My eyewitness account by Erik Wolford.
I live on Hollywood Boulevard, right near La Brea. I am in the more residential part so my experience is going to be different than someone several blocks away where the storefronts are. Events change block by block. But this is what I have personally experienced. I have seen the demonstrations from beginning to end walk past my house.
Here’s the numbers and type of people I have seen:
First you hear the choppers. When the California state bird takes to the air and circles, you know something is up.
outside the celebrity hangout Chateau Marmont
It starts in the late afternoon. Hollywood Boulevard is mostly empty. Suddenly sirens. Like all the sirens you have ever heard. 80 cop cars. 40 motorcycle cops. Two flatbed trailers with cops hanging off it in riot gear with paint guns looking riot weapons. Then another wave of 20 cop cars. A single unmarked black Dodge Charger at the back of the pack with sirens blaring. They blow by at 50 miles an hour. Then they disappear. Like vanish into the bowels of Hollywood. I don’t see them again the entire night.
Then a column of national guard in armored Humvees and in full battle rattle (camo, plate carriers, rifles) drive by in trucks and Humvees. About 150 to 300 national guard. They vanish into the night, not to be seen again on my street.
An hour later, the noise is heard in the distance. Something big is headed our way. Faint cheers. Rhythmic car honking.
Then the first cluster of marchers. Then the air gets electric, and you can feel the energy from the moment. A wave of humans, most wearing masks, most clustered in groups they are comfortable with Attempts to social distance are made. Other protests would be twice or three times more packed and dense. but here people are spreading out.
These are peaceful protesters. I would happily grab a drink and walk with them in flip flops with no fear.
Everyone is totally chill. Lots of cheering, lots of energy.
Then after about 30 minutes, the foot protesters thin out and now it’s waves of cars with protestors hanging out taking up the tail end. They last for 10 minutes.
Then the road is clear. No cops trailing them. No police presence at all, and it’s a good thing. They don’t need to be there. We are fine. I feel safe.
The last thing I have seen is near Fairfax and 3rd at 7:45pm. I’m getting some aerial shots with my drone of a building on fire. Two cars pull up 15 minutes before curfew. Eight men who look like hardened street criminals, complete with full face tattoos, pull up like you would pull up to rob a bank. Come in hot, slam into two spots on a side street, leap out in unison. I thought I was about to get jumped.
They are amped up. No protest signs, they are moving like predators about to kill. And they are so clearly heading in to rob a place, using the end of the protest at 8pm as cover to make it harder for cops to drive up to respond. It was so perfectly clear these were looters headed towards a local buisness.
They disappear around a corner. Then I see a cop car with fresh spray paint on its doors blast by at the other end of the street. I took it as my cue to head home. A little too close to the action. I felt like I was suddenly in the movie Purge. So I headed home.
But what was interesting was there was no grey area between the various groups. It was super clear who the peaceful protesters were. It’s super clear who’s heading in in packs to do damage.
So to tally it up:
I’ve seen 200-400 cops in packs
I’ve seen 200-300 national guards in columns on side streets
I’ve seen about 5000-6000 protestors
I’ve seen 8 looters
I did not see one ANTIFA person. I did not see a single antifa sign in anyone’s hands. It was a big long crowd. Maybe there was one or two in there, but I didn’t see them. Certainly not a group large enough to notice. Zero presence, in my view.
I’ve seen no property damage from my street but one building on fire at Fairfax and 3rd Street.
Judging by the hardened criminals using the protests as cover to go into neighborhoods you would not normally see – I would say its very likely the buildings are torched as a distraction for the looters. They are organized, they are in groups, and they are a tiny tiny percent of what is going on, but they are having a huge impact on the perception of the protesters.
I work in Hollywood as a cinematographer and I’ve filmed a ton of these marches. I have hours and hours of footage of peaceful marching, and two minutes of a burning building. What I see the media showing is the 1% of the protest that is crazy and violent. As you watch the news, know you’re getting a “worst of” highlight reel. You are not getting the real story of a peaceful march. The coverage is understandably skewed to the exciting bits, but it doesn’t give you a real picture of what’s happening.
I do know other parts of Hollywood are having different experiences. There do seem to be more problem areas- probably because that’s where the stores are, and I am in a residential area.
