LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police arrested several dozen people and fired non-lethal projectiles to disperse an unruly crowd on Saturday after a dueling protest over transgender rights at a Los Angeles spa turned violent. The protests stemmed from a video that circulated online earlier this month, in which an irate customer complained to the staff at Wi Spa that a transgender woman was in the women’s section of the spa. The video sparked controversy after the spa defended its policy of allowing transgender customers in its facilities, the Los Angeles Times reported. Video posted on Twitter shows officers in riot gear hitting protesters with batons and firing bean bag rounds and other projectiles. At one point, a woman was hit in the abdomen, causing her to fall to the ground.

Source: thestar July 17, 2021 23:27 UTC