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A judge believes that Black Lives Matter activist Trevor Ferguson went too far in singling out Los Angeles Police Commission President Matt Johnson as a target of protest.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carol Boas Goodson granted a restraining order Wednesday against Ferguson.

Ferguson, 35, a rapper and music producer, is part of a group that often disrupted police commission meetings to denounce police shootings of Blacks and Hispanics. They would sometimes single out Johnson, who is African-American, among the five civilian commissioners who provide oversight of the Los Angeles Police Department. The activist call him “houseboy, suggesting that he’s submissive to Whites.

In an escalation, Ferguson and other BLM protesters pushed their way into Johnson’s law firm in December and “angrily confronted” Johnson’s associates, the newspaper said. Ferguson then went to Johnson’s home two days later to protest.

Goodson ruled that Ferguson intended to “incite fear,” the Times reported. Under her order, the activist can continue to protest at commission meetings. However, he must stay at least five yards away from Johnson. Ferguson is also prohibited from coming near Johnson and his family.

“The right to protest has led to tremendous gains for people who look like myself and Mr. Ferguson,” Johnson stated after the hearing. “It’s something I deeply respect. But there is a line, and for me, that line is when you threaten the safety of my family. Like any father, I’m not going to apologize for taking steps to protect the safety of my family.”

Ferguson denied that he intended to harm the commissioner or his family. His attorney, Nana Gyamfi, told reporters after the hearing that Johnson fears her client because he’s Black.

“Matt Johnson showed that he actually is a houseboy,” she said, according to the Times. “It’s ridiculous that he used a method and procedure people use to protect themselves from actual violence … to protect himself from embarrassment.”

SOURCE:  Los Angeles Times

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