LAPD arrests five during anti-Trump protest in downtown L.A.
The Los Angeles Police Department said five people were arrested during a Saturday night protest against President-elect Donald Trump in downtown Los Angeles.
At least one juvenile was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer, and four other people were arrested on suspicion of vandalism, according to LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman.
The names of those arrested and details of the charges were not immediately available. Eisenman did not know the exact time the protesters were arrested.
The number of arrests was far fewer than the previous few days of demonstrations in downtown, when LAPD officers arrested about 150 in the early hours of Saturday and about 185 the day before.
The small, boisterous protest Saturday night followed a larger, peaceful anti-Trump demonstration that police said drew a crowd of about 8,000 people. Demonstrators marched from MacArthur Park to downtown Los Angeles. No arrests were made in that protest, police said.
Eisenman said the later anti-Trump protest, which drew a crowd of about 100, was not planned. Protesters gathered at City Hall before marching through the downtown area, stopping traffic while whistling and cheering, at times weaving through moving cars.
Los Angeles police officers arrested at least two suspected taggers, including a woman seen spray-painting, “My body, my choice” in the 3rd Street tunnel.
Most protesters left voluntarily when police ordered them to disperse. But a dozen or so stayed behind, holding their hands in the air while chanting “peaceful protest.”
Apart from the five protesters, no other arrests were made.
Staff writers Katie Falkenberg and Alene Tchekmedyian contributed to this report.
For more Southern California news, follow @latvives on Twitter.
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