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A protester upset over election results in Iran. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong.
Protesters upset over recent elections in Iran waved flags, marched, shouted, and made a scene without fear of government reprisal.
It was almost 10 a.m. in Tehran -- but this group of several dozen was half a world away in Westwood, where it was well after 10 p.m on Thursday night. The only clash they might have expected was cultural.
The number of marchers paled in comparison to protests a few days earlier, but dozens of people carrying signs (and carrying on) were accompanied by an endless parade of cars that managed to snarl traffic in an area accustomed to gridlock wrapping up a few hours earlier. A young woman in a veil reached over from the passenger seat of one luxury vehicle and honked a horn in rhythm to the Persian pop music blasting from the car's stereo.
This is a town numb to protesters gathering outside of the Federal Building in Westwood, but the extended hours of these loud marchers -- and louder drivers -- might get some attention, if not noise complaints from a nearby residential neighborhood.
According to Alex Alireza Bordbar, a reporter covering the event for Payam TV, the protests have been starting around 7:30 p.m. and lasting past 10 p.m. the past few nights. While not organized by any individual or organization, he expressed hope that they would continue indefinitely. Another protester said that Wednesday's activity lasted until almost midnight.
NPR claims that Los Angeles has the "largest community of Iranians outside of Iran," while the Los Angeles Times goes calls it a more conservative "home to one of the largest Iranian American communities in the U.S."
If you happen to see protests, don't confuse the green, white, and red flag of Iran with its similarly colored Mexican counterpart (certainly a more common design in this city). While the symbols in the middle have been creating some debate, you certainly can't mistake it for another Lakers flag.
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