Arrests at protest as large homeless camp shut at popular L.A. park

A newly installed fence surrounded a popular Los Angeles park Thursday after authorities moved in to evict residents of a large homeless encampment despite protests by the people who live there and their supporters. Only a few tents and about a dozen people remained by evening along the grassy banks of Echo Park Lake, where tents had proliferated for months during the coronavirus pandemic, sparking concerns about trash, drugs and violence.

Residents argued that the complaints were overblown and the encampment offered a community setting for people without means who have nowhere else to live. About a dozen people were arrested Thursday night as roughly 100  protested the removal of the homeless camp, CBS Los Angeles reported. Police declared an unlawful assembly after officers said the large crowd used high-intensity lights in an attempt to blind them.