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The driver of a U-Haul truck that drove through protesters demonstrating against the Iranian regime in Los Angeles on Sunday claims that police waved him onto the street full of protesters, and that he never meant to hurt anyone.
Calor Madanescht, 48, was taken into custody by the Los Angeles Police Department on suspicion of reckless driving following the incident.
“I had no intention to hit anybody,” Madanescht told FOX11 Los Angeles.
Madanescht said an LAPD officer waved him onto the avenue, where he intended to join the protest. However, he claims a pro-Shah group began to attack him.
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Calor Madanescht, 48, said that he did not mean to hit anybody as he drove the U-Haul truck. He claims he was attacked by a pro-Shah group, which prompted him to drive through the crowd. (FOX11 Los Angeles KTTV)
“I was really afraid for my life,” he said, adding that some protesters helped clear a path so he could drive away. “They were telling me, ‘Go, go,’ and they opened the path, as you see in the video.”
Video online appears to show the U-Haul truck moving quickly through a dense crowd as people screamed along Veteran Avenue near the Federal Building in the Westwood neighborhood. A banner on the side of the truck read, in all capital letters, “NO SHAH. NO REGIME. USA: DON’T REPEAT 1953. NO MULLAH.”
“All I want is peace and human rights for everyone in Iran and for minorities,” Madanescht said.
Madanescht said that the was at the protest in support of the Iranian people. He said he suffered bruised eyes from the attack. (FOX11 Los Angeles KTTV)
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Madanescht said that once he pulled over, other demonstrators began to attack him. He showed the outlet a bandaged hand, a cut on his ear, bruises and black eyes.
Madanescht shows a bandaged hand, claiming he suffered injuries during the attack. (FOX11 Los Angeles KTTV)
Another video shows the crowd of people running toward the truck and surrounding it as people can be heard chanting at the driver behind the wheel. One member of the crowd climbed onto the truck and stomped on its windshield. Others stuck flagpoles through an open passenger-side window, appearing to jab the suspect.
Anti-Iranian regime protesters in Los Angeles swarmed a U-Haul truck that drove through the gathering on Sunday, smashing its windshield and attacking the suspect with flag poles until police arrived to take the man into custody. (Alaleh Kamran via Storyful)
During Madanescht’s interview with the outlet, two men who were at the protest gave their accounts of what happened.
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“They kept punching him, hitting him,” said one of the men, identified as Mehdi. “They broke the window, kicked the truck, assaulted him, and he has a right to free speech.”
Police said the adult male driver has been detained pending further investigation. His identity has yet to be released. (Alaleh Kamran via Storyful)
The other man questioned Madanescht’s claim that LAPD had waved him onto a street that was occupied by demonstrators.
A driver drove a U-Haul truck through a crowd during a Los Angeles demonstration in support of the Iranian people on Sunday. (KTTV)
But Madanescht maintained that his intentions for being at the protest were only peaceful.
“The reality is I peacefully came, cooperated with LAPD, and I’m deeply grateful for them,” he said. “They deserve the highest praise for putting their lives on the line to save mine.”
The protest comes amid ongoing unrest in Iran, where demonstrations that began over economic grievances have spread nationwide, evolving into a direct challenge to Iran’s clerical leadership.
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The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which tracks human rights violations in Iran, said at least 18,470 people have been arrested and the confirmed deaths of 2,615 individuals. HRANA said 2,435 of those killed were protesters, including 13 children under the age of 18.
Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.