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A man who was stabbed in a brawl that broke out at an anti-vaccination rally outside Los Angeles city hall on Saturday has been released from hospital, police said.
The man has not been identified and no information has been given on the extent of his injury. No arrests were reported in connection with the stabbing or an attack on a reporter which was also reported at the rally, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Mike Lopez said.
The violence was condemned by elected officials.
“Not wearing a mask and being anti-vax is not patriotism – it is stupidity,” Los Angeles City Council Chairman Nury Martinez said in a statement. “We need to be able to have differences of opinion without resorting to violence. Attacking counter-protesters and journalists has no place in a democracy, and certainly no place in Los Angeles.
A crowd of several hundred people, many of them waving American flags and placards calling for “medical freedom”, descended on City Hall around 2 p.m. for the planned rally. A few dozen counter-demonstrators had gathered on 1st Street near the former LA Times offices before the clashes.
A brawl broke out at the corner of 1st and Spring Streets shortly after 2:30 p.m., as all-black counter-protesters and anti-vaccine protesters draped in an American flag and memorabilia of Trump exchanged punches and fought each other. thrown objects. It was not immediately clear how the fight started, although each side quickly blamed the other.
One person, who anti-mask protesters said was part of their rally, could be seen collapsed in the intersection, bleeding. Police at the scene said the person was stabbed and paramedics arrived to take him to hospital.
Shortly after, KPCC journalist Frank Stoltze could be seen walking out of the park near town hall and being yelled at by anti-mask protesters. You could see a man kicking him. Stoltze later told a police officer he was assaulted while trying to conduct an interview.
Stoltze then tweeted this statement: “Something happened to me today that has never happened in 30 years of reporting. TO THE. @LAist I was pushed, kicked and my glasses ripped from my face by a bunch of guys during a protest – outside city hall at an anti-vax Recall rally @GavinNewsom Pro Trump.
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