Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered near the Israeli Consulate in West L.A. Saturday to condemn the country’s ongoing aerial bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ attack one week ago.
Demonstrators began gathering on Wilshire and Sepulveda boulevards around noon and by 3 p.m. the size of the crowd had grown to about several thousand. At one point, the southbound lanes of the nearby 405 Freeway were briefly shut down.
Hundreds of people gather and march on Saturday in Westwood, in support of Palestinians caught in the Israel-Hamas war.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Carrying signs that said “Free Palestine” and “End the Occupation,” the crowd marched from Wilshire Boulevard and Granville Avenue, where the consulate is located, to a federal office building that houses the FBI’s Los Angeles’ offices about one mile away. Videos from the scene show green and red smoke billowing into the air and signs decrying apartheid.
The demonstration was largely peaceful, though the appearance of a small crowd of pro-Israeli counter-demonstrators sparked confrontations midday. As pushing and shoving occurred between the two sides, one man among the pro-Israeli crowd fired a volley of pepper spray, injuring a Times photographer.
A man shoots pepper spray at people gathered in support of Palestinians.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Footage taken at the scene also showed a small group of men in all black, some of whom wore Israeli flags around their necks like capes, pepper-spraying demonstrators before running away.
A number of people who would only identify themselves as “volunteers” wearing yellow vests stepped in several times throughout the day to try and deescalate clashes with counter-protesters.
Demonstrators disperse green and red smoke in Westwood in support of Palestinians caught in the Israel-Hamas war.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
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