Police violence erupted in Hollywood today as a crowd of anti-Minutemen protesters and innocent bystanders were caught in the midst of a spontaneous police riot.
As the Minutemen and their supporters held a protected rally on the southeast corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Argyle Street, the opposition overflowed to the nearby corners with the biggest crowd on the southwest corner.
Having already surrounded the opposition protestors, members of the LAPD aggressively approached. This despite the fact that the opposition activists were non-violent even when approached by Minutemen provocateurs that frequently drifted across the street.
A young woman in her 20’s was dragged from the crowd, violently thrown down in the street and was hit several times with the policeman’s baton. This was the beginning of the cop riot.
For the next several minutes aggressive members of the LAPD hit several people with batons.
An innocent bystander, a middle-aged Latina, more than likely a grandmother, was on the other side of the street and had apparently just happened upon the intersection after exiting a city bus. She was thrown to the ground by the LAPD. She was pushed and hit with the cop’s baton and thrown backwards down the sidewalk, landing hard on the ground.
She had nothing to do with the protest. She was an innocent passerby on the other side of the street. She can be seen in the photograph below sitting in tears on a bus bench. Above the law, police were allowed to act in a manner contrary to the civil society they are supposedly sworn to protect and serve.
All the action took place to the soundtrack of Minutemen cheers and calls. The violent migrant hunters were all too pleased to see their brothers in oppression crack a few members of the opposition and excessively brutalize an innocent grandmother. As much as the cops, the Minutemen love violence. It was never more apparent than in their reaction to the police brutality. Who could really be surprised?
An anarchist’s flagpole was confiscated by the LAPD despite the fact that Minutemen were allowed to carry much larger flagpoles. The flagpole was only 1 ¼ inches in diameter. It is suspected that the police believe that the flag, if flown, could be used to as a signal of sorts for other anarchists. Are anarchists really that organized?
The opposition rally was led by the ANSWER Coalition but was attended by many individuals and members of different groups.
After the police riot, the Minutemen marched down Hollywood Blvd. about 2 miles, turned around and came back to the original rally site. Most of the opposition was thwarted by the police and was not allowed to march along the sidewalk with the Minutemen, as was the case on May 21st when the Minutemen marched up Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.
The only ones who were able to follow the Minutemen were the opposition members that ended up on the other side of the police line after the cop riot.
However, the ANSWER crowd out-flanked the LAPD through the Hollywood streets and met the Minutemen at the corner of Wilcox and Hollywood shortly before 7. Police once again brutally suppressed the counter-protesters with wild swings of the baton and aggressive tactics. And once again the Minutemen cheered. This is the America they seek.
The Minutemen received very little positive reaction from the Hollywood Blvd. crowd. I’m sure they envisioned passersby joining them and marching with them as they fight for their country. By my estimation there was not once case of that actually happening.
