A U-Haul truck drove into a crowd of protesters during an anti-Iranian regime rally in Los Angeles on Sunday (January 11), officials confirmed via ABC News.
The driver, who was identified as an adult male, was detained and charges are pending in an ongoing investigation into the incident. Two victims were evaluated at the scene and both declined to be transported to a hospital for treatment, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The rally was held in the Westwood neighborhood and the California Highway Patrol requested that LAPD assist in traffic control, with the 405 Freeway ramp on Wilshire being shut down.
“We are aware of this incident,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote on his X account. “FBI is on scene working with LAPD to determine the motive of the driver. This is an active investigation and we will update the public when we have more information.”
The Los Angeles demonstration took place amid reports that at least 538 people were killed, with even more feared to be dead, in connection with the widespread Iranian protests against the Islamic regime, activists announced via the Associated Press. Officials have faced difficulties in gauging the demonstrations abroad as internet is down and phone lines are cut off in Iran, according to the Associated Press.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claimed the protests were started by “vandals” destroying public properties and acting on behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump, who had reported that peaceful protesters were being killed and claimed Washington could “come to their rescue.” The supreme leader warned that the government wouldn’t tolerate “mercenaries for foreigners” in a broadcast on national Iranian television via Reuters.
“The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,” Khamenei said.
The supreme leader’s comments followed an internet blackout in Iran amid the ongoing protests. NetBlocks, an internet watchdog, said the blackout and other forms of censorship were imposed by authorities in response to the turmoil.
Several videos of the protests have, however, been shared on social media by opposition groups and human rights monitors, which includes protesters calling for Khamenei to be overthrown, as well as the return of Mohammad Reze Shah Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last king. Pahlavi, who now lives in Virginia, is the heir to Iran’s last shah, who was overthrown during the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
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