The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department cracked down on New Year’s Eve parties by deploying its “Super-Spreader Task Force.” The strict clampdown resulted in hundreds of partygoers being detained, arrested, and fined.
The Superspreader Task Force was comprised of “hundreds of detectives, patrol deputies, and Specialized Response Teams.” The coronavirus lockdown enforcers crashed five large NYE parties in Los Angeles, Malibu, Hawthorne, and Pomona. The “illegal” celebrations were held in speakeasy locations such as upscale homes, vacant warehouses, a DoubleTree hotel, and shuttered businesses.
*COVID PARTY ALERT* Influencers hosted & attended HUGE Covid Super Spreader events all over Los Angeles. The DripCr… https://t.co/XeLN79ZrlJ
— Def Noodles (@Def Noodles)1609558250.0
Los Angeles news station
KTTV-TV was on the scene on many of the parties that were broken up by police. Based on the footage, most of the offenders appeared to be in their late teens and early 20s.
Over 900 people were detained, 90 were arrested and/or given citations. Law enforcement announced that they recovered at least six guns.
The @LASDHQ COVID-19 Super-Spreader Task Force conducted operations in 5 separate locations last night.
90 adult… https://t.co/W1vO1p267L— Alex Villanueva (@Alex Villanueva)1609543311.0
“I have made it clear that we will seek out and take law enforcement action against all ‘Super-Spreader’ events occurring anywhere within Los Angeles County,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. “The goal of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations.”
LASD Captain Holly Francisco said, “We are actively enforcing the superspreaders to protect against COVID. Once we confirmed there was a party here, we had our super spreader task force respond and detain the occupants.”
Lt. John Satterfield stated, “We’re going ahead and writing citations to the people that knowingly placed others in jeopardy by having a large gathering. There was no social distancing, there were no masks, it was unsafe and irresponsible.”
One frustrated New Year’s Eve reveler told
KTTV, “We’re tired of closing this sh** down, my people have lost businesses and all that sh**, and we really just wanted some fresh air, man, that’s what’s going on we wanted some fresh air, they come out with the tanks and all man, sh** is crazy.”
Last month, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) told his constituents to expect more COVID-19 lockdowns, going so far as to say, ”
It’s time to cancel everything.”