Protests turn violent in Anaheim after an off-duty cop fired a gun while telling kids to get off his lawn

Protesters gather after an off-duty police officer fired a warning shot around kids.
(Image credit: David McNew/Getty Images)

Hundreds of people turned out to protest in Anaheim, California, on Wednesday evening after an off-duty Los Angeles police officer fired his weapon while attempting to detain a 13-year-old boy in an argument about kids walking across his lawn. Some of the protests eventually turned violent.

The altercation happened Tuesday afternoon, and partial video of the incident soon surfaced online. The boy, whose name has not been released, said he spoke to the officer after the cop began using profanity against a 13-year-old girl who walked across his property to get to a nearby school.

All parties agree the officer fired his gun, but the 13-year-old and his family reject the cop's claim that the boy threatened to shoot the officer. They say he threatened to "sue," not "shoot," when he became afraid for his life. Nevertheless, the boy and a 15-year-old friend were both arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats and battery and on suspicion of assault and battery, respectively. The officer was not arrested and is on administrative leave.

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Wednesday night, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the officer's home. Most protested peacefully, though 24 people were arrested after a minority of those gathered smashed house and car windows, attempted to enter the officer's home, and spray-painted a garage door. The mayor of Anaheim has promised a full investigation. Watch a local news story below, including footage of the gunfire incident and subsequent protests. Bonnie Kristian

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.