A U-Haul box truck drove into a crowd of demonstrators during an Iran-related rally in Los Angeles’ Westwood neighborhood on Sunday afternoon, prompting a police response and a detention of the driver. Authorities said one person was struck, but no significant injuries were reported.
The incident happened along Veteran Avenue near the Federal Building, where hundreds of people had gathered for a march supporting protesters in Iran. Police said the adult male driver was detained while the case is investigated, and officials had not released his identity.
What police said happened
The Los Angeles Police Department said the U-Haul driver collided with people who were marching along Veteran Avenue near the Federal Building at about 3:30 p.m. In a statement quoted by Fox News, the LAPD said, “At approximately 1530 hours, the driver of a U-Haul truck collided with individuals marching along Veteran Avenue in the area of the Federal Building.”
Police said one person—described as an adult male—was confirmed struck by the vehicle, but no significant injuries were reported. Fox News reported that a rescue ambulance treated the person at the scene and no one was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
SFGate reported police said one person was hit by the truck and nobody was seriously hurt. SFGate also reported that the Los Angeles Fire Department evaluated two people and both declined treatment.
Driver detained after truck stopped
After the truck moved through the crowded street, it was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars, according to SFGate. Police detained the driver pending further investigation, and the driver was not identified in the reports.
KTVU said the driver had been detained by police later in the evening. KTVU also said it was not yet known what prompted the driver’s actions, and officials had not released the driver’s identity as of Sunday.
Videos show chaotic moments
Social media video described by Fox News and KTVU appeared to show the U-Haul moving quickly through a dense crowd as people screamed and ran away. KTVU reported that some people tried to retaliate by striking the vehicle with flag poles while others moved out of the truck’s path.
Fox News reported that one video appeared to show a person hanging onto the side of the vehicle and banging on a window as it continued moving. Fox News also reported additional video that appeared to show the driver being punched as several people tried to pull him from the truck, and that the vehicle’s windows were smashed.
SFGate reported ABC7 helicopter footage showed officers holding a crowd back as demonstrators swarmed the truck, threw punches at the driver, and thrust flagpoles through the driver’s side window. SFGate also reported the truck had a shattered window and side mirrors when it was stopped.
Rally focus and crowd size
Several hundred people gathered in Westwood for the demonstration, with some waving the flag of Iran, according to SFGate. KTVU reported a group of Iranian Americans gathered outside the Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard to protest against the current Iranian government regime.
KTVU reported that, ahead of the demonstration, event organizers described the rally as part of renewed calls for political change in Iran. KTVU reported organizers said the rallies allow Iranian Americans to speak up and amplify voices of those demanding change, including calls tied to Iran’s economic crisis and ending human-rights violations.
SFGate reported that police issued a dispersal order and that by about 5 p.m. roughly a hundred protesters were still in the area, citing ABC7. Fox News reported that NBC4 Los Angeles said hundreds of people had gathered in the neighborhood for the march.
Conflicting figures on deaths in Iran
SFGate reported that activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Fox News cited the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency as reporting 583 people had been killed since unrest erupted in Iran two weeks earlier.
Fox News also reported that solidarity protests with Iranian demonstrators have emerged in major European cities, including Paris and Berlin, and that another protest took place outside the White House in Washington, D.C.
