Truck Hits LA Crowd Protesting Against Iran’s Islamic Regime; Several Injured (VIDEO)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, USA (Worthy News) – At least two people were injured after a U-Haul rental moving truck drove into the crowd during a protest against Iran’s Islamic rulers in Los Angeles late Sunday, officials and witnesses said.

The incident occurred at a rally in the U.S. city’s Westwood neighborhood outside the Wilshire Federal Building, where thousands gathered to show solidarity with ongoing anti-government protests in Iran, which reportedly resulted in more than 580 deaths.

Video footage obtained by Worthy News showed the U-Haul truck, a civilian vehicle commonly used in the United States and Canada to transport household goods, pushing into demonstrators.

The truck carried a sign saying: “No Shah. No regime. USA: Don’t repeat 1953. No Mullah.” It was a reference to the U.S.-backed 1953 coup led by the Shah, who ruled essentially with Western support until he was overthrown in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Protesters were seen surrounding the vehicle, smashing windows, with tensions quickly escalating.

“Please pray hard for these victims. It isn’t looking good,” wrote Nick Sortor, a self-described “citizen journalist” on social media platform X, above video footage of the incident.

Eventually, the crowd pulled a man from the U-Haul, and law enforcement appeared to take him into custody, reporters said. As police walked the man away, some protesters were seen trying to punch him and hit him with flag poles, according to witnesses.

MAN DETAINED

The man allegedly drove the U-Haul into the crowd during the planned protest.

Los Angeles police were at the scene, working to control the crowd. They said two people “were evaluated at the scene” but declined medical treatment. Police confirmed that no ambulances were called to the protest.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) eventually issued a dispersal order, and shortly before 5 p.m., the large crowd had dwindled to about 100 protesters still at the scene, witnesses said.

After the chaos settled, the U-Haul was seen stopped in the area, surrounded by shattered glass, debris, and crime scene tape.

The LA rally was part of worldwide rallies in solidarity with protests in Iran sparked by the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy. The demonstrations have put new pressure on its theocracy, which has shut down the internet and telephone networks.

It was not immediately clear what impact the protests would have on the Christian minority and rapidly growing housechurches which have been targeted by the Islamic regime, according to activists.

Tehran is still reeling from a 12-day war launched by Israel in June that saw the United States bomb nuclear sites in Iran.

EXPENSIVE FOOD

Economic pressure, which has intensified since September when the United Nations reimposed sanctions on the country over its atomic program, sent Iran’s rial currency into a free fall, now trading at over 1.4 million to $1.

Prices are up on meat, rice and other staples of the Iranian dinner table and the Islamic nation has seen an annual inflation rate of some 40 percent.

A threat by U.S. President Donald J. Trump that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the U.S. “will come to their rescue,” has taken on new meaning after American troops captured Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran, analysts said.

“We’re watching it very closely,” Trump warned. “If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States.”

Adding to Tehran’s difficulties are signs that Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” – a coalition of countries and militant groups backed by Tehran – has been decimated since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023.

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