Seven Reporters Attacked, Protesters Bear Sprayed, Chaos in West LA
Violence broke out at a protest at the Adas Torah Synagogue in the Pico Robertson district. The Palestinian Youth Movement organized the protest to object to an alleged sale of Palestinian land scheduled to take place at the Synagogue. An ad in the Jewish Journal confirmed the real estate meetings and potential sales were to take place at Adas Torah on Sunday, June 23. Sales of occupied land are illegal under international law.
Not long after the beginning of the protest at 12:00, a large group of pro-Israeli counter-protesters arrived, and things first got tense, and then violence erupted. The LAPD was there but did little to check the violence.
The protest and attacks went on for several hours, so it is impossible to show you the entire incident, but here are some videos showing many disturbing things that took place. Be aware that these videos and photographs from the reporters who were there contain scenes of violence, blood, profanity, and other distressing content.
Anger began to rise.
Then chaos erupted, with multiple assaults happening all over Pico Boulevard.
One of the men who was at the attack on the UCLA encampment bear-sprayed at least two people during the time when the pro-Isreali counter-protesters were chasing the protesters down side streets.
Seven reporters were attacked, and the phones of three of the reporters were stolen. Two were recovered, but Sergio Olmos of Cal Matters lost his for good. The reporter in this video is Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, also known as A Cat With News on Twitter, and he was attacked and punched while trying to get his phone back.
A rabbi had been doing his best to keep the peace, but the pro-Israeli counter-protesters grabbed his kippah off of his head, and protesters and the reporter had to admonish them for disrespecting a rabbi.
Some outlets are spreading disinformation. In this video, a man with long hair is being held down, but Los Angeles Magazine reposted the video, claiming that it showed a Jewish woman being beaten without checking on the accuracy of the statement. It was not true.
This is the man who was on the ground and had reportedly shoved reporter Kate Burns, who witnessed the incident and took these photos.
The man appears to be doing the Seig Heil gesture in this photo.
This is the video of Kate Burns’ phone being stolen by a counter-protester. At the end of the video, she recovers her phone and asks nearby LAPD officers for help, and they ignore her.
Finally, a disturbing incident of racism reared its head during the latter part of the protest when a counter-protester used a variation of the N-word as a slur against Arab people. Please be aware that this video contains the use of that slur. The video is not embedded because of the use of that slur.
