Pellet-Gun Shots Bruise 2 Protesters
Antiwar protesters at a Costa Mesa intersection were peppered with shots from a pellet gun Friday night, witnesses and police said.
The demonstrators, who gather weekly at Bristol Street and Anton Boulevard, said the shots came from a dark sport utility vehicle about 6:45 p.m. Group organizer Chuck Anderson and another marcher were struck by pellets and received dime-sized bruises to their abdomens.
“We were having our normal Friday night protest,” Anderson said. “I was holding a sign that said ‘The World Hates Bush’ when somebody drove by and opened up on us.”
The protesters failed to get a license plate number, Anderson said. Police said they could not open an investigation with the limited description of the car.
The shots were fired as about a dozen protesters marched across from South Coast Plaza.
Anderson said the group has been hit by eggs, verbally abused and even driven off by sprinklers, but they had never been fired on.
“Next week we are going to wear safety glasses,” he said.
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