1 person arrested following weekend protests in LA area over beating death of Tyre Nichols

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- About 50 demonstrators protesting the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police left some eight businesses vandalized across Los Angeles and one person arrested, according to police.

The demonstrator was arrested for suspicion of felony vandalism and was in possession of spray paint and a glass breaking tool after a protest in Hollywood. The suspect allegedly broke the window of a business on the 1500 block of Cahuenga Boulevard.

After that, police say he continued marching with a group before reaching the 1600 block of Vine Street where he stopped to spray paint on the wall of another business. The suspect is being held on $20,000 bond.

Demonstrators with the Black Lives Matter group gathered in Venice on Sunday, which marked the third straight night of protests in the L.A. area, most of which have been peaceful.

After the release of graphic video depicting the fatal beating of Nichols on Friday, protests began that night at L.A. police headquarters. This came as the five Memphis police officers have since been fired and charged with murder.

On most weekends, Tyre Nichols would head to the city park, train his camera on the sky and wait for the sun to set. "Photography helps me look at the world in a more creative way. It expresses me in ways I cannot write down for people," he wrote on his website.

Some in the crowd surrounded parked police cars -- banging on them and smacking windows.

The group had marched through downtown Los Angeles carrying Black Lives Matter banners and smartphones before gathering at First and Main streets shortly after 8 p.m. for a candlelight vigil for Nichols and also Keenan Anderson, who died in LAPD custody Jan. 6 after being repeatedly shot with a Taser.

Protesters knocked down metal protective barriers and someone spray painted the word "kills" on the building under the words Los Angeles Police Department.

The Memphis police chief disbanded the city's so-called Scorpion unit on Saturday, citing a "cloud of dishonor" from newly released video that showed some of its officers beating Nichols to death.

Police Director Cerelyn "CJ" Davis acted a day after the harrowing video emerged, saying she listened to Nichols' relatives, community leaders and uninvolved officers in making the decision. Her announcement came as the nation and the city struggled to come to grips with the violence of the officers, who are also Black. The video renewed doubts about why fatal encounters with law enforcement keep happening despite repeated calls for change.

Protestors marching though downtown Memphis cheered when they heard the unit had been dissolved.

City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.