Toy Drive Near LAX Ends in Brawl Involving Up to 1,500 People

Chairs and tables were thrown, and security officers moved in on the crowd with pepper spray, police said

Tensions at a fraternity-hosted Christmas party and toy drive reached a boiling point early Monday morning when some 1,500 people became involved in a brawl in a hotel ballroom, Los Angeles police said.

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Officers spent about an hour controlling crowds at the Radisson Hotel near Los Angeles International Airport, where several fraternities and their guests had gathered for the annual charity event.

Chairs and tables were flung into the air, and hotel security moved in on the crowd with pepper spray while police officers arrived, officials said.

Police said no one was seriously injured, and no arrests were made.

According to police, the melee may have been sparked by a dispute between partygoers who were not related to the gathering.

Witnesses said tensions began to mount near the end of the event before 12:45 a.m. during a fraternity's "stomp" performance.

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Anthony Williams, who witnessed the brawl, described it as an "alpha male" dispute at the mostly female-attended event.

"That's always the reason," Williams said. "Somebody has to be the alpha male to impress the female."

A Khristmas Jam & Toy Drive event was listed as an event for the hotel ballroom by the Epsilon Kappa Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

Event organizers said they collected 1,000 toys.

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