A loaded gun was found on the streets of downtown Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon, just a short distance from where President Joe Biden had attended his own star-studded Democratic Party fundraiser, organized for his presidential re-election campaign.
The weapon was seen on the sidewalk in daylight as pedestrians walked by unfazed.
After it was brought to the attention of an LAPD police officer, an officer picked it up and checked to see if it was loaded.
He appeared to remove a magazine attached to the gun before putting it in his back pocket.
The incident happened near the 7,100-seat Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, where both Presidents Biden and Obama held a packed celebrity fundraiser hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, a stark contrast to the pro-Palestinian protesters outside.
A gun was found abandoned on the sidewalk in downtown LA, near where President Biden was being held
An LAPD officer picked the gun up from the ground and inspected it before removing the magazine from the gun which appeared to be loaded
Law enforcement officers carrying less-lethal ammunition respond to protesters near the campaign event with President Joe Biden outside the Peacock Theater in LA on Saturday
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators stand in front of the entrance to the theater
Police were outside the theater in riot gear in an attempt to keep activists, who were angry over his government’s handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, away from the event.
At one point, protesters appeared to completely block access to the venue in an attempt to disrupt fundraising.
Like countless other demonstrations so far this year, demonstrators were seen waving Palestinian flags while singing rhymes expressing support for Palestine.
Some demonstrators were also seen wearing shirts that read “cease fire now” and “not in our name.”
At the theater, some of Hollywood’s biggest stars headlined the glitzy fundraiser, which allowed Biden’s re-election campaign to add to the $28 million he had already raised from his LA trip.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside an entrance to a campaign fundraiser for Biden
As at numerous other demonstrations this year, demonstrators could be seen waving Palestinian flags
Law enforcement officers responded to protesters near the campaign event
Some demonstrators wore shirts that read “cease fire now” and “not in our name.”
George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those who took the stage.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel interviewed Biden and former President Barack Obama, both of whom emphasized the need to defeat former Donald Trump in a race that is expected to be extremely close.
During more than a half-hour of discussion, Kimmel asked whether the country was suffering from amnesia about the presumptive Republican nominee, to which Biden replied, “all we have to do is remember what it was like” when Trump was in the White House.
How important the event was to Biden’s re-election bid was evident from the president’s overnight flight across nine time zones, from the G7 summit in southern Italy to southern California, to attend.
He also missed a summit in Switzerland on ways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, instead sending out Vice President Kamala Harris, who was on her own whirlwind trip to represent the United States there.
Biden was accompanied upon arrival in LA by his family members, including daughter Ashley and granddaughters Maisy and Naomi. The show of support from the family comes at a difficult time for Biden following the conviction this week of his son Hunter on gun charges.
President Joe Biden speaks with former President Barack Obama at a campaign event on Saturday evening
There was laughter with Biden and Obama together, but with a serious message
The event featured singing by Jack Black and Sheryl Lee Ralph, and actors Kathryn Hahn and Jason Bateman introduced Kimmel at the start of the interview with Biden and Obama.
The comedian deadpanned, “I was told I was introduced by Batman, not Bateman.”
But he quickly turned to much more serious topics, saying that “there is so much at stake in this election” and mentioning women’s rights and health care, noting that “even the vote is on the ballot” in a reference to the calls of the Biden administration. expand voting rights.
Kimmel asked the president what he was most proud of, and Biden said he thought the administration’s approach to the economy was “working.”
“We have the strongest economy in the world today,” Biden said, adding, “We’re trying to give everyday people an equal opportunity.”
Biden told the crowd in California that “we passed every major piece of legislation that we tried to get done.”
Obama expressed admiration for sweeping legislation on health care, public works, the environment, technology manufacturing, gun safety and other key initiatives overseen by his former vice president’s administration.
“What we’re seeing now is a byproduct of 2016. There was a whole group of people who, for whatever reason, were left on the sidelines,” Obama said, adding: “Hopefully we’ve learned our lesson, because this elections are of great importance. concrete ways.’
When the conversation turned to three Trump-nominated Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade — the landmark decision guaranteeing a constitutional right to abortion — the crowd expressed its displeasure, to which Obama responded: “Hiss no, vote. ‘
Biden said that if he were to win four more years in the White House, he could get the chance to appoint two new justices — although even that would likely not drastically change a court that currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.
Obama expressed his admiration for sweeping legislation on health care, public works, the environment, technology manufacturing, gun safety and other key initiatives overseen by his former vice president’s administration.
Biden also referred to reports that an inverted flag, a symbol associated with Trump’s false claims of election fraud was displayed outside Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s home in January 2021.
He worried that if Trump is re-elected, “he will appoint two more who fly their flag upside down.”
Biden’s campaign said it was still counting, but that Saturday night’s rally had raised at least $28 million — more money than any event for a Democratic candidate in history.
Biden had an early lead in the battle for campaign money against Trump, but the former president has gained ground in recent months after formally blocking the Republican nomination.
Trump surpassed Biden’s event in New York in April, raising $50.5 million at a meeting of major donors at billionaire investor John Paulson’s Florida home.
Biden’s shift to campaigning also marks the start of an intensifying race toward the closest election in November
The former president’s campaign and the Republican National Committee announced they had raised as much as $141 million in May, supplemented by tens of millions of dollars in contributions that poured in after Trump’s guilty verdict in his criminal hush-money trial.
That post-conviction increase came after Trump and the Republican Party announced they had raised $76 million in April, far more than Biden and the Democrats’ $51 million for that month.
Biden’s shift to campaigning also marks the start of an intensifying race toward the closest election in November.
Polls show he and Trump are largely neck-and-neck, with many voters turned away from the rematch between the nation’s oldest president and a 78-year-old convicted felon.