Dozens Arrested At Another Transgender Rights Protest At LA Spa

Los Angeles CA

17 July, 2021

8:07 PM

Description

LOS ANGELES, CA — Dozens of people were arrested outside of a Koreantown spa after another protest over transgender rights erupted into violence Saturday. Footage posted to Twitter showed a chaotic entanglement of officers attempting to separate dueling protestors with batons and firing non-lethal projectiles to disperse the unruly crowd. It is the second large demonstration that has drawn dueling protesters in front of the Wi Spa this month. The two protests stemmed from a viral video that showed a woman upset that a transgender person was allowed to disrobe in the spa's women's section. The video drew vitriol from some after the spa defended its policy in a statement to Los Angeles Magazine, the Los Angeles Times reported. Some arrived in front of the spa waving signs that said "Save our children" and "Stop defending pedos," the newspaper also reported. Some demonstrators were reportedly advocating for transgender rights while others rallied against the spa's policy on Saturday. An unlawful assembly was declared around noon after dueling protestors clashed with each other and with officers, according to multiple reports. Numerous weapons such as knives and mace were found on the ground after police arrested swaths of protesters, the Los Angeles Police Department said on Twitter. The area between Wilshire Boulevard and South Coronado Street was cleared by the afternoon, officers said. Smoke canisters were also deployed by demonstrators as opposing protestors flung water bottles at each other, Samuel Braslow, a Beverly Hills Courier reporter tweeted. Footage from the scene showed lines of LAPD officers in helmets trying to keep the two opposing groups separated. READ MORE: Violence Erupts At Dueling Trans Rights Demonstrations at LA Spa