Police Detain Self-Styled ‘Anarchists’

Los Angeles police detained 13 self-described anarchists for questioning Thursday after they were found “squatting” in a boarded-up duplex in the 5900 block of Melrose Avenue, police said.

Noting that the Democratic Convention begins Aug. 14, Los Angeles Police Lt. Horace Frank said: “We have to take them seriously. If nothing happens, nothing happens.”

Frank said those detained, 10 adults and three juveniles, were from several different states. Two of the juveniles have been released to their parents, he said. Investigators were trying to locate the parents of the third juvenile in Seattle, he said.

“We don’t know what they were planning to do,” Frank said. “They indicated that they are anarchists and that they are here for the convention. The adults did not have identification.”

As officers entered the building at about 9:20 a.m., they heard “a bunch of people running,” Frank said. “Supposedly about 35 of them were staying at that location.”

Officers found “anti-establishment, anti-police, anti-FBI and anti-big business literature,” Frank said.

Many of the squatters were sleeping on the floor.

“They were illegally occupying a dwelling,” Frank said. “They were trespassing. They won’t be able to stay there.”