'Little Fires Everywhere' Star Lexi Underwood Slams LAPD at George Floyd Protest

Lexi Underwood has slammed the Los Angeles Police Department during an impassioned speech at a Black Lives Matter protest.

The 16-year-old star of Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere spoke of the fear and trauma black children experience seeing people of color "beaten and murdered" at the hands of police at a demonstration in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The actress also told protesters that she had spoken with LAPD officials about how police officers have behaved during peaceful protests in the city sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a black man, in Minneapolis police custody.

"Hi everybody, my name is Lexi Underwood and I am only 16 years old. Yesterday I talked to Chief Miller and the rest of the LAPD Commission," she is heard saying in a clip posted on her Twitter and Instagram accounts, apparently misidentifying LAPD Chief Michel Moore as Miller.

"I shared with them stories about how LAPD at all these peaceful protests, how they have been incredibly disrespectful to people who are simply just asking to be treated equally.

"All we are asking is to just be treated equally with the same exact respect as our white counterparts. That's it."

Underwood took a breath before she continued: "There is so much trauma behind being only a child and seeing us countlessly be beaten and murdered in these streets by people who are supposed to protect and serve us.

"Do you understand what that feels like? I don't know if I am next. I don't know if my mother is next. I don't know if my friends are next. I don't know if my cousins are next."

She added: "Thank you all for coming out and showing support. I'm with you all. I stand with you all and I'm sending my love and my prayers your way. Thank you."

Underwood—who starred as Pearl Warren alongside Kerry Washington, Reese Witherspoon and Joshua Jackson on Little Fires Everywhere—wrote alongside the clip on social media that she had not planned to speak at the march, but was glad she had exercised her First Amendment rights.

"Used my voice today at the BLM march in downtown LA. It wasn't planned and I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous, but I'm glad I did it," she said on Instagram.

In an earlier post on her page, she wrote she had attended a march at the weekend that had been peaceful until "we were met by rubber bullets and tear gas."

She wrote: "LA showed up today & marched in the name of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmad Arbery and the countless other black people who've been murdered by the police due to racism. Thank you to those in the non-black community who pulled up!

"Don't get it twisted, the #BLM March was beautiful and those marching were peacefully exercising our right to protest until we were met by rubber bullets and tear gas. Don't get distracted. The messaging is still the same."

In a statement to Newsweek, a spokesperson for the LAPD said: "Protests, marches and demonstrations over the last several days have been often dynamic and at times dangerous situations for both officers and demonstrators.

"A number of these gatherings have unfortunately devolved into chaos with rocks, bottles, and other projectiles being launched at police officers, who have sustained injuries that range from cuts and bruises to a fractured skull.

"We have also experienced vehicle and structure fires with widespread looting and destruction while trying to facilitate the first amendment rights of those peacefully demonstrating."

The statement addd that anyone who believes they were "wrongfully accused of a crime, unjustly injured, or experienced misconduct on the part of an officer" can make a complaint with a Department supervisor or by calling the Professional Standards Bureau Complaint toll-free 1-800-339-6868.

Underwood has been contacted for additional comment.

Floyd died on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes while Floyd gasped that he couldn't breathe.

Prosecutors on Wednesday upgraded Chauvin's charge to second-degree murder and charged three other officers involved in Floyd's death with aiding and abetting.

It came after more than a week of largely peaceful protests across the U.S. and abroad, some of which erupted into violence—with police seen firing tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters and journalists.

Some places also saw attacks on officers, arson and the looting of businesses—prompting authorities to impose strict curfews in numerous cities, including Los Angeles and New York City. The National Guard was sent in to help quell the unrest in a number of states, including California.

More than 10,000 people have been arrested across the country in connection with the unrest, according to a tally by The Associated Press. More than a dozen deaths have also been reported, but the circumstances in many of those cases are not yet clear.

This article has been updated with a statement from the LAPD.