Breaking news: This morning President Biden called the mass killings of Armenians a “genocide,” breaking with decades of U.S. foreign policy. Local residents have told the Buzz they are planning to participate in the annual march described below in Captain Paulson’s message. So elebrations maybe be even larger than orignally expected today, given this historic announcement on the 106th anniversary of the killings. Â
Yesterday, the community received a heads-up from LAPD Wilshire Division Captain Shannon Paulson about several different protests happening in or near our area over the next couple of days. Whether or not you plan to attend any of the events, there may be traffic delays in the specific areas where the gatherings are planned, which could affect your local travels. Here’s the information from Captain Paulson:
Today (Saturday), will mark the Armenian Genocide anniversary and there will be a protest and rally at the Turkish Consulate, just over the border on Wilshire west of La Cienega (vehicle access to this area will be shut down). The organizer of this event states it will involve a march, and does not expect more than 5,000 participants at the rally. Beverly Hills PD has issued a permit for this event and has stated they will be shutting down access to eastbound Wilshire from the event, keeping within the City of Beverly Hills. However, based on past events of this nature, there is a potential for it to grow beyond the organizer’s expectation. Last year we had a crowd estimated at 100,000 who marched through our Wilshire streets to a similar event. There were a multitude of social and political factors that likely impacted that participation level, but we must be ready for something larger than expected this year. The participants have in the past been boisterous but orderly and law abiding. Please expect traffic congestion along Wilshire and La Cienega corridors due to this event, which is scheduled for noon.
Almost concurrent to the above event, there is a larger Armenian Genocide event taking place north of us in Hollywood. That event is scheduled to begin at 1000 hours. There is no stated intent to march, but we are standing ready in case this happens, or in case any portion of that group decides to march to the follow-on event in Beverly Hills. Such an occurrence would most likely come through some portion of Wilshire Area.
Finally, on Sunday, April 25, BLM will be hosting a rally and march at Pan Pacific Park. We do expect the probability of large participation in this event, which is focused on racism and police actions. This event is scheduled for 3:00 pm, with the march to follow after the rally. This will likely create traffic congestions issues on the streets surrounding the park with the likelihood of a large crowd taking over substantial portions of the surface streets and possibly remaining stagnant in major intersections for significant periods of time.
For all these events, the Department will facilitate 1st Amendment protests and marches, maintaining as small a footprint as is required to maintain safety and coordinate traffic flow. We do have additional resources in reserve who will be standing by, but will not be visible. Thank you to those stakeholders who have provided venues for those resources and personnel to remain in ready reserve, hopefully never to be called.
We appreciate your understanding as we maneuver through these events, hopefully balancing all of the community’s needs and interests as best we can. I will be on scene for this evening and throughout Sunday for this events. Captain Mendoza will be representing Wilshire’s interests for the event Saturday in Beverly Hills and Hollywood.
Please be safe, be well, and be kind.
Captain Shannon K. Paulson Commanding Officer Wilshire Area, LAPD
