A large number of protesters continued to march Wednesday evening on downtown Los Angeles streets, violating the second night of a 10-hour curfew.
The defiance came following a day of marches and hundreds of demonstrators gathering in Grand Park, the 12-acre open green space that has the 27-story-high Los Angeles City Hall as its dramatic backdrop. That’s where Los Angeles Police Department officers, including many on horseback, charged into the crowd with rods late Wednesday afternoon and evening to clear the park, according to media reports. Before that happened, some protesters were seen with lit fireworks, which has been what demonstrators threw at police during the weekend’s riots.
Police reportedly fired crowd control projectiles.
Earlier, the protests gained momentum with a march that reached the Spring Street side of Los Angeles City Hall around 6 p.m. local time, according to an LAPD post on X. Police also said around the same time that protesters had gathered at Pershing Square, a Los Angeles park, and on Alameda Street between Aliso and Temple streets.
Police later reported on X that the large gathering at Grand Park separated into various groups blocking downtown streets. Minutes after the curfew started at 8 p.m., protesters were seen on live TV newscasts. About 20 minutes later, a crowd on First and Hill streets were taken into custody, according to CBS News Los Angeles, whose helicopter was overhead.
The nightly curfew is for a one-square-mile downtown area that’s between freeways. The city of Los Angeles consists of more than 500 square miles.
Wednesday’s protests followed a day of news involving the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Homeland Security confirmed that its unmarked cars rammed into a moving white Mercedes sedan for an arrest on Whittier Boulevard in the L.A. neighborhood of Boyle Heights.
Agents drew their guns and used tear gas before the driver left the Mercedes, witnesses said, according to CBS News Los Angeles. One witness said the passenger in the Mercedes had two babies with her.
Homeland Security explained the arrest in a post on X.
“This was no hit and run. This was a targeted arrest of a violent rioter who punched a CBP officer,” Homeland Security said, referring to Customs and Border Protection. “When Homeland Security Investigations tried to arrest Christian Damian Cerno-Camacho for the assault, he attempted to flee. He was ultimately arrested and taken into custody.”
Homeland Security said its officers have faced a 433% increase in assaults against them as they “put their lives on the line” to arrest murderers, rapists and gang members.
And on Wednesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided businesses and churches in the nearby city of Downey, which resulted in several arrests and outrage expressed by local officials and pastors, according to media reports.
