Thread by @SamBraslow

At Wi Spa in koreatown, where LGBTQ and leftist activists have gathered for a second time to counter a protest against trans access to the spa’s facilities. Police are out in force today and have cordoned off the front of the spa. Protesters have not arrived.

One activist has shown up in a full unicorn costume

Arthur Schaefer, head of the California chapter of the anti-LGBTQ group Mass Resistance, falls back behind police lines after activists push him.

A large group of protesters has gathered down the street at MacArthur Park. They had initially planned on meeting at wi spa at 8, but that plan seems to have been scuttled.

Protesters marching down Wilshire toward Wi Spa are intercepted by police, who form a line between the two sides

Some frustration at police among the right wing protesters. An officer pushes and hits a protester with a baton. Chants of “save our children,” a phrase associated with Qanon.

Police pushing back counter-protesters with batons. Multiple smoke canisters deployed by leftists. Water bottles thrown by both sides at the other.

One of the protesters, a woman named Bryna, tells me that she is protesting against pedophilia and is not transphobic. She later says that trans women don’t exist.

LAPD declares an unlawful assembly. Officers shot less lethal rounds. I saw one person fall to the ground after a shot.

Right wing protesters try to go around through an alley but at routed by police. Many of them are wearing football gear, one holds a sign that says “read dr. Fauci’s emails.”

The protester from earlier says that “trans are not women” while others chant “save our children.”

“Sorry, unless you have a period, unless you buy tampons, unless you get cramps,” she says.

One protester throws up the ok symbol, a pseudo-ironic gesture associated with the far right. A group of other protesters point at me, with one make threatening gestures. Another journalist @loisbeckett was attacked by members of the group later.

Protesters try making their way toward Wi Spa down another street, but police again stop them.

LAPD arrests one protester. According to a PIO on the scene, the arrest was for failure to disperse.

An officer pushes a woman and a photographer who are up against a wall. The woman says that the officer pushed her by her neck and later asks a commanding officer to remove him from the line (he does not).

Immediate aftermath following use of less lethal munitions after an activist shoots silly string at an officer. The less lethal was shot from about 5 feet away.

LAPD declares an unlawful assembly and begins pushing back counter protesters away from Wi Spa.

Again, an officer pointing a less lethal launcher at fairly close range

I didn’t get footage of it, but I also witnessed journalist @ericlevai get attacked by a group of leftists in bloc who saw him taking photos. They took his bag in the process before police intervened.

Here is a clip from an interview I did with one counter-protester, a trans non-binary person named Bettiino. They told me that despite LA’s liberal reputation, they still worry about their safety, especially when accessing gendered facilities.