rally was Martin Luther King III, the son of America's most famous civil rights leader.

"Over 30 years ago we were dealing with these issues of poverty, racism, violence and police brutality and misconduct," he told the crown.

"Thirty-five years later we are still dealing with the same problems."

But he had praise for the way in which black people in Los Angeles had responded to the beating of Donovan Jackson.

"However tragic the conditions may be, I first want to commend the leadership of this community for bringing this community together," he said.

Another speaker referred to the fears that the beating of Donovan could trigger a repeat of the 1992 race riots in Los Angeles.

Fifty-four people died in the troubles, which began after four police officers were cleared of assaulting Rodney King.

Video footage had shown Mr King being beaten by the officers.

"While people are properly outraged in the community, as well they should be, it has not gotten out of control as of yet," the executive director of the Los Angeles Urban League, John Mack, said.

Prison

The man who took the video of Donovan Jackson's beating, Mitchell Crooks, on Friday started a seven-month jail sentence.

He had been avoiding the authorities in northern California where he had been found guilty of drunk driving and petty theft.

He was detained after turning up at a television studio to be interviewed about the Donovan Jackson beating.