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In the early hours of Saturday morning, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested nearly 150 people for failing to disperse after an hours long protest march and demonstration in the streets of downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times reports the demonstrators were arrested for failing to disperse in Grand Park.
Friday night marked the fourth consecutive night of protest in downtown Los Angeles following the election of Donald Trump's as President, on Tuesday. Though protesters on earlier nights had managed to walk on to the 110 freeway, Friday night's demonstration remained on surface streets. Though demonstrators attempted to guide the march onto the downtown freeways at least twice, LAPD and the California Highway Patrol set up road blocks and guided the nearly 3,000 demonstrators away from entrance and exit ramps.
The march was largely peaceful. Though a few people occasionally tagged the phrase "Fuck Donald Trump" to adjacent construction sites and buildings, the crowd, built of a diverse swath of Angelenos, vehemently condemned those few who vandalize. The crowd chanted phrases like and, "not my president," "black lives, they matter here," and "fuck Mike Pence" as they walked through downtown L.A.'s streets. In one notably warming example, women protestors shouted "my body, my choice," followed by a replying chant from the march's men, "her body, her choice."
As the crowd circulated up and down downtown L.A.'s streets, restaurant goers, valet parking attendants and DTLA residents alike joined in the chants, broadly supporting the march. Though some motorists were understandably annoyed at the delay, other motorists expressed solidarity with the demonstrators as they marched by. A few even pulled their vehicles into the march and drove alongside.
Close to midnight, LAPD issued an order to disperse, calling the demonstration a violent congregation. At least one person threw a rock at officers, prompting officers to return volley with from a beanbag gun. Shortly after, LAPD officers surrounded a group of roughly 150 demonstrators who had gathered in Grand Park, according to KNBC.
An officer reportedly told a demonstrator "You're not going home, you had your chance." After officers surrounded the demonstrators, they began the process of arresting demonstrators one-by-one. Arrested demonstrators were handcuffed in zip-ties, and were loaded onto a few large LAPD buses parked nearby.
Approximately 10,000 people are expected to return to downtown on Saturday, for a rally held in MacArthur Park at 10 a.m.
