Staff Reports
On January 11, 2026, a U-Haul truck drove into a crowd gathered in Westwood, Los Angeles, for a protest supporting the people of Iran, touching off a chaotic scene that left at least one person struck and several others evaluated by medics. Police detained a man they removed from the vehicle pending investigation, and the scene quickly became a flashpoint between law enforcement and an angry crowd.
Video from the incident shows the truck barreling through marchers and then being chased down several blocks before officers boxed it in, while demonstrators pulled the driver from the cab and began attacking the vehicle. The footage is horrific and must be seen in full — it captures both the danger of a vehicle moving into a crowd and the immediate, violent reaction by some in the mob.
First responders evaluated two people at the scene who ultimately declined treatment, and authorities eventually issued a dispersal order as the crowd thinned, but not before the truck’s windows and mirrors were smashed and the scene descended into raw street chaos. The LAPD said it was investigating the motive and circumstances of the incident amid confusion and conflicting narratives.
Observers noted writing and a sign on the truck reading phrases such as “No Shah. No Regime. USA: Don’t Repeat 1953. No Mullah,” suggesting the vehicle carried political messaging that only deepens questions about why it was driven into the crowd. Whether this was a deliberate assault, a reckless act, or something else remains under inquiry, but the presence of slogans makes a neutral explanation harder to accept at face value.
Hundreds had gathered in Westwood in solidarity with Iranians back home, part of a global wave of demonstrations after a brutal crackdown by Tehran’s regime that activists say has killed hundreds; Los Angeles, with the largest Iranian diaspora outside Iran, has become a focal point for these passionate protests. The protest atmosphere was charged long before the truck moved through the crowd, and the incident is now tangled into an already volatile transnational dispute.
Make no mistake: Americans should stand with people fighting for liberty in Iran, but we must also stand for the rule of law here at home. That means a thorough, transparent investigation into the driver’s conduct and an equally vigorous warning to any crowd that thinks it can dispense vigilante justice on the street; beating a detained man with flagpoles and smashing a vehicle is not protest — it’s lawlessness.
Our city leaders and the media owe the public straight answers, not spin. Too many in the establishment press reflexively sanitize chaotic moments when crowds do wrong while rushing to amplify every outrage when a conservative or patriot is involved; impartiality means condemning violence no matter the political banners being waved.
This episode should be a wake-up call to law-and-order conservatives and liberty-loving Americans alike: defend the right to protest, defend dissidents abroad, and defend public safety at home. Demand accountability from whoever broke the law — and demand equal application of justice whether the accused is a driver or a protester.
