Shocking cellphone video captured the moment a Venice Beach homeless man with his face painted screamed like a banshee as he attacked a rival with a stick during a three-man brawl while innocent bystanders walked past.
The two-plus-minute video, posted on Twitter on Wednesday, captures the latest incident in the Los Angeles tourist hot spot that has been plagued by obscenities and violence among the homeless encampments.
Two shirtless men, including the one with the stick, appear to be allies and gang up on a third man and beat him.
The homeless man screaming like a banshee hits a man with a stick during a three-man brawl in Venice Beach in southern California
The two-versus-one street fight starts. The two shirtless men in the photo appear to be allies
The victim is thrown to the ground, punched and beaten with the stick
The two shirtless men continue the assault until the lone wolf can get back to his feet
The second man threw a flurry of punches during the three-man brawl
The man with the stick is seen on the video crouching into a fighting stance and screaming at a rival while inching towards him with the stick held up high.
A security guard tries to break up the fight before it happens, but the three men engage in a wild, two-versus-one street fight.
They surrounded the lone wolf, and punches start flying before the brawl is momentarily blocked by passersby.
Then the man who was by himself is seen and heard crashing to the concrete. He’s repeatedly punched and wacked with the stick.
He finally clamors to his feet, and the violence stops but tensions escalate as more people join in.
Flanking the man with the stick, they surround the victim who puts his hands up in a boxer’s stance.
The man crouches with the stick at his side and screeches over and over again.
The man crouches with the stick at his side and screeches over and over again
The man with the stick is joined by several other aggressors. The victim is seen backpedaling while a security guard tries to deescalate the situation to no avail
The victim is chased by the two shirtless men down the boardwalk
The man with the stick is seen walking away after the fight ends
The security guard tries to break up the battle but gets out of the way when the violence picks back up.
The man who was by himself backpedals, but he’s followed, and the man with the stick continues to screech and bangs on his chest.
The victim turns to run and is chased down until sirens are heard in the background and they disperse.
The video appears to cut out and resume later when police are seen talking to the two aggressors. No arrests were made.
The fighting finally stops after they hear sirens and disperse. They’re later seen talking to police but no arrests were made
The Los Angeles sanitation services and the LAPD conducted a massive clean-up to remove homeless encampments from the Venice Beach boardwalk earlier this month.
Less than a week later, new arrivals swarmed the area, and city officials promised they would return at the end of July to finish the job, but residents and shop owners say enough is enough, and tell DailyMail.com that the early July sweep was ‘all for show’.
Last Thursday, a naked homeless man was seen in a video holding his penis while smoking a cigarette in at 9am as groups of children were walking nearby, witnesses told DailyMail.com.
People who have spoke to DailyMail.com said criticized the city for its inaction.
Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin has come under fire for what many call a lack of leadership and a lack of concern for the residents of Venice. He tweeted about the clean-up efforts on July 12
Los Angeles County has seen the number of homeless double over the last decade from about 40,000 to about 80,000, according to the Los Angeles County Homeless Count.
A group called the California Peace Coalition wrote a letter to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva the same day as the fight – July 28 – saying the homeless, mental illness and open-air drug dealing on Venice Beach is a microcosm of what’s happening across the state.
In the letter, they requested to meet with Sheriff Villanueva and elected officials to find a resolution.
On Friday, Villanueva tweeted the letter and said, ‘Due to prior commitments, I am unable to meet today, but I would definitely like to schedule a day next week to discuss problem solving strategist with your representatives in order to address these problems and take action on real solutions.’
