A demonstration with more than 500 people at the base of the Huntington Beach Pier today was declared an unlawful assembly and the crowd was dispersed by officers, according to a police officer.
"Police saw fights breaking out among the protesters," Huntington Beach police spokeswoman Officer Angela Bennett said. "Officers also saw weapons in the crowd," she alleged.
"Demonstrators started blocking traffic on Pacific Coast Highway and so we decided to disperse the crowd," she said.
The demonstration started about 11:30 a.m. and was declared an unlawful assembly at 1 p.m., Bennett said.
"The crowd has mostly dispersed,'' Bennett continued. "We still have small groups of protesters walking through the downtown area but they are being monitored by police."
Business operators along Main Street were boarding up windows. Among them was the Wet Dog Tavern, which had the words, ``local minority-owned business'' scrawled on plywood placed in front of it, the Orange County Register reported.
