A surreal moment occurred in Van Nuys, CA yesterday as the LAPD arrested a number of people attempting to protect a store from looters:
Turn on Fox 11 right now. Reporter flagged down cops to arrest looters and the cops started pointing guns at the store owners.
— PABLO GOLDSTEIN (@pablogoldstein) June 2, 2020
As you can see in the video, the store owners and supporters of the store/family were armed in an effort to prevent looting on the block:
(1/3) EXCLUSIVE: A group of alleged looters square-off against business owners in Van Nuys as police converge onto the scene. The tense moments were captured live in front of our FOX 11 news camera. https://t.co/KEbNy7SnKw pic.twitter.com/ClBjejZWLx
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) June 2, 2020
You can see in this clip that one of the people in the group defending the store reaches for what looks to be a shotgun as the LAPD rolls up, which is when things got tense:
(2/3) EXCLUSIVE: A group of alleged looters square-off against business owners in Van Nuys as police converge onto the scene. The tense moments were captured live in front of our FOX 11 news camera. https://t.co/KEbNy7SnKw pic.twitter.com/ruAjXGSeev
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) June 2, 2020
The reporter, Fox 11’s Christina Gonzalez, tried to explain to the officers that they’ve arrested the wrong people:
(3/3) EXCLUSIVE: A group of alleged looters square-off against business owners in Van Nuys as police converge onto the scene. The tense moments were captured live in front of our FOX 11 news camera. https://t.co/KEbNy7SnKw pic.twitter.com/ZzZNA1tJwc
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) June 2, 2020
This is exactly what business owners should be doing:
Moments before they were handcuffed after trying to get the attention of the police, the woman described why it was important for her and her family to protect the store and their neighborhood. pic.twitter.com/BOFknyzUW1
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) June 2, 2020
Gonzalez later said on camera that she was trying to help the LAPD’s image so that the clip didn’t go viral:
And here’s .@cgfox11 saying that the police just want you to be quiet, put handcuffs on you, and sort it out. Just before that said the woman was briefly detained for being… “vociferous.” What a clown. pic.twitter.com/zcTMaz9Bem
— PABLO GOLDSTEIN (@pablogoldstein) June 2, 2020
The woman was later released and is home with her family:
UPDATE: She's OK and at home tonight with her family. pic.twitter.com/rY4fU4eJUj
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) June 2, 2020
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