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A professional operation began to permeate the Los Angeles riots on Monday, nearly stunning one set of broadcasters into silence after they watched a truckload of organizers hand out riot-style face shields while preparing to take on National Guard and Marine soldiers entering the city.
The moment of realization dawned on anchors and a correspondent with KTTV in L.A. while watching activists arrive in a pickup truck and unload boxes of what they originally suspected were groceries or other peaceful contributions to the fourth day of demonstrations. However, the mood quickly turned dark when the group of newscasters saw markings on the dozens of boxes being handed out into the crowd.
“Look at this, we have people right now dropping off food and water. Preparations are underway for what could be a long night right now,” correspondent Matthew Seedorff said from the field.
Fox L.A. anchor Christine Devine responded, saying the scene did not appear to indicate an “organized rally” was taking place, like earlier in the day, when riot gear and weapons were being handed out. But it wasn’t long before she and co-anchor Elex Michaelson realized that the same preparations for violence were occurring.
“What are those boxes?” Michaelson asked, to which Devine replied, “Are those masks?”
“That doesn’t look like food and water,” Michaelson responded.
“No, those are masks. So people are prepping for some sort of altercation with police as we speak,” said Seedorff.
Not far away, another Fox L.A. correspondent described a “festive atmosphere,” Michaelson went on, “including a lot of older folks who were there for the right reasons.”
“You probably don’t put on a mask unless you have a plan of not wanting somebody to see your face,” he added.