Michael Jackson memorial set for Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles

Jackson memorial set for Tuesday in LA

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s memorial service has been set for Tuesday at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

AEG Live, which owns the Staples Center and was Jackson’s promoter, called a press conference for Friday at 10 a.m. to announce details, according to a press release from the office of the Jackson family’s publicist.

Randy Phillips, AEG’s chief executive, said tickets would be free. He was not sure how they would be distributed.

But Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine said the Jackson family should consider delaying the public memorial to allow more time to plan. He also said the cash-strapped city can’t afford to pay police overtime.

“If you can imagine 100,000 people show up and you have 20,000 capacity (at the Staples Center), there is not sufficient room. Now you have a crowd-control problem,” Zine said. With the July Fourth holiday weekend “it’s the worst time … to work something out.”