Immigration protest turns violent; teen stabbed in downtown LA

An immigration protest turned violent today in downtown Los Angeles, when a fight broke out and a 17-year-old boy was stabbed.   

The protest, largely involving high school students, began earlier Friday morning, with various groups ultimately converging on Los Angeles City Hall, then marching on streets in the area and later gathering in Grand Park.   

Around 1:30 p.m., some type of scuffle broke out among an unknown number of people, and one person -- likely a student -- wound up on the ground, bleeding from an apparent stab wound, according to video from the scene. Many of other students then ran from the park as police and paramedics arrived.

The victim was described as a Hispanic teen who was loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said. Initial reports from the scene indicated that a person had been detained, but there were no immediate reports of an arrest.

Police described the suspect only as a male juvenile.   

A witness told KTLA5 that the assailant who stabbed the victim was an outsider who was not involved in the actual protest.   

Los Angeles police declared the remaining protesters to be involved in an unlawful assembly and ordered the group to disperse, which they ultimately did. While the participants walked in various directions away from the park, a group later assembled on the Sixth Street Bridge, forcing a temporary closure of the span until the crowd moved on.   

Spring Street was closed in front of City Hall and Grand Park while a police investigation was conducted.

The protest by students against President Donald Trump's immigration policies marked the sixth straight day of such rallies in the downtown area. The marches had been mostly peaceful, although dozens of people were detained when a protest got unruly Monday night.