Today, a group of anti-maskers protested at Ralph’s and the Century City shopping mall. Lots of angry confrontations with customers and a few physical altercations.

Thread
A violent altercation broke out between a protester and a customer. Didn’t see see the inciting incident. She claims that the customer hit her; in response, she tries to ram him with a shopping cart and shout at him.
As the shopper was checking out, the anti-masker kicked him.

“Some guy take care of him out there, come on patriots.”
A lot of shouting matches like this, where a shopper tells two protesters to leave and they say that this isn’t Communist China.
One protester suggests he doesn’t need to wear a mask bc he tested negative. He calls a shopper a “mask Nazi.”
The anti maskers went next Bloomingdales at Century City Mall. LAPD showed up eventually but did not try to remove them. @Bloomingdales staff seemed unable to force them to leave.
The group of about 20 circulated around the 3 floors, chanting “no more masks,” and “fuck communist China.”
@Bloomingdales staff escort a shopper out after he gets into an argument with multiple protesters
The anti maskers have a little dance party on the floor of @Bloomingdales, dancing to the MAGA version of YMCA.
Things get heated between a Steve Madden employee and a protester who tries to push through their door, claiming the employee pushed him first.
An anti-masker enters an 85 Degrees cafe/bakery and says to tell the company that masks are illegal. The customers and employees appeared nonplussed.
The anti-maskers mistake a woman taking a sip of her coffee as a supporter. She quickly puts her mask back on.
A worker in the foot court asks why the anti-maskers are protesting on private property. The anti-masker tells him that he has a right to be there because he is an American.
Some the anti-maskers were not served by foot court employees. One of them confronts malls security and says that they can be arrested for not serving them. “We don’t live in China, we don’t live Iran.”
Police intervene in an incident where a shopper allegedly pushed an anti-maskers camera.
The protester reviews footage of the incident with police. It seems to show the shoppers putting their hands over or into her phone. Officers told me that no charges were pressed.
An anti-masker pantomimes dying of COVID to an Ugg’s employee who was saying something to the group.
A woman who said she’s a doctor yells at the anti-maskers that her mother is in the hospital with COVID. A protester responds, “People die. Your father’s not special.”
Just a note, the fake hedge was put in place as a makeshift barricade. LAPD opted to observe and intervene only when necessary rather than try and expel the anti-maskers.
A mall official asks some anti-maskers to leave. A protester asks, “In the 40s, would you ask a group of Black people to leave if they were harassed? Trump supporters are oppressed in America today.”
At some point today, police apparently detained Shiva Bagheri after an altercation with a shopper. According to @peterdelachinga, who witnessed her detention and filmed it, he saw Bagheri walking free after this.

Will follow up with LAPD for details.

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More from @SamBraslow

1 Jan
Update from La Scala
👀👀👀
The plot thickens!

La Scala held a Recall Gavin Newsom petition signing drive today from 12-7. Social media posts show considerable signage all over the restaurant—much more than I observed tonight.
Read 5 tweets
1 Jan
Evangelical Christian Sean Feucht held an outreach event at Echo Park Lake today, a spot with a large unhoused community. Activists came to protest the group and demand they wear masks to protect the community. No violence that I saw, but many confrontations.
Community activist and City Council candidate Clay Johnston got into it with one revival attendee. One of the issues activists had with the group was the sense that they were parachuting into a community without regard for its occupants. Feucht’s group handed out food earlier.
In a less heated conversation, the man in the black hat put on a mask. He copped to being stubborn, but said that aggressive confrontation wasn’t effective. Also accused the activists of hypocrisy by getting so close to him.
Read 9 tweets
31 Dec 20
Last night, an evangelical Christian group led by singer Sean Feucht held a musical outreach event at LA’s Skid Row. While most of the group wore masks, local activists faulted them for entering tents uninvited and flouting tent etiquette.
The event was protested by groups like @LACANetwork, who formed a blockade to prevent access to tent encampments.

Here, one of Fuecht’s unmasked followers offers to “heal” anyone with back, neck, knee pain.
Activists confronted one man without a mask. A woman asks him, “You don’t think it’s a little selfish if they don’t want you here?” He eventually agreed to cover his face with a makeshift bandana.
Read 6 tweets
1 Nov 20
The rally starts marching down Rodeo Drive
There’s a whole sub genre of music that has been rewritten with Trump-centric lyrics. First time I’ve heard La Bomba.
Crowd gets amped up and marches back down Rodeo for the second time today
Read 6 tweets
31 Oct 20
On the ground at the final Beverly Hills Freedom Rally before the election. While it was scheduled to start at 3, people began showing up before 12.

Counter protesters plan on showing up.
In anticipation of potential civil unrest around the election, the city decided to cover up its art, including the Beverly Hills sign in Beverly Gardens Park (seen here as a black and white cookie).
Tabling to recall Gavin Newsom
Read 17 tweets
24 Oct 20
Thirty minutes in and the Trump “Freedom Rally” in Beverly Hills has attracted its largest crowd to date, by my estimation.

I’ll be covering the rally here, so follow for updates.
A definite paucity of masks, even after the country registers its highest one day tally in COVID-19 cases
Confederate flag hanging under one of the many tents here
Read 12 tweets

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