Dennis RomeroSee also: Trayvon Martin Protesters Headed to Beverly Hills
Young people unhappy with the George Zimmerman verdict took their message of “Justice for Trayvon” Martin to the nouveau, filthy and otherwise rich of Beverly Hills.
After protesters occupied the private steps of the 2 Rodeo shopping center, a speaker on a bullhorn tried to afflict the comfortable dining al fresco nearby with this message in honor of Martin:
“Put your Champagne glasses down and bow your heads for a minute.”
(There really were people drinking Champagne nearby.)
Even as speakers addressed the “white people of Beverly Hills” in a city that is as much as 35 percent Persian, the protesters were mostly welcome, with plenty of honks and fists in the air coming from passing, six-figure cars on Wilshire Boulevard.
The demonstration started at 5 p.m. at La Cienega Park and gained steam from a few dozen participants to 100 or more as they marched to Rodeo Drive and then turned back.
Credit: Protesters at La Cienega Park. Photo by L.A. Weekly.
Participants were told, “Welcome to Beverly Hills … the epicenter of upper-middle-class, white America.”
Beverly Hills police, on “full mobilization,” with all hands on-deck, were at the ready with riot gear, but it never had to be put on, even as demonstrators rushed the private property of 2 Rodeo.
The march headed back to the park and dissipated by 9 p.m.
No rich people were harmed in the making of this demonstration.
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