Newport Beach Police Arrest Over 400 During July 4 Unrest
Newport Beach police said fights and fireworks thrown at officers sparked unrest at the Independence Day celebration, injuring several officers and leading to at least one hundred arrests, ABC7 reported. The Los Angeles Times later noted that officers responded to reports of fireworks, fights and looting, and that the response resulted in over four hundred arrests and several injuries. According to a subsequent Los Angeles Times report, a crowd of teenagers and young adults had gathered on the Balboa Peninsula after a viral social-media post, prompting mass dispersal and around four hundred arrests.
ABC7 subsequently quoted authorities stating that 402 people were arrested during the July 4 weekend after an unlawful assembly was declared, and that most of those arrested were out-of-state youths from Arizona and Nevada. ABC7 said the scale of the incident required a substantial police presence to disperse the gathering and secure the area.
