Tense day and night in the Westlake area

After a day of protest marches, vigils and confrontations with police, the LAPD declared an illegal assembly about 10 p.m. and officers in riot gear began clearing the streets around 6th Street and Union Avenue. That's where an LAPD bicycle officer on Sunday shot and killed a man identiified by friends as Manuel Jamines. The department says he was threatening a pregnant woman with a knife and came at officers. People in the community say he was a gentle soul, an immigrant from Guatemala who did not understand English or Spanish very well. A march that began at the intersection moved to the Rampart police station, then back to the 6th and Union area where rocks and eggs were thrown at police. It looks on media reports as if activists from the Revolutionary Communist Party have been in the crowd urging on the protests.

Guatemalan Consul General Pablo Garcia Saenz urged calm at the scene tonight. His assistants said that a community meeting was planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Guatemalan Consulate. LAT, AP, NBC 4

Photo: Tony Valdez of KTLA on Twitpic