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.
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. After 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 U-Haul and ripped off a sign attached to the truck that had a message in Arabic and another in English: “No Shah. No Regime. USA: Don’t Repeat 1953. No Mullah.”
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.
The protest drew hundreds who gathered outside the building on Wilshire Boulevard. 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.
A U-Haul truck is seen amid a crowd in Westwood on Sunday near the Wilshire Federal Building.
(KNN.News)