A loaded gun was found lying on the streets of downtown Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon, just a short distance from where President Joe Biden had been attending his own star-studded Democratic Party fundraiser hosted for his presidential reelection campaign.
The weapon was seen lying in plain daylight on the sidewalk as pedestrians walked by unfazed.
After being brought to the attention of an LAPD police officer, a cop picked it up and checked to see if was loaded.
He appeared to remove a magazine that had been attached to the gun before placing it in his back pocket.
The incident happened close to the 7,100-seat Peacock Theater in Los Angeles where both Presidents Biden and Obama were holding a packed fundraiser full of celebrities hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, a stark contrast to the pro-Palestinian protestors outside.
Police were in riot gear outside the theater in an attempt to keep the activists, angry about his administration’s handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, away from the event.
A loaded firearm was discovered just a few feet from a Pro-#Palestine protest in Downtown #LosAngeles, near the venue where President #JoeBiden is attending a fundraiser. pic.twitter.com/zi5hWVA8T8
— RightNowViews (@Right_Now_Views) June 16, 2024
At one point, the demonstrators seemed to completely block the entrance to the venue in an attempt to disrupt the fundraiser.
Just as at countless other demonstrations so far this year, protesters could be seen waving Palestinian flags while chanting rhymes showing their support for Palestine.
Some protesters could also be seen wearing shirts reading ‘cease fire now’ and ‘not in our name.’
Inside the theater, some of Hollywood’s brightest stars headlined the glitzy fundraiser, helping Biden’s reelection campaign add to the $28 million it had already garnered from his LA trip.
George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those who took to the stage.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel interviewed Biden and former President Barack Obama, who both stressed the need to defeat former Donald Trump in a race that’s expected to be exceedingly close.
During more than half an hour of discussion, Kimmel asked if the country was suffering from amnesia about the presumptive Republican nominee, to which Biden responded, ‘all we gotta do is remember what it was like’ when Trump was in the White House.
Just how important the event was to Biden’s reelection bid could be seen in the president flying through the night across nine time zones, from the G7 summit in southern Italy to Southern California, to attend.
He also missed a summit in Switzerland about ways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, instead dispatching Vice President Kamala Harris who made her own whirlwind trip of her own to represent the United States there.
Biden was accompanied on arrival in LA by his relatives, including daughter Ashley and granddaughters Maisy and Naomi. The show of family support comes at a difficult time for Biden following the conviction this week of his son Hunter on gun charges.
The event featured singing by Jack Black and Sheryl Lee Ralph, and actors Kathryn Hahn and Jason Bateman introduced Kimmel at the start of the interview with Biden and Obama.
The comedian deadpanned, ‘I was told I was getting introduced by Batman, not Bateman.’
But he quickly pivoted to far more serious topics, saying that ‘so much is at stake in this election’ and listing off women’s rights, health care and noting that ‘even the ballot is on the ballot’ in a reference to the Biden administration’s calls to expand voting rights.
Kimmel asked the president what he was most proud of accomplishing, and Biden said he thought the administration’s approach to the economy ‘is working.’
‘We have the strongest economy in the world today,’ Biden said, adding, ‘We try to give ordinary people an even chance.’
Biden told the crowd in California that ‘we passed every major piece of legislation we attempted to get done.’
Obama expressed admiration for sweeping legislation on health care, public works, the environment, technology manufacturing, gun safety and other major initiatives that the administration of his former vice president has overseen.
‘What we’re seeing now is a byproduct of in 2016. There were a whole bunch of folks who, for whatever reason, sat out,’ said Obama, adding, ‘hopefully we have learned our lesson, because these elections matter in very concrete ways.’
When the conversation turned to three Supreme Court justices who Trump nominated and who helped overturn Roe v. Wade – the landmark decision guaranteeing a constitutional right to an abortion – the crowd expressed its displeasure to which Obama responded, ‘Don’t hiss, vote.’
Biden said that if he were to win four more years in the White House, he may get the chance to nominate two new justices – though even that probably wouldn’t drastically overhaul a court that current features a 6-3 conservative majority.
Biden also referenced reports that an upside-down flag, a symbol associated with Trump’s false claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021.
He worried that, if Trump is reelected, ‘He’s going to appoint two more who fly their flags upside down.’
Biden’s campaign said it was still counting, but that Saturday night’s gathering had taken in at least $28 million – more money than any event for a Democratic candidate in history.
Biden held an early lead in the campaign money race against Trump, but the former president has gained ground in recent months, after formally locking up the Republican nomination.
Trump outpaced Biden’s New York event in April, raking in $50.5 million at a gathering of major donors at the Florida home of billionaire investor John Paulson.
The former president’s campaign and the Republican National Committee announced they had raised a whopping $141 million in May, padded by tens of millions of dollars in contributions that flowed in after Trump’s guilty verdict in his criminal hush money trial.
That post-conviction bump came after Trump and the Republican Party announced collecting $76 million in April, far exceeding Biden and the Democrats’ $51 million for the month.
Biden’s shift to campaigning also marks the start of a more intense race toward November’s knife-edge election.
Polls show him and Trump largely neck-and-neck, with many voters turned off by a rematch between the nation’s oldest president and a 78-year-old convicted felon.
Some Perp ditched it after a night of Crime, in Bidens World.
How did pedestrians walking by not see that?
I sure am glad that gun didn’t have sinister thoughts of killing anyone! Just lying there unsupervised is a tell tale sign that the gun should not have been readily seen in public! Shame on that gun, and hooray for the police! I’ll bet they lock that gun up for being irresponsible!
Would have been nice if an earthquake hit and all perished.
Hunter’s girlfriend didn’t want his kids to find it.