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More than 50 protesters arrested outside Chinatown Walmart
Street sitters drawing cheers, making traffic, at a protest outside new Walmart in Chinatown.
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Rina Palta/KPCC
)
Police monitor protestors outside the new Walmart in Chinatown on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013.
(
Rina Palta/KPCC
)
Police began making arrests at a protest outside of the new Walmart in Chinatown in downtown L.A. on Thursday night, Nov. 7, 2013.
Police arrested 54 people Thursday night during a protest against a newly opened Walmart in Chinatown near downtown Los Angeles.
Police say the demonstration was generally peaceful, but when officers declared an unlawful assembly to disperse the more than 200 protesters, some sat in a circle in the street and refused to move.
Erroll Traylor doesn't work for Walmart but was there to support employees.
"They're getting paid very low wages; they don't have health care; and the family that owns Walmart controls a lot of the money, and they are very rich, and they can definitely afford to pay better wages to their employees," Traylor said.
Protest organizers say some of the arrested include employees of the giant retailer.
Wal-Mart spokesperson Kory Lundberg said those workers are a fraction of the company's 13,000 employees in L.A. County and that employees know Walmart gives them opportunities for career growth and economic security.
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