Clashes broke out Thursday night between officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and at least 100 protesters who were trying to stop police from clearing out Echo Park's homeless encampment.
A newly installed fence surrounded the popular Los Angeles park Thursday after authorities moved in to evict residents of the large homeless encampment despite protests by the people who live there and their supporters.
Only a few tents and about a dozen people remained by evening along the grassy banks of Echo Park Lake, where tents had proliferated for months during the coronavirus pandemic, sparking concerns about trash, drugs and violence.
A designated protest zone has been established on Glendale Blvd north of Park for the Echo Park incident.
Mitch O'Farrell, a city councilman whose district includes the park, said earlier on Thursday that the homeless people who left the park have been offered temporary housing, and at least 166 people had already been sheltered.
Antonia Ramirez, who said she has been homeless for 20 years, vowed to stay at her camp site at Echo Park Lake and risk being arrested.
The location of the encampment in the fast-gentrifying Echo Park neighborhood gave it a high profile, but it was not unique for the metro Los Angeles area.
Friday, March 26, 2021
Hundreds in standoff with LAPD after they descended on Echo Park to clear homeless encampment
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