Protesters had the numbers to take the street and spontaneous marches snaked their way through the Westside all day. Police were uncharacteristically restrained and even facilitated the marches by rerouting motor traffic.

Employing what might be called “St. Paul tactics” protesters seized major intersections, held them and then moved on ahead of any police response. The cat and mouse game went on all day and all night. No police violence has been reported and to their credit the LAPD for the most part were very professional with crowd management. [Editorial note: This is something we don’t always get to report, but we are happy to see it when it happens]

Sadly however the day was not without violence. Later in the evening outside the church four womyn were assaulted by a small group of homophobic haters. Shouting anti-gay chants the haters punched and knocked to ground several people. The attackers were said to be from the church, but this is unconfirmed. What we do know for sure is that a hate crime did occur. EMTs were called to the scene and treated about five people for minor injuries, one womyn was taken to the hospital.

A short brawl between the haters and protesters is said to have taken place. Police quickly separated the groups. No word on the suspects or arrests. Police did take witness statements and said that they were investigating.

error

error