Man Stabbed, Reporters Attacked At Vaccine Mandate Rally

LOS ANGELES, CA — A man was stabbed and reporters were attacked in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday as anti-vaccine mandate protesters and counterprotesters clashed at City Hall.

The stabbing victim was released from the hospital Sunday, but no further details about his condition were provided. No arrests were made following the violent protest, police said.

Footage on social media showed the two sides fighting. Punches were thrown, people were kicked to the ground and objects were hurled between those protesting vaccine and mask mandates and those defending them.

The "Stop Socialism, Choose Freedom March" began around 2 p.m., with demonstrators urging Angelenos to "say no to mandatory vax and passports." The group planned to rally against "medical tyranny, mandatory vaccinations and vaccine passports," a protester tweeted.

A counter-rally that participants called "No Safe Space For Fascists" unfolded an hour beforehand. Video from the scene showed the anti-vaccination crowd yelling at the other side from across First Street — some of whom were filming the demonstration — then attacking them, hollering, among other things, "Unmask them!"

Two reporters were attacked during the rally — reporter Frank Stoltze of KPCC and LAist, and reporter and podcaster Tina Desiree Berg.

Stoltze said he was attacked in the park outside City Hall. It was unclear who attacked Stoltze, but LAPD Capt. Stacy Spell told Los Angeles Times reporters at the scene that a police report had been taken.

"Something happened to me today that’s never happened in 30 yrs of reporting," he tweeted. "I was shoved, kicked and my eyeglasses were ripped off of my face by a group of guys at a protest - outside City Hall during an anti-vax Recall ⁦@GavinNewsom Pro Trump rally."

Berg tweeted: "I was just attacked with others" at the top of a lengthy Twitter thread showing photos and video of herself and others being approached by angry protesters.

Many identified a man who was seen reaching for Berg's mask as Tony Moon, who tweets under the name "The Roof Korean" and videotaped himself at the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to CBS8.

"We are on scene to maintain order after a fight broke out," LAPD officials tweeted on Saturday.

The stabbing victim was rushed to the hospital, but authorities did not disclose his condition.

Tensions have risen in recent weeks over masking and vaccine mandates as restrictions return to Los Angeles amid the rapidly spreading delta variant.

READ MORE: LA Councilman Announces Opposition To Vaccine Order

The Los Angeles City Council passed the motion 13-0 and moved to have the city attorney prepare an ordinance requiring people to show proof of at least partial vaccination against COVID-19 to enter most public indoor spaces in the city, including restaurants, bars, gyms, concert venues, movie theaters and retail locations.

City Attorney Mike Feuer said he supports requiring proof of vaccination at indoor, public places, including restaurants, bars, gyms, and performance and event venues.

"No shots, no admission," Feuer said in a video on Twitter.

Council President Nury Martinez and Councilman Mitch O'Farrell introduced the motion last week.

"COVID-19 could be eradicated if we had mass vaccinations across the country and across the world," O'Farrell said before noting that smallpox and polio were mostly eradicated through vaccinations.

"Why on Earth is it OK in 2021 to have 30 plus people die in the county of Los Angeles from COVID over a three-day period, including an 11-year-old girl, when we have a vaccine that could have prevented all of that, accessible to everyone?" O'Farrell said.

Los Angeles Councilman John Lee has said he will not support an ordinance and would attempt to delay the order's likely approval.

"While I agree with my colleagues who authored this motion that vaccinations are the most effective tool we have in the fight against COVID-19, this proposal is not the way," Lee said.

"At a time when we need to move forward together to combat the virus, this measure may only deepen divides without addressing the heart of the matter — getting people vaccinated," he added.

In recent weeks, the state and individual counties across California have adopted a handful of policies to require proof of vaccination or a negative test to ramp up vaccination rates as the highly transmissable delta variant circulates.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced that all teachers and school staff would have to show proof of vaccination or submit to weekly testing. Ahead of that announcement, the Long Beach Unified School District, the second-largest district in Los Angeles County, announced the same policy earlier this week.

The statewide order takes effect Friday. All schools across the Golden State must be in full compliance by Oct. 15. The state assured that strong testing resources would remain available to K-12 campuses.

"If we want to end this pandemic and disease, we could do it in a month," Newsom said at Claremont Middle School in Oakland just hours after the city and San Francisco issued their own vaccine orders for teachers. "This disease is now a choice. The one thing that could end this pandemic once and for all is available in abundance to everybody that wants it. Regardless of your ability to pay, regardless of your immigration status: It's available today."

City News Service contributed to this report.