One person was arrested by the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) during an April 27 Beverly Hills rally in which Trump supporters celebrated the president’s policies and called on leftists to leave the Democratic Party. George Slivka, 26, was arrested for alleged assault with a deadly weapon around 3:50 p.m. BHPD Lt. Kevin Orth told the Courier.
More than 100 people had gathered at Beverly Gardens Park on the 27th to celebrate President Donald Trump and encourage voters to leave the Democratic Party. Organized by a group called the #WalkAway Foundation, the rally also featured a speech from former U.S. Attorney General nominee and former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who lauded President Trump’s policies and decried the Democratic Party.
The rally, which was called the “American Restoration Tour,” began in West Hollywood around 1 p.m. The 40 or so Trump supporters were outnumbered by about 80 counter-protesters outside the Pavilions supermarket. Rally participants held signs that said “#WalkAway from the Left” while counter-protesters held signs that said, “No kings, no Nazis, no fascists,” and “Make America gay again.” Rally participants began marching down Santa Monica Boulevard toward Beverly Hills around 1:30 p.m., where counter-protesters followed them, chanting “No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA” and “You are Nazis” to the #WalkAway participants. The rally remained mostly peaceful, despite protesters on both sides verbally confronting each other along the march route.
The march was led by Brandon Straka, the founder of #WalkAway, who was pardoned by President Trump after being convicted of a misdemeanor for disorderly conduct during his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The marchers arrived at Beverly Gardens Park around 2 p.m., where a larger crowd gathered to hear speakers while carrying Trump flags, Israeli flags and flags that said, “Don’t tread on me,” as well as “Jesus is King.” During his speech, Gaetz called on people to leave the Democratic Party, which he said had “turned what was paradise over to the homeless and illegal aliens,” in reference to California.
“If you come to our side, we will welcome you with a patriotic embrace,” he said during the speech. “We will give you an opportunity to be prosperous and successful. We want gas and energy to be affordable for people. We want groceries to be attainable.”
After Gaetz spoke, Shiva Bagheri, the president of the Beverly Hills Freedom Rally and a former candidate for both Beverly Hills City Council and the California State Assembly, gave a speech in which she blamed the media, the left and public education for creating a “mass psychosis” in the U.S.
Roman Drake, a Beverly Hills resident who attended the rally and has been active in the Beverly Hills Freedom Rally group, said the turnout made him proud to be a resident of Beverly Hills. Drake added that he likes what President Trump has done in his first 100 days in office and believes the economy will start booming and gas prices will begin to decrease over the summer.
“We all love America. We’re really happy that Trump won, and we love coming together,” he said.
