LA City Officials Raise Number of ‘March for Justice’ Participants to 160,000

LOS ANGELES (Asbarez)—LA police and fire officials, as well as Department of Transportation representatives, confirmed on May 6 that the actual number of participants in the April 24 “March for Justice” to commemorate the Armenian Genocide Centennial eclipsed the initial 130,000 reported by the Los Angeles Times; the agencies place the official total at more than 160,000.

City officials upped the number of March for Justice participants to 160,000 (Graphic: Steve Artinian)
City officials upped the number of ‘March for Justice’ participants to 160,000 (Graphic: Steve Artinian)

Following the march, which was one of the largest in Los Angeles history, the police, fire, and transportation departments reviewed the footage captured by city helicopters and, based on a commonly used equation that tabulates crowd numbers, concluded that the actual number of participants exceeded 160,000.

Aram Sahakian, the senior transportation engineer in charge of Special Traffic Operations and Emergency Response at the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, confirmed the new tally to officials of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee (AGCC) of Western U.S., which organized the March for Justice as the sole commemorative event in Los Angeles on April 24.

The police, fire, and transportation agencies also commended and praised the March for Justice organizing committee for their diligence in securing volunteer monitors, who were for the most part members of the Armenian Youth Federation, and who, along the route of the march, worked with law enforcement and transportation officials to ensure the smooth progression of the event.

Captain Dave Storaker of the Los Angeles Police Department, who was in charge of the overall march, on April 27 Tweeted to the AYF saying: “My compliments to the Monitors. You all did a wonderful job on what the news reports the largest event of its kind.”

The March for Justice started at the intersection of Western Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, where an opening program featuring remarks by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, California Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, and Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell kicked off the march.

Marchers headed west on Sunset Boulevard, then south on La Brea Avenue and west on Wilshire Boulevard, where the crowd gathered in front of the Turkish Consulate building for a rally that included remarks by Rep. Adam Schiff and Los Angeles City Council members Paul Krekorian and Paul Koretz, whose passionate speeches elevated the event’s importance and highlighted the need for justice for the Armenian Genocide.

“This further shows the strength of our community,” said Garo Ghazarian, co-chair of the AGCC Western U.S. “It also highlights the resolve of the Armenian-American community to fight for our national aspirations and demands in the name of justice for the Armenian Genocide.”

“We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the city and county officials and agencies who came together on that day and were part of the March for Justice,” said Talin Yacoubian, the co-chair of the AGCC Western U.S. “We especially thank the Los Angeles Police, Fire, and Transportation Departments for their support and utmost professionalism, which made the march a tremendous success.”

Guest Contributor

Guest Contributor

Guest contributions to the Armenian Weekly are informative articles or press releases written and submitted by members of the community.

5 Comments

  1. I guess LA is really little Armenia. Good for them and may they be successful in getting our message out to the world.

  2. The LA march was a sight to see.
    I was there. What a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

    It was also very gratifying to see hundreds of _eager_ young Armenian-American volunteers who were at the assembly corner from about 8AM (march was slated to start 10AM).
    Most were born here in US. Far, far, far away from Armenia. Yet you could see in their faces the determination of “We Remember. We Demand”.
    Apparently the 5,000+ years’ genetic memory embedded in every one of us transcends both time and distance.
    Those who are worried that our next generations will be less committed to the Cause, should have been there to see with their own eyes: the youth are even more committed, more aware, and bolder.

    I have participated in many marches to the Turkish embassy in Los Angeles over the years, but this was something truly unprecedented and beyond description. The energy, the pride, the sense of righteous indignation, the sense of being part of something special, sense of belonging to a community, the optimism, the many generations walking together as one,……

    Truly, absolutely: #TurkeyFailed.

    It felt as if all of Los Angeles was participating.
    All throughout the march route, you’d see people come out on their balconies or businesses with signs condemning denialist Turks and expressing solidarity with Armenian-Americans.
    Small airplanes with AG-themed banners were circling overhead.
    One middle-aged (Anglo ?) woman stood silently on her balcony about 3-4 stories up with a small Scales of Justice in her extended arm.
    One African-American young man stood on the roof of a building waving a large Armenian tricolor (!) as we marched by.

    When we were marching, one lane on the left was kept open by the young Armenian-American monitors for emergency vehicles and such.
    Somewhere halfway on La Brea, we heard sirens, then maybe 5-6 LAPD B&Ws and unmarked cruisers sped down with lights flashing towards Wilshire.
    Later we found out that a group of 40-50 Turks had assembled at the area reserved for Press just across the Turkish Embassy, and had started taunting Armenian-Americans and had thrown stuff at them.
    Cops had quickly surrounded the Turk agitators and had escorted them out of the area at Turks’ request, as some of the 1000s already there did not take too kindly to the Turks’ projectiles and were about to…..
    Those Turks must have been out of their minds: LA is not Washington D.C. Good thing LAPD was there to escort the pond scum back to their putrid swamp.

    Aside from that minor incident, it was an orderly, peaceful, great, joyous, beautiful day.
    There was even a huge banner covering the entire façade of the building next to the Turk embassy with Pres Wilson pointing to the Wilsonian Map with the words “These Lands Belong to Armenia”: pretty funny, right next door to the Denialist den.

    What a day.

    Kudos and Thank You:
    To the organizers and community leaders. (…who spent past couple of years preparing for this)
    To the young Armenian-American volunteers.
    To LAPD.
    To LAFD. (…ambulances were pre-positioned throughout the 6-mile route on side streets)
    Businesses that donated time and supplies.
    To the City of Los Angeles, several elected officials (City, County, State, Federal), LA Parks & Recreation employees (…who provided rest areas with canopies, water stations), and all others who helped make this march a resounding success.

    God bless America.

    Note: April 24 being a Friday, many simply did not have the option to take a day off work.
    Had April 24 fallen on the weekend, there could easily have been 250,000.

    • Yes this event was an amazing accomplishment for the community, but I also couldn’t help but make some negative observations. I actually feel that figure of 160 thousand is conservative. Los Angeles had never seen anything quite like this, and it made history. As usual “certain forces” are trying hard to ignore this event, hoping it would just go away. Whether they like it or not, this made American history.

      Also, too bad many ‘Armenians’ actually stayed home and/or do not care for such things, the ones who have no Armenianness in their future, there are a lot of them unfortunately, the “mainstream media bred former Armenian airheads” as I like to call them. This event could have actually been a lot more powerful, had certain Armenians made better choices in life and raised their children properly.

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