Truck Plows Through Anti-Iran Protest in Los Angeles, Demonstrators Chase Driver

Los Angeles police responded on Sunday after a U-Haul box truck drove through a street crowded with demonstrators protesting in support of the Iranian people, prompting marchers to scatter and later chase the vehicle in an attempt to confront the driver.

The truck, with its side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police vehicles. Aerial footage from ABC7 showed officers holding back the crowd as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and pushing flagpoles through the driver’s side window.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed officers were on the scene but did not immediately say whether any arrests were made.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said two people were evaluated by paramedics and both declined medical treatment.

Several hundred protesters had gathered Sunday afternoon in the Westwood neighborhood to demonstrate against Iran’s theocratic government. Police later issued a dispersal order, and by around 5 p.m., roughly 100 demonstrators remained at the scene, according to ABC7.

Activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Demonstrations again took place on Sunday in Tehran and Iran’s second-largest city.