LOS ANGELES—Mayor Karen Bass Nov. 24 condemned the actions of protesters who set off smoke bombs and poured red paint meant to represent blood outside a Brentwood home owned by the president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
The Thanksgiving day protest in front of AIPAC President Michael Tuchin’s home was organized at least in part by the activist group People’s City Council-Los Angeles, which proclaimed on social media, “AIPAC spends tens of millions to control pro-genocide congressmembers. [Expletive] your holiday baby killer!”
Video from the scene showed a small group of mostly masked protesters walking in the driveway of the home, setting off smoke bombs and tossing cloth-wrapped bundles with red paint on them, likely to symbolize dead infants, onto the property. Red paint was also spilled on the driveway.
“I’ve spoken with Michael Tuchin and (Los Angeles Police Department) Chief (Michel) Moore about yesterday’s disturbing incident,” Ms. Bass wrote on X Friday morning. “Hate and violence will not be tolerated in our city. LAPD will continue to work with city and business leaders to keep Angelenos safe.”
According to LAPD, officers responded to the home around 10:45 a.m. Thursday due to protesters who “caused a disturbance.”
Officers “took crime reports for vandalism/hate crime & assault [with a] deadly weapon,” according to police. “Investigations are ongoing. No arrests have been made at this time.”
Mr. Moore wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday that the protest is being investigated by the department’s Major Crimes Division “as a hate crime.”
“Video evidence and other information is being collected to identify those responsible for the vandalism and assault on a neighbor,” he wrote.
The nonprofit organization Stop AntiSemitism condemned the action as the work of “pro-Palestinian radicals”
“What’s next? The burning of synagogues and schools like in 1939 Germany?” the group stated on social media.
People’s City Council-Los Angeles also took part in a rally Friday at in the Fairfax District that included a large march around and through The Grove shopping center as part of a nationwide series of actions meant to disrupt Black Friday shopping in an effort dubbed “Shut it Down for Palestine.”
“Israel’s temporary stop to bombing Gaza is not a complete ceasefire,” the group proclaimed on social media. “As long as all our demands are not met, we must continue to take action.”
