A disturbing incident outside the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center was caught on video and is now going viral on social media. The clip shows an individual who participated in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, who was also forced to leave L.A. mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt’s election night watch party, being swarmed by a mob of anti-ICE agitators.
The footage shows Jon Mellis, 39, more widely known as PatriotWildMan on social media, being repeatedly called a “pedophile worshiper,” while being chased by the mob and allegedly doused with gasoline by several masked protesters as he tried to get away from the confrontation. Mellis did manage to escape the mob, though he was hit several times in the head.
“Me and my friend went to the anti-ICE protest, we masked up, and we were, you know, lightly telling people that asked that we worked with the DNC,” Mellis said about the situation. “We were doing interviews, I got maybe two or three interviews in before [protesters] recognized me with my mask on, just because I have curly hair and I’m kind of viral, so they started yelling, ‘Proud Boy, Proud Boy,’ and then everybody started coming toward me, immediately throwing things, attacking, pouring gas.”
Eoin Richard, the cameraman who has also covered demonstrations in Washington, Chicago, and Minneapolis, captured the incident on video. He told the media that the individuals who violently attacked them were Antifa protesters. “We were there to film a protest being held for the one-year anniversary of the ICE raids,” Richard explained.
According to a report from the New York Post via AOL, Richard then said, “I’ve been covering it for over a year now. … Jon was getting some interviews with protesters, very nonpartisan, just simple stuff like, ‘Hey, why are you on the ground?’ After about two interviews, we were swarmed. He was swarmed.” The video shows just how aggressive the mob was as individuals lunge at Mellis and Richard outside the ICE detention center.
“It happened so quickly,” Richard continued, “but basically we wrapped up one interview, and then a woman with a bullhorn came and started shouting in [Mellis’s] face a bunch of different things, and probably five seconds after that, masked Antifa approached him, one with a chemical of some sort, trying to dump it on him. He was doused and as he was trying to push the gallon of liquid away, a guy punches him in the face.”
Richard then recalled that when things became violent, both men ran for their lives, “literally as a mob of people sprinted behind,” trying to physically assault them. Richard then claimed the protesters were “even trying to attack police.” After the pair finally made it to safety, they called the LAPD, who then slapped handcuffs on Mellis and put him in the back of a squad car and escorted him back to his vehicle.
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Mellis says he wasn’t under arrest. “He didn’t pat me down, he didn’t search me, and he said I wasn’t being detained,” Mellis said. “He saw what happened, so I wasn’t in any trouble at all. He simply drove to my car because we’re on the verge of a riot.” Later, Richard said that Homeland Security agents were dispatched to the protest. ABC 7 reported that a few arrests at the demonstration were made.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video