A security guard hired by the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles was arrested on Jan. 4 after pepper-spraying several pro-democracy activists who had held a peaceful protest outside the diplomatic mission to celebrate the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Wu Xian, 38, was handcuffed and arrested by local police after pepper-spraying eight protesters, five of whom received hospital treatment, according to the protesters.
Wu owns California-based professional security service company JK Patrol SVC. He holds multiple titles, including chief executive officer and chief financial officer, and also holds a private patrol operator license issued by California’s Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, according to a database run by the California Department of Consumer Affairs.
The protest, organized by the China Democracy Party International Alliance and the Hong Kong Liberal Democratic Party, was attended by about two dozen activists. During a two-hour rally, they denounced the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its leader, Xi Jinping, while carrying American and Venezuelan flags.
Chanting anti-CCP slogans, the protesters called for Xi to be put on trial and said that the Chinese people want freedom, not tyranny. They also drew comparisons between Xi and Maduro, shouting, “Today it’s Maduro, tomorrow it’s Xi Jinping.”
Jie Lijian, head of the China Democracy Party International Alliance, said the Chinese Consulate’s security guards began taunting the activists before the rally started at 1:30 p.m. local time on Jan. 4.
As the rally came to an end, Wu, one of the guards, wearing a vest with the words “JK Patrol SVC” on it, got into a heated exchange with several protesters, according to video footage captured at the scene.
In the footage, the guard can be heard repeatedly saying to one of the protesters, “Can you die three times?”
“Get behind me, get behind me, the three of us will [expletive] you,” Wu says in Mandarin Chinese in the video, referring to his fellow guards.
He also gestures with his left hand as if holding a pistol and points it at one of the demonstrators.
Moments later, the guard, after telling the protesters that he wouldn’t hold back, pepper-sprayed several of them.
“Don’t walk away, come here,” Wu can be heard saying to protesters in the video.
The guard then moved around a garden on the sidewalk, stepped into the road, and pepper-sprayed more protesters, according to the video.
When contacted by The Epoch Times, the Los Angeles Police Department said it received a “disturbing call” at about 2 p.m. local time on Jan. 4 and arrested a suspect for violating a state law provision governing the purchase, possession, or use of tear gas or any tear gas weapon.
Jie experienced burns to both eyes, a dry cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, and vomiting, according to his medical evaluation reviewed by The Epoch Times.
He said he stayed in the hospital for about 10 hours and kept spitting out yellow, bitter-tasting liquid.
He said he was surprised by the guard’s “brazenness.”
Before he was pepper-sprayed, Chen Ning said he told the guard that the protesters were holding the rally in a public place and that his actions were a “blatant challenge” to U.S. law and sovereignty.
Chen told The Epoch Times that the security guard chased him and sprayed his eyes, face, neck, and arms.
He said that his upper body was in pain and he could hardly open his eyes.
He said that the security guard then asked them, “Are you enjoying it?”
Chen went to his car parked nearby to get water. After he returned, he slumped to the ground. The pepper spray made his vision blurry. He said he tried dialing 911 several times before getting the right number.
One of his fellow protesters was convulsing, Chen said.
Jie said the “CCP’s thugs” should “pay the full price under the law,” which he said would deal a “serious and powerful blow against the CCP’s global, transnational acts of repression.” He said that he and others plan to file a civil lawsuit against the guard to demand compensation.
Seeing the events unfolding in Venezuela has been bittersweet, Jie said, because he is glad the country could transition to democracy but doesn’t know when China might see the same change.
“We also hope that this day will come for China, and we believe it will not be far off,” Jie said.
The Epoch Times contacted the State Department, the Chinese Consulate, and JK Patrol SVC for comment and did not receive a response by publication time.
