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The duel of pro and anti-transgender protests outside a Los Angeles spa turned violent on Saturday, resulting in the launching of projectiles, the firing of rubber bullets by cops and more than a dozen arrests, according to a report.
Koreatown’s Wi Spa was also the scene of clashes earlier this month, during protests against a viral video that appeared to show a customer complaining that a transgender woman had exposed herself in front of children.
On Saturday morning, LGBTQ activists gathered outside the spa to counter protesters who had gathered there to oppose transgender people who patronized the business, the LA Times reported.
Those protesting the spa policy held up signs saying “Save our kids” and “Stop standing up for pedos,” according to the report.
An illegal gathering was declared by police after members of the crowd threw projectiles, some targeting cops, according to the report.
Published images on social media showed police in riot gear shooting bean bags and rubber bullets at protesters.
“Most people have left the area, but currently a number of arrests are being made for non-dispersal,” Detective LAPD said. Meghan Aguilar told the newspaper, which reported that no one was hurt.
A Guardian reporter who covered the protest said it was attacked by protesters who were shouting about Jesus.
“I was just thrown to the ground by right-wing anti-pedophile protesters as a crowd converged on me and chased me,” Lois Beckett tweeted.
The dueling protests appear to have been spurred by the same June 24 Instagram video that sparked the violent protests outside the spa on July 3.
“He’s a man,” an angry woman told staff in the clip. “It’s not a woman. There are girls there, other women who are very offended by what they just saw and that you didn’t do anything. You sided with him.
Questions have since been raised about the veracity of the clip, according to The Los Angeles Blade, a local LGBT newspaper.
Police sources told the outlet that they were unable to find any evidence to confirm that a transgender person was present at the business that day, raising concerns that the video has been staged.
“I’m recording this because I’m going to do a big deal, I’m going to do it all over the world,” the woman who complained in the video promised.
The spa defended its practices in a statement to Los Angeles Magazine.
“Like many other metropolitan areas, Los Angeles is home to a transgender population, some of whom enjoy visiting a spa,” the statement said. “Wi Spa strives to meet the needs of all of its customers.
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