Anti-Islam rally organizer doused in blue paint at LA Starbucks
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- Conservative journalist Eoin Richard was doused with blue paint alongside a supporter wearing a MAGA hat at a Starbucks in Los Angeles on August 23.
- The incident followed a confrontation between Richard’s group and counter-protesters during an anti-Islam rally.
Self-described conservative journalist Eoin Richard, who promoted a “Take Back LA” free-speech rally, was doused with blue paint along with a supporter at a Starbucks in Los Angeles on August 23.
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Footage filmed by Sophia Nassar-Dornberg shows Richard and another man being targeted with blue paint as tensions escalated between protesters and counter-protesters.
Nassar-Dornberg told Storyful that protesters followed Richard from an anti-Islam rally at a church to the Starbucks a block away, where Richard and his partner were waiting for police.
“While they waited, a masked individual came in with two water bottles filled with blue paint,” she said, describing the scene as “highly chaotic.”
The footage shows Richard and the other man arguing with counter-protesters before attempting to leave the area.
According to a post on Richard’s Instagram account, he had planned to attend Mass before “peacefully” marching to the Islamic Center on Vermont Avenue.
In another statement, Richard said he wanted to “stand against the war on AMERICANS by” what he described as “Islamist sympathizers and Antifa Terrorists.”
The Catholic news outlet EWTN reported a statement from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles saying demonstrators entered the church but were asked to leave by women volunteers who were cleaning and locking the building.
The incident highlights the tensions surrounding the rally, which brought supporters and counter-protesters into confrontation in Los Angeles.
