“The SECOND I heard about this, I went to the park to speak to the person in charge to tell them it needed to end NOW.”
According to law enforcement, officers stopped Johnson on May 5 near MacArthur Park after he made an abrupt U-turn in front of a police vehicle while driving a BMW.
The suspect, identified as Jose Carranza-Escobar, who the police describe as a “transient with a last known address in Azusa,” was found standing near the flames.
“We had hoped that demonstrations today would be peaceful, however, as you can see in this video, the violent agitators invited LAPD due to their actions,” LAPD Central Division said in a statement posted to X.
“In flagrant disregard for unity, the mayor and chief raised the flags, chasing cheap political points over national mourning.”
Vance made the comments while attending a performance of Les Miserables at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday.
“A lot of these peaceful protests are being generated because the president of the United States is sowing chaos and confusion by arresting people who are showing up for their immigration hearings.”
“Today, demonstrations across the City of Los Angeles remained peaceful, and we commend all those who exercised their First Amendment rights responsibly.”