Thirty-six people were arrested after a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down Century Boulevard by Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday.
Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department received tips on social media about the protest. Officers were staged near Century and Sepulveda.
“The LAPD is aware of an ongoing protest within the LAX area,” the LAPD wrote on X, formerly Twitter, just before 10 a.m.
While the initial protest was peaceful, LAPD Commander Steve Laurie told KNX News' Pete Demetriou it got out of hand.
“They set up a blockade using concrete street signs, trash cans and they started pulling pieces off of trees to try and blockade the road into Los Angeles International Airport,” he said. “Obviously that's unlawful activity. So we declared this an unlawful assembly and as the crowd became more and more agitated eventually, right near the Sheraton hotel, one agitator grabbed a police officer and threw them to the ground as the steps were taken to arrest that agitator.”
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While 36 people were booked for rioting, at least one person was arrested for battery on a police officer.
"This unlawful behavior is dangerous and will not be tolerated," the LAPD wrote.
The shut down comes at the tail end of the airport’s busiest time of year. Flights were not impacted by the protest.
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