Police cordon off a U-Haul rental truck after it was driven into a crowd which had gathered to show support for Iranian protesters, in the Westwood suburb of Los Angeles, California, U.S., on January 11, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ABC Affiliate KABC via Reuters
Los Angeles police responded on Sunday (January 11, 2026) after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with marchers demonstrating in support of the Iranian people, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver.
Also read: Iran protests live updates
The U-Haul truck, with a window and side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars. ABC7 news helicopter footage showed officers keeping the crowd at bay as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and thrusting flagpoles through the driver’s side window.
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement on Sunday (January 11, 2026) evening.
The police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt. Two people were evaluated by paramedics and both declined treatment, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Several hundred people, some waving the flag of Iran, had gathered on Sunday (January 11, 2026) afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighbourhood to protest against the Iranian theocracy. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by 5 p.m. only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Protesters flooded the streets in Iran’s capital of Tehran and its second-largest city again on Sunday (January 11, 2026).
Published – January 12, 2026 08:54 am IST
