Viva La Raza

Jun 13

I was in Arizona when the ICE protests started in Los Angeles. When I got back into town I was assigned to document the ongoing protests for LA Downtown News. My girlfriend and I made our way to DTLA on Monday evening to see what was going on. We found the protest on the corner of Los Angeles and Temple in DTLA. I will say the tensions were high, but the streets were filled with people peacefully exercising their first amendment rights. That being said as the sun was setting tear gas and flash bangs were used to disperse the crowd. It was my first time being in a situation where at any moment it felt like things could go badly, and let’s just say I didn’t make too many images that day.

I went back on Wednesday June 11th to try again. This time I was mentally prepared. I also rewatched Civil War to get in the zone. The police presence was heavy and I joined the crowd outside of Los Angeles City Hall. People were finishing up some speeches on the city hall steps and then the crowd proceeded to make their way through Grand Park and down Hill St to Pershing Square. The march was peaceful and the support from cars and LA residents was a great thing to see.

christopher mortenson

Viva La Raza

New site, New Vibe.