Nearly 40 protesters arrested after blocking traffic near LAX entrance
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Dozens of pro-Palestinian supporters were arrested Wednesday morning after staging a protest near the Los Angeles International Airport.
The group of about 40 people gathered at Century Boulevard near the entrance to LAX around 9 a.m.
A Los Angeles Police Department captain told Eyewitness News the protest shut down the street for about 30 minutes, but other entrances to the airport remained open.
The group was not on airport property.
The captain told ABC7 the protesters were throwing things at police officers. According to an LAPD post published on X, formerly known as Twitter, the protesters "used construction debris, road signs, tree branches, and blocks of concrete to obstruct [Century Boulevard] while attacking uninvolved passerbys in their vehicles."
"The LAPD's objective is to ensure public safety for ALL, while facilitating the First Amendment rights of those peacefully demonstrating. However, this was not a peaceful demonstration," read another X post.
The LAPD captain also said two officers were assaulted by protesters, but the officers weren't seriously injured.
At one point, the group apparently tried to go inside a nearby Sheraton Hotel, but police stopped them, the captain said.
About 36 protesters were arrested and booked for rioting and at least one was arrested for battery on a police officer, police said.
Eyewitness News attempted to speak with the protesters but no one would talk with us.
Century Boulevard reopened around 10:30 a.m. and according to police, the delay had no impact on flights.
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