LAPD Investigating Hate Crimes After Armenian-Azerbaijani Protest

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating three incidents that occurred during a protest at the Azerbaijan Consulate last Tuesday as possible batteries and hate crimes.

The day started when a crowd organized by the Armenian Youth Federation gathered to protest the recent violence along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. A smaller group of Azerbaijani counter-protesters arrived across the street, and an altercation broke out as the scene intensified. Three Azerbaijani victims sustained non-life threatening injuries during the scuffle, according to the LAPD.

Tension between the two countries revolves around the autonomy of Nagorno-Karabakh, a mostly Armenian region just inside the border of Azerbaijan. After World War I, Soviet rulers placed the area within Azerbaijan territory, until the region’s parliament opted to rejoin Armenia as the Soviet power weakened in the 1980s.

A bloody war broke out until a 1994 ceasefire marked the formal end of the violence. Since then, various skirmishes have broken out along the border, reigniting on July 12 when a new flare-up claimed 16 lives.

Mayor Garcetti spoke out in solidarity with the Armenian people last Monday on Twitter.

“We stand with the Armenian community against violence,” he tweeted. “Azerbaijan must end its provocative and dangerous threats to strike Armenia’s civilian nuclear power plant, and must admit international monitors. Dialogue and diplomacy are the only paths to peace and safety for the region.

LAPD is asking anyone with information on the altercation during the protest to call (310) 444-1531.