After a group of protesters disrupted operations at the massive COVID-19 vaccination site in Dodger Stadium on Saturday, some Los Angeles officials expressed anger at the protesters, calling for greater safety at testing and vaccination facilities.
Los Angeles Fire Department officials closed the main entrance to the stadium – one of the largest vaccination sites in the country – about an hour Saturday after a group of between 40 and 60 protesters showed up on Stadium Way with signs disapproving masks while making unfounded claims. screamed about the dangers of the vaccine.
The group dispersed around 3 p.m., and there were no arrests or injuries, according to LAFD Asst. Chief Ellsworth Fortman, who oversees the department’s COVID-19 response. Fortman said about 5,740 doses of the vaccine were delivered on-site Saturday, which divides between 5,700 and 7,700 doses daily. Workers still vaccinated people in the stadium during the hour the main gate was closed, he said.
Both fire and police officials have said the group was nonviolent and that the decision to close the entrance to the facility was a precautionary measure. The protest infuriated several city leaders, with some wondering why the police weren’t more aggressive towards protesters, claiming the LAPD was more proactive in quashing anti-police or Black Lives Matter protests.
See, the world sees this. What it does is it undermines our public safety community. It is not good for our public safety community for people to believe that there is unfair treatment, ”said Gil Cedillo, LA city councilor whose district is home to Dodger Stadium. “That doesn’t help them to do their job. When some people are pampered and others are not. “
The protest came because frustrations over the handling of the virus by state and provincial officials remain high. The number of deaths from the coronavirus in California exceeded 40,000 on Friday. More than half of those fatalities have occurred since November 1, 2020, part of a surprising increase in the virus’s lethality amid concerns that more dangerous species are emerging. At the same time, business owners struggling to keep their lights on have repeatedly called for the rules to be relaxed that restrict dinners and other gatherings.
Fortman said the decision to close the gate was made after protesters approached the entrance to Stadium Way, over concerns about both the safety of the workers inside and the protesters themselves, who he said could have been hit by cars as they marched through the grounds. .
After 45 minutes, Fortman said, LAPD agents approached the group and warned them that they could be quoted or arrested if they entered the vaccination site and ordered them to take to the streets. The group obeyed and largely dispersed by 3 p.m., according to Fortman, who said the protesters’ actions ultimately had little effect on the spread of vaccines.
“At the end of the day, it didn’t really have much of an impact,” he said. ‘I feel bad for those people [who] finally waited another 50 minutes. “
It was unclear how many people left the line to enter the site and missed their appointment during the nearly hour-long shutdown, but long lines have already proven to be a major deterrent to older Angelenos seeking the vaccine. Some concerns were raised online Saturday that their grandparents had probably given up on being vaccinated on Saturday because of the protest.
Despite the protesters’ actions prompting firefighters to close the stadium entrance, police said there would have been no reason to declare an illegal meeting or order arrests on Saturday. Officer Mike Lopez, a spokesman for the LAPD, said the protesters obeyed police orders to stay outside Dodger Stadium and were not in violation of any other laws or regulations.
Andrea Garcia, a spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, said the city is “reviewing the safety protocol of vaccine sites” following the incident and will set up dedicated areas for protesters if demonstrations are held at vaccination sites in the future.
While it is not clear who exactly organized the protest, fliers promoting the event were shared online by the ‘Shop Mask Free Los Angeles’ group, whose members repeatedly showed up at local grocery stores and stores over the past few months, trying to purchase items without masks . The events usually end in feuds between the members of the group and store employees, and sometimes provoke law enforcement action, according to videos the group has published online.
The LAPD has responded to several incidents involving the group, which normally ended their demonstrations peacefully, but was rarely quoted despite blatant repeated violations of city and county health ordinances that mandate the wearing of masks. According to city officials, Los Angeles police arrested a member of the group in an incident on Jan. 20, but Lopez could not immediately provide information about that incident or other contacts between the LAPD and those protesters.
Cedillo said he was especially outraged that the demonstration took place in his district, which has been badly affected by the virus. In recent weeks, Cedillo’s office has posted multilingual signs in parts of Westlake, Lincoln Heights, Highland Park and Koreatown warning people they are entering a “ high risk area ” for COVID-19, and he also said he has sent staff members to doors to knock to provide information about vaccinations to seniors.
Cedillo’s district includes several neighborhoods made up mostly of working class and Latino, two groups disproportionately affected by the virus. The number of Latinos in LA County dying from the virus daily has soared in recent weeks.
“This crowd feels they have a right to try to prevent people like seniors, janitors, housekeepers, restaurant staff and supermarket employees from getting the vaccine they want so badly. They want that, ”Cedillo said. It’s just very insulting. Very arrogant. It’s an incredible sense of entitlement. “