How protests over transgender rights at an L.A. spa ended in violence

Sunflower Haze, right, hugs Mike L. after she spoke at a news conference outside LAPD headquarters to announce lawsuits against the Police Department over its alleged targeted attacks against journalists and activists. “Like many other metropolitan areas, Los Angeles contains a transgender population, some of whom enjoy visiting a spa,” it said in a statement, adding that the spa “strives to meet the needs and safety of all of its customers.” Brian Levin, director of the nonpartisan Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, said the protests are indicative of a “democratization of hate” that has allowed far-right groups with a variety of ideologies to come together around flash-point events after they are amplified online and in conservative media. “The chatter on social media was calling for violence, calling for payback, ‘be prepared,’” Labrada said. “When you see that type of chatter, the intent is not to peacefully protest, to voice concerns regarding LGBTQ issues.” About 50 to 80 people that included members of the far-right Proud Boys, Labrada said, marched to the spa at about 11 a.m. Unlike the first Wi Spa protest on July 3, where right-wing and left-wing protesters brawled in the streets, on Saturday there “weren’t any moments where the right and the left actually ran into each other,” Singh said.