Police Sunday said two people were arrested in connection with a protest against President Donald Trump on Saturday that drew a small-but-vocal group of counter-demonstrators in downtown Los Angeles.
One person was arrested on suspicion of attempting to incite a riot, and the other person was arrested on suspicion of battery, the Los Angeles Police Department reported Sunday.
The group Refuse Fascism started the demonstration at Pershing Square at 1 p.m. Saturday as part of an organized effort in 19 cities across the United States.
One anti-Trump protester was arrested in the area of 5th and Hill streets by the Los Angeles Police Department for repeated attempts to breach the makeshift barricades set up by police to keep the groups separated. Water bottles were also observed being thrown by some anti-Trump protesters.
Another man, identified by LAPD spokeswoman Officer Rosario Herrera as Henry Walters, according to the Daily News, was arrested after he failed to move out of the middle of the street, in the area between the demonstrators, despite repeated demands from police.
The man wore a royal costume and purple body makeup and said he represented the “radical center” of the country, between the “blue” left and the “red” right.
No white people where harmed during the #RefuseFascism protest today in Los Angeles! pic.twitter.com/g2tJo2LjWh
— Max Jones (@ArthurAllblack) November 5, 2017
Police were armed with a new city ordinance limiting what people can bring to such assemblies, and they confiscated a baseball bat from one woman. That anti-Trump protester was not arrested, and police told her she could get her bat back after the rally.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council amended an existing ordinance and created the list of banned items — including shields, torches, rods, mace, glass bottles and baseball bats — in an attempt to avoid violence that has occurred at demonstrations in cities such as Berkeley and Charlottesville, Virginia.
–City News Service