Diamond Bar protest: Deputy fires pepper balls into ground, sends crowd into panic

Video shows the moment a deputy in Diamond Bar opened fire at the ground with a pepper ball gun in front of protesters, sending them into a panic.

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Friday, June 5, 2020
Deputy in Diamond Bar fires pepper balls into ground, sends protesters into panic
Video shows the moment a deputy in Diamond Bar opened fire at the ground with a pepper ball gun in front of protesters, sending them into a panic.

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. (KABC) -- Video shows the moment a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy in Diamond Bar opened fire at the ground with a pepper ball gun in front of protesters, sending them into a panic.

Dozens of people were gathered at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Diamond Bar Boulevard for a Black Lives Matter demonstration Thursday afternoon.

The seemingly peaceful protest was interrupted when pepper balls were shot.

The crowd apparently got too close to a line of deputies, and one of them opened fire at the ground with a pepper ball gun.

Video then shows protesters fleeing from the area.

The sheriff's department confirmed deputies fired the pepper balls, saying that they did so when they declared an unlawful assembly at about 2:30 p.m. The department did not offer further details.

There were no arrests and no injuries were reported.