LAPD critic William Gude arrested for criminal threats

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Los Angeles Police on Monday arrested one of its most notorious critics on suspicion of threatening a homeless person in Hollywood, a move that immediately sparked an uproar among activists in the area.

William Gude, better known to his 10,000 Twitter followers as @FilmThePoliceLA, was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats around 1:30 p.m. near Las Palmas Avenue and Leland Way, according to LAPD captain Brent McGuyre, who oversees the Hollywood division.

McGuyre said Gude and a homeless man were involved in an argument over the victim throwing garbage on the street. The homeless man accused Gude of threatening harm, which led to his arrest. McGuyre said no other witnesses to the alleged threat were identified as of Monday evening.

Gude, who works in finance and lives in Hollywood, has gained an online audience by documenting crime scenes and police work. He has frequently filed complaints against officers in the Hollywood Division for what he considers abuse by officers, often against young black men.

A person posting on behalf of Gude from his Twitter account on Monday afternoon said the officer who arrested him was someone Gude had made an active complaint against, and other activists in the area immediately accused police for arresting Gude in retaliation for his activism.

At 5:30 p.m., Gude was being held in the Hollywood Division instead of $ 50,000, according to the person who maintains her Twitter account. Attempts to contact Gude were not immediately successful.

In June, Marcelis, the son of Gudes, 22, was shot and killed in southern LA in a flurry of gunfire that also injured an 8-year-old girl.

Describing his activism in a previous interview with The Times, Gude said his filming had seriously intensified after the murder of George Floyd last summer. Gude said he wasn’t necessarily against the police and his job was to help get justice for young black men in Los Angeles.

There is a problem with excessive font. I think we are spending too much money on police when we should be spending more on other things, Gude said. At the same time, someone murdered my son. Do we think they should not be held responsible?

Times editor Kevin Rector contributed to this report.

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