Los Angeles Times

Gun incident after Cudahy council meets

A Trump supporter accused of pulling a firearm is arrested.

- By Hailey Branson-Potts hailey.branson @latimes.com

A man who came to the Cudahy City Council meeting this week with a proPreside­nt Trump group protesting the city’s sanctuary status was arrested after he brandished a gun during an argument, authoritie­s said.

Thomas Green, 51, of Culver City flashed a gun from inside a white car at a gas station at Clara Street and Wilcox Avenue, about a block from the park where the council meeting took place, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Deputies were waved over about 9 p.m. Monday by a group of people standing near the vehicle during the argument, authoritie­s said.

Green was arrested on suspicion of brandishin­g a firearm and booked at the East L.A. Sheriff ’s Station. He was later released, and his gun was held for evidence, authoritie­s said.

All of the car’s occupants were detained.

Riding with Green was Harim Uziel, a vocal proTrump activist who has become a regular, disruptive presence at public meetings throughout the Southland. In May, Inglewood police escorted Uziel out of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters’ town hall meeting after he and another Trump supporter loudly fought with pro-immigratio­n activists.

Before deputies called him out of the car in Cudahy on Monday night, Uziel livestream­ed authoritie­s surroundin­g the vehicle, guns drawn. His group was escorting other protesters who had been followed to the gas station after the council meeting, he said on Facebook Live.

“My friend here that I’m carpooling with has a concealed carry weapon, and he showed it to those guys,” Uziel said.

“We did show a gun. Oh, may the Lord protect us and keep us safe,” he added. “I got my hands up. Don’t shoot.”

An hour after Green’s arrest, in a “separate and unrelated incident” while deputies were still at the gas station, a man threw a large, glass beer bottle at the deputies, hitting one of their vehicles and nearly hitting the deputies, according to the Sheriff ’s Department.

Raymond Diaz, 24, of South Gate was identified as the bottle thrower and was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, authoritie­s said. He was booked at the East L.A. station and was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, plus an outstandin­g $30,000 warrant for driving under the influence.

Council meetings in Cudahy, which has a large Latino immigrant population, have been tense in recent weeks as activists — many of them clad in Trump gear — have shown up and used public comment periods to decry illegal immigratio­n.

In May, Trump supporters showed up to a council meeting with signs that said such things as “ICE Hotline Call Now!” They were greeted by counter-protesters with their own signs — “Deport all white supremacis­ts back to Europe!” — and someone holding a Mexican flag.

After the meeting, the scene outside devolved into a screaming match and was broken up by a sheriff ’s helicopter hovering overhead.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States