What unfolded in California on Sunday was sickening to watch, and it should erase any remaining illusion that political violence is somehow limited to faraway countries or ideological extremes people prefer to ignore. A man driving a U-Haul truck plowed directly into a crowd of protesters in Westwood who had gathered to demonstrate against the current regime in Iran. It was chaos, fear, and pure recklessness packed into a few horrifying seconds.
According to reporting from NBC 4 Los Angeles, hundreds of demonstrators had assembled to show support for Iranian protesters back home. Those protests in Iran have already turned deadly, with hundreds killed amid unrest tied to an economic crisis and a brutal government crackdown. The rally in Westwood was meant to be peaceful. Instead, it became a scene of panic when the truck barreled into the crowd.
Cellphone footage shows the U-Haul moving straight through protesters, who scatter in every direction. At least two people were struck and suffered minor injuries, though they declined transport to the hospital, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. That does not make this any less serious. Vehicles are weapons when used this way, and we have seen far too many examples of that reality over the past decade.
🚨 BREAKING: Another angle of the U-Haul truck plowing through anti-Islamic regime protestors in Los Angeles
PLEASE pray hard for these victims. It isn’t looking good 🙏🏻
pic.twitter.com/fUBMmX6la7— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 12, 2026
🚨 BREAKING: Reports of a U-Haul truck mowing down “protestors” at a protest against the Islamic Iranian regime in Los Angeles, California
Holy crap.
No word on casuaIties. Pray for these victims! 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/xhfznrxtnf
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 11, 2026
The aftermath was just as disturbing. Protesters surrounded the truck, smashing its windows and punching the driver as they attempted to pull him from the vehicle. Police eventually took the man into custody. His identity has not yet been released, and authorities have not clarified whether the act was politically motivated, mentally unstable behavior, or something else entirely.
🚨 BREAKING: Police just DRAGGED the man who ran down people at an anti-Islamic regime protest in LA OUT OF THE U-HAUL
This guy needs some STREET JUSTICE pic.twitter.com/3MNeZvQ0Ft
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 12, 2026
New York Post added another unsettling detail. Police said the truck had both pro-Iranian regime and anti-Iranian regime messages written on its sides. That alone raises serious questions about the driver’s intent and state of mind. Was this an attempt to provoke chaos? Was it ideological confusion? Or was it simply an excuse for violence?
Protesters in Los Angeles were attacked after a U-Haul truck drove into the crowd,
Not confirmed but suspicious of affiliation with MEK pic.twitter.com/jwuARDpspi— Shahin Najafi 𓃬☼ (@shahinnajafi80) January 12, 2026
What should be obvious is that this was not protest. It was not speech. It was not activism. Driving a truck into a crowd is attempted murder, regardless of the cause being protested or the slogans painted on the side of a rental vehicle.
This incident also highlights a larger failure in how public demonstrations are handled. Crowds are routinely allowed to spill into streets without meaningful barriers, enforcement, or planning. When something goes wrong, innocent people pay the price.
Supporters of the Iranian people have every right to voice their concerns. What they do not deserve is to be put in danger by a lunatic behind the wheel or by officials who fail to take crowd safety seriously. Political passions are running hot across the globe, but that does not excuse violence, especially when it shows up on American streets in such a reckless and horrifying way.
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