A Gardena man who showed up armed and dressed in military garb to a June downtown Los Angeles protest could face up to three years in jail, officials said Monday.
Gregory Wong, 31, was charged with one felony count of possession of an assault weapon, the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
The man had a handgun and what the DA’s office described as an “ARP5 assault weapon” when he arrived around 1:30 a.m. June 2 at the area of First and Main streets, where protesters had earlier gathered, according to officials.
A member of the California National Guard spotted Wong and notified LAPD officers that an unidentified man in military fatigues had arrived in a civilian car and that he wasn’t a member of his unit, the Los Angeles Police Department said at the time.
The guardsman noticed Wong wasn’t a real member when he saw he had patches “suggesting service far beyond his years,” an unnamed source told the Los Angeles Times.
When officers spoke with Wong, he mentioned that he was headed downtown “to provide security for a friend’s establishment,” according to police.
He was arrested on suspicion of transporting an assault weapon. Police didn’t believe he intended to harm anyone.
At the time, L.A. was under a countywide 6 p.m. curfew and authorities had cleared most protesters from the area and arrested those still on the streets.
More than 2,000 troops in combat gear were stationed in the city that day in response to the unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, with thousands taking to the streets of L.A. to decry police brutality against people of color.
Wong’s case remains under investigation by LAPD and his arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday at in downtown Los Angeles, the District Attorney’s Office said.
