An ex-LAPD officer who shot and killed an unarmed homeless man in 2015 was arrested on a felony murder warrant Thursday, authorities said.<\/p>\n
Clifford Proctor, 60, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after flying back to the U.S. from a foreign country, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal case. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Los Angeles Police Department is aware of the arrest of a former LAPD officer at Los Angeles International Airport on a felony murder warrant,\u201d the department said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The fatal 2015 confrontation triggered a decadelong legal fight over whether Proctor should face criminal charges for his on-duty actions.<\/p>\n
Proctor fired two fatal shots into the back of Brendon Glenn, 29, after a dispute with a bouncer outside a bar near the Venice Speedway in May 2015. Glenn was unarmed at the time, and the shooting sparked outrage and protests. <\/p>\n
Former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck publicly called for Proctor to be charged in the shooting. In 2018, then-L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey declined to bring a case.<\/a><\/p>\n Sources previously told The Times<\/a> that a warrant for Proctor\u2019s arrest was issued last year, after then-Dist. Atty. George Gasc\u00f3n had the case reviewed by a special prosecutor, Lawrence Middleton, whom he hired to re-examine prosecutions of police in on-duty shootings. Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman fired Middleton earlier this year.<\/a><\/p>\n The district attorney\u2019s office declined to comment. Calls to Gasc\u00f3n, Middleton and Michael Gennaco, the special prosecutor Hochman placed over the case earlier this year, were not immediately returned. <\/p>\n Bill Seki, Proctor\u2019s former defense attorney, said he had no information about an arrest. Court records do not show the filing of a criminal complaint against Proctor. <\/p>\n The ex-officer was known to be living outside the country at the time Gasc\u00f3n obtained the arrest warrant last year, multiple law enforcement sources told The Times. <\/p>\n Proctor was arrested after departing an international flight when officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection flagged the arrest warrant, two sources told The Times. Los Angeles Airport Police initially took Proctor into custody, then turned him over to the LAPD.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is about time that the next step toward bringing justice for the family of Brendon Glenn is taken by arresting the officer who is responsible for his death,\u201d said V. James DeSimone, an attorney for the Glenn family. \u201cI know this is something that is very important to his mother and sister and they hope ultimate justice is achieved with a conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n Proctor and another officer responded to reports of Glenn and his dog causing a disturbance after he\u2019d been kicked out of the Bank of Venice restaurant on Windward Avenue in 2015, according to a report issued by the district attorney\u2019s office when they declined to prosecute Proctor. <\/p>\n Glenn\u2019s dog moved toward Proctor, who threatened to shoot the animal before ordering Glenn to leave the area, the report said. Glenn responded by hurling several racial slurs at Proctor. Both men are Black.<\/p>\n Glenn walked away from the area and the officers followed, the report said. After Glenn got into an altercation with a bouncer at a different bar, Proctor and his partner tried to arrest Glenn, the report said.<\/p>\n During the ensuing struggle, Proctor shot Glenn twice in the back while the officers were wrestling with him on the ground. In 2016, Proctor\u2019s attorney said Glenn was reaching for his partner\u2019s gun, but footage from the scene contradicted that claim.<\/p>\n