Biden names L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti to inauguration post despite protests

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday named Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as one of five co-chairs for his upcoming inauguration, despite calls from protesters to exclude the mayor from appointment to a federal post.

In addition to Garcetti, the president-elect named House Majority Whip Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, longtime ally Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Biden’s home state of Delaware and Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, who is set to leave the House to be a senior Biden advisor.

The decision comes one day after Los Angeles police clashed with protesters outside Garcetti’s official residence, leading to one arrest and a skirmish with baton-wielding officers that several elected officials later denounced as police brutality and a violation of demonstrators’ free speech rights.

The demonstrations, organized by Black Lives Matter, have been going on for 13 consecutive days at the Getty House, Garcetti’s Windsor Square residence, with the aim of dissuading the incoming Biden administration from appointing Garcetti to any federal post.

The pandemic is expected to keep the Jan. 20 event far smaller than previous ones.