The loaded gun was found on a street in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon, just steps from where President Joe Biden was attending a star-studded Democratic fundraiser hosted for his reelection campaign.
The weapon was seen left lying on the sidewalk in broad daylight as pedestrians walked past unfazed.
After it was brought to the attention of an LAPD officer, the officer picked it up and checked to see if it was loaded.
He appears to have removed the magazine from the gun and placed it in his back pocket.
The incident happened near Los Angeles’ 7,100-seat Peacock Theatre, where Presidents Biden and Obama were hosting a packed, celebrity-filled fundraiser hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, in stark contrast to the pro-Palestinian protesters outside.
A gun was found abandoned on a downtown Los Angeles sidewalk near where President Biden was waiting. An LAPD officer picked up the gun from the ground and inspected it before removing the magazine from the gun, which appeared to be loaded. Police officers carrying non-lethal ammunition respond to protesters near President Joe Biden’s election event outside the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday. A pro-Palestinian protester stands in front of the theater’s entrance.
Police in riot gear were present outside the theater, trying to keep activists angered by the administration’s response to Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip away from the event.
At one point, protesters appeared to completely block the entrance to the venue in an attempt to disrupt the fundraiser.
As in countless demonstrations so far this year, protesters could be seen waving Palestinian flags and singing songs in support of Palestine.
Some protesters wore shirts that read “Ceasefire Now” and “Not in our name.”
Inside the theater, Hollywood stars headlined a glitzy fundraiser, helping Biden’s reelection campaign add to the $28 million it had already raised during its Los Angeles visit.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the entrance to Biden’s campaign fundraiser. As in countless demonstrations this year, protesters could be seen waving Palestinian flags. Police officers responded to protesters near the campaign event. Some of the protesters were wearing shirts that read “Ceasefire Now” and “Not in Our Name.”
George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Barbra Streisand and others appeared on stage.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel interviewed Biden and former President Barack Obama, with both stressing the need to defeat former President Donald Trump in what is expected to be an extremely close race.
During the debate, which lasted more than 30 minutes, Kimmel asked Biden, the Republican front-runner, whether the public was suffering from amnesia, to which Biden replied, “You just have to remember what it was like when Trump was in the White House.”
Just how important the event was to Biden’s reelection was underscored by the president’s overnight flight across nine time zones from the G7 summit in southern Italy to Southern California to attend.
Trump also did not attend a summit in Switzerland to discuss ways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, instead sending Vice President Kamala Harris, who made a whirlwind visit herself, to represent the US.
Biden arrived in Los Angeles with family members, including his daughter Ashley and granddaughters Maisie and Naomi, a show of family support at a tough time for Biden, whose son Hunter was convicted this week on firearms charges.
President Joe Biden spoke at a campaign event with former President Barack Obama on Saturday night, and while there was some laughter as Biden and Obama were together, there was a serious message.
Jack Black and Sheryl Lee Ralph performed songs at the event, and actors Kathryn Hahn and Jason Bateman introduced Kimmel at the start of his interviews with Biden and Obama.
The comedian said with a straight face: “I was told it would be Batman who would introduce me, not Bateman.”
But he quickly shifted the topic to more serious topics, saying “there’s so much at stake in this election,” citing women’s rights, health care issues and, in a reference to the Biden administration’s calls to expand voting rights, noting that “even the ballot counts.”
Kimmel asked the president what accomplishment he was most proud of, and Biden responded that he thought his administration’s approach to the economy was “going well.”
“We have the strongest economy in the world right now,” Biden said, adding that he’s “trying to give ordinary people a level chance.”
“We passed every major piece of legislation that we wanted to pass,” Biden told an audience in California.
President Obama praised the comprehensive bill and other major initiatives on health care, public works, the environment, technology manufacturing and gun safety that the former vice president’s administration has overseen.
“What we’re seeing right now is the byproduct of 2016, where a lot of people, for one reason or another, didn’t vote,” Obama said, adding, “Hopefully we’ve learned our lesson, because this election has very specific implications.”
When the conversation turned to the three Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion, the crowd expressed disgust, and Obama responded, “Stop booing, vote.”
Biden has said he might have the opportunity to nominate two new justices if he wins another four years in the White House, but he is still unlikely to significantly overhaul the court, which currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.
President Obama praised the comprehensive bill and other major initiatives overseen by the former vice president’s administration on health care, public works, the environment, technology manufacturing and gun safety.
Biden also addressed reports that an upside-down flag, a symbol associated with President Trump’s false claims of election fraud, was flown outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021.
He expressed concern that if Trump is re-elected, “he will appoint two more people who will fly the flag upside down.”
The Biden campaign said that while it is still tallying, the rally on Saturday night raised at least $28 million — more money than any other event by the Democratic candidate to date.
Biden initially had a lead over Trump in the fundraising race but has gained momentum in recent months since formally winning the Republican nomination.
Trump outraised Biden’s event in New York in April, raising $50.5 million at a megadonor gathering at the Florida estate of billionaire investor John Paulson.
Biden’s shift to campaigning marks the start of a more intense fight ahead of a close election in November.
The former president’s campaign and the Republican National Committee announced they had raised a massive $141 million in May, inflated by tens of millions of dollars in donations that poured in after Trump’s conviction in the hush-money criminal trial.
The post-conviction fundraising surge came after Trump and Republicans announced they raised $76 million in April, far outpacing Biden and Democrats’ $51 million in the same month.
Biden’s shift to the campaign trail means a more intense fight is on the way to a close election in November.
Polls show him and Trump’s approval ratings roughly equal, with many voters disappointed by a rematch between the nation’s oldest president and a 78-year-old convicted felon.