Police are investigating an incident in which the driver of a U-Haul truck drove into several people during a protest in Westwood against the Iranian regime.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said two people had been evaluated and declined treatment. The LAPD said no ambulances were called to the scene.
Officials do not currently believe that the incident was politically motivated or an act of terrorism but stemmed from an altercation in the crowd, according to L.A. Police Capt. Richard Gabaldon. One man was taken into custody, he said.
Video of the incident Sunday afternoon showed protesters trying to pull the suspect out of the vehicle. As officers took him from the U-Haul and led him away, angry protesters continued to punch and lash out at him.
Demonstrators pounded on the truck and ripped off a sign attached to the vehicle that had a message in Arabic and another in English: “No Shah. No Regime. USA: Don’t Repeat 1953. No Mullah.”
Among the protesters was Abraham Moe and his wife and daughter, Sanaz and Kiana, who are Iranian. They told The Times they saw the U-Haul truck making its into the crowd and knew that something was wrong when people started screaming. At that moment, they said, the protest quickly became a scene of fear and confusion.
The suspect has no arrest record, according to Gabaldon, who said he could face a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
The Fire Department said that resources after the incident were delayed due to the size of the teeming crowd near the Wilshire Federal Building.
Protesters stand near a U-Haul truck Sunday at the Westwood protest. The vehicle carried a sign with messages in Arabic and English.
(KNN.News)
As many as 3,000 people had gathered for the protest in Westwood by around 3 p.m., according to the L.A. Regional Transportation Management Center. A spokesperson said the agency shut down the northbound and southbound offramps to Wilshire Boulevard to prevent protesters from potentially taking over the freeway. The ramps remained closed until around 5 p.m., when the crowd had mostly dispersed.
The LAPD said no ambulances were called to the scene after the incident.
A few hours after the incident, Mayor Karen Bass arrived at the scene. During a news conference, she voiced concern about U.S. intervention in international situations and emphasized the importance of keeping protests peaceful “regardless of how charged the issue is.”
“There’s a lot of various protests that are happening, and obviously we want everybody to exercise their 1st Amendment right,” Bass said. “But how one does that is critical, and exercising your 1st Amendment right peacefully is what is absolutely critical.”
Iran has been roiled by two weeks of protests. Activists say at least 538 people are dead and more than 10,000 have been arrested.
Kiana Moe, protesting in Westwood, said the people of Iran are “protesting peacefully, and saying they don’t want this regime. The purpose is for the freedom of Iran.”
“People in Iran, they don’t have a voice right now,” she said.
A U-Haul truck is seen amid a crowd in Westwood on Sunday near the Wilshire Federal Building.
(KNN.News)