A confrontation between protesters and patrons of a restaurant turned violent and resulted in at least one arrest following a clash in Hollywood.
Protesters gathered outside an eatery on the 5900 block of Franklin Avenue to voice their opposition to a restaurant that was named in the sexual assault case of celebrity Danny Masterson. The former “That 70’s Show” actor was sentenced to 30 years behind bars after he was convicted of raping two women.
Video of the confrontation showed a group of about 20 protesters outside the restaurant, filming a patron smoking a cigarette on the sidewalk. It is unclear what led up to that patron’s actions, but he struck one of the protester’s phones out of his hand and things escalated from there.
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Another video showed several protesters surrounding a car trying to leave the area. One protester said the driver hit a phone out of his hand and tried to drive away before police arrived.
The Los Angeles Police Department said officers arrested one person for battery. Law enforcement did not identify the person who was arrested.
“We're the most peaceful we can be. We don’t vandalize, we don’t put our hands on anybody,” said Cameron Ivone, a protester. "If anything gets out of control, it's usually the people walking by that get aggressive with us, because it is a public sidewalk and we have the right to film anybody walking on a public sidewalk. At the end of the day, we’re just doing what we do, raising awareness about how bad some of these places are in Hollywood.”
The restaurant’s owner told NBC4 he was most worried about the well-being of his employees.
“You know, I have people here that you know I worry about and their safety,” said the business owner, who wished not to be named. “They’re here late and they close late by themselves.”
The investigation is ongoing.
