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A scuffle between pro-Israel demonstrators and pro-Palestinian protesters in Westwood on Sunday led to a Federal Protective Service officer firing his gun.
The protesters were gathered at the federal building in Westwood for a pro-Israel peace rally, NBC LA reports. Sunday’s rally followed a pro-Palestinian rally protesting Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip at the same location on Saturday.
Around 5:45 p.m., witnesses said four men in a truck pulled up waving a pro-Palestinian flag. The pro-Israel supporters then allegedly ripped the flag away and began stomping it. The Palestinian supporters then got out of the truck to get their flag back, and a fight broke out.
An officer fired once at the truck to break up the fight, and no one was injured. Sgt. Dave Valentine of the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station told LAist the four men in the truck were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, that deadly weapon being a wooden flag pole.
As to how many people were at the protest, reports vary by a wide margin, with some outlets reporting 500 and others reporting over 2000. Valentine said the estimate he heard was 1500, but that's only an estimate.
This video from YouTube shows a portion of the confrontation near its beginning:
