Melbourne actor Kate Neilson has been traumatised after joining the scary protests in LA
Melbourne actor Kate Neilson moved to LA four years ago and yesterday she joined the protests which turned violent on the streets of West Hollywood. Here’s how the traumatic events unfolded.
Confidential
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LA-based Australian Kate Neilson has described the protests yesterday that rocked West Hollywood as the scariest thing she’s ever experienced.
Neilson said she was left traumatised after 10 hours walking the streets and witnessing fires, vandalism, confrontations and looting.
“The damage is so bad in West Hollywood, there is literally nothing left to do,’’ she said.
“It was just madness in the end. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced.
“Because I’m white I got told to go to the front as I won’t get shot.
“Seeing it first hand with my own eyes in front of me, was a huge eye opener for me. I really understand it and the cause and why they’re fighting for justice. It felt really powerful.”
Neilson, an actor and filmmaker from Melbourne, has lived in LA for four years. The ex of AFL champion Wayne Carey said it was a peaceful protest until police sparked the unrest.
“I saw police brutality with my own eyes,’’ she said.
“Everyone has the right to protest, the police literally just started shooting into the crowd and caused unnecessary violence.
“Things got violent and turned into a riot because they were retaliating against the police. I saw a cop put a gun to a young girl’s head and for me seeing that in person was terrifying.
“Then another girl got hit with a rubber bullet and her whole face was busted open on top of her eye.
“The looters came later and I do not condone that.
“I just know so many people have been heartbroken and angry over the murders of innocent black people.
“When there’s systematic racism going on we can’t be silent and I don’t regret it at all.
“Yesterday was historic, I’ll tell my kids about that. It will go down in history.”
Neilson said it was eerily quiet in LA today, but she heard the protests would move to nearby Glendale and Santa Monica.
“It’s really desolate. It was quite eerie, it reminded me of the aftermath of the Rodney King riots,’’ she said.
“There’s a lot of damage and a lot of workers that are trying to rebuild.
“Apparently people are moving to Glendale to protest because there’s no curfew there.
“I was left a little bit traumatised from seeing it first hand. But I get why they’re doing it and we need to open our eyes to what is happening.
“It’s not just the USA, it’s around the world. We can’t be silent, we have to make a stand for change.
“Hopefully it’s not all in vain and there’s more arrests made in the George Floyd case. We can’t be living like this, black versus white. It’s 2020 and it shouldn’t be happening.
“No one is winning out of this.”
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