Fans take over the streets of Los Angeles to celebrate the Dodgers’ World Series win
October 28, 2020
After 32-years, the Los Angeles Dodgers won their seventh World Series title after beating the Tampa Bay Rays in game six. Although the team played in Texas due to the coronavirus, fans took over the streets of L.A. to celebrate the win.
Police took a preemptive approach to the celebration, blocking off streets in downtown L.A. and East L.A. although that did not stop the fans from filling the streets.
East L.A.:
Near the end of the eighth inning, California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Sheriff Department began closing down Whittier Boulevard, a strip of road in East L.A. Crowds quickly adapted and took over Olympic Boulevard, a street parallel to Whittier Boulevard.
The smell of rubber filled the air as people pushed their cars to limit doing donuts in the intersection of the Atlantic and Olympic boulevards. With the crowd cheering and music blasting, the crowd in East L.A. was bustling with enthusiasm.
“I have this on my back,” said Edwardo Salazar, as he showed off his Dodgers tattoo. “This is a long time coming.”
Fireworks in the street were a common occurrence, often causing children to cover their ears after the loud bang.
After roughly two hours of the street party, the LASD came in with full riot gear to disperse the crowd. Some fans threw glass bottles and other debris at the deputies which sparked a flood of non-lethal ammunition to be fired into the crowd.
Fans slowly left the area, although the mass amount of people and vehicles caused traffic jams and other delays.
Eight people were arrested by the LASD for failure to disperse. Two people were arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.
No injuries were reported.
Downtown L.A.:
Hundreds of people gathered all over downtown Los Angeles to celebrate the Dodgers win. The Los Angeles Police Department declared a tactical alert and shut down many streets near the Staples Center.
When the Lakers won the NBA Championship, people celebrated in the streets and the LAPD followed with a similarly aggressive response. Their tactics were questioned after several people were shot with “less-lethal” munitions.
At an LAPD Police Commission meeting before the World Series game, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said that there would be “no tolerance” for similar celebrations. Officers were deployed throughout Los Angeles, with a heavier focus on areas like L.A. Live, the Staples Center and Dodger Stadium.
“I don’t know how many officers we have,” one LAPD officer said on Tuesday. “Not enough.”
Large crowds gathered at several intersections, including Olympic Boulevard and Grand Avenue, 9th Street and Flower Street, and 11th Street and Flower Street. Fireworks echoed throughout downtown.
Fans flooded intersections, cheering and screaming. Vehicles did burnouts in the street. People looked on from apartment balconies.
The LAPD became more aggressive when fans began to vandalize and loot stores. Several people began throwing bottles at police vehicles as they passed through an intersection. Multiple police vehicles were vandalized with graffiti and broken windows.
When an 18-wheeler big rig drove through a crowd, fans began to beat on the truck and cheer, before looting it and throwing the contents of potato chips and kettle corn onto the street.
A dispersal order and an unlawful assembly were declared. Several dozen officers, including a mounted police unit, circled around the populated intersections and repeatedly pushed people out to clear the area.
Police officers fired “less-lethal” rounds and physically tackled multiple people. Several reporters were fired at.
The LAPD made eight arrests.
