Paulo Murillo

A man was physically assaulted in West Hollywood Sunday night. The attack occurred in front of the Tender Greens cafe on Santa Monica Blvd at the Hancock Drive intersection. The same suspect is believed to have assaulted others at random.

David Velasquez says he was already having a bad day while others celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in West Hollywood’s LGBTQ Rainbow District. He landed in Cedars Sinai earlier that day due to bad cold symptoms and had stopped by Pavilions in WeHo to get medication. He was riding his personal scooter on the sidewalk because he had almost been hit by a car earlier that day and was afraid a lot of people driving drunk.

“I was right there in front of the Tender Greens–the one on Santa Monica and Hancock–and then, like, I was passing by this random guy, and he just like out of nowhere slapped me with his left hand and smacked my helmet off smacked me in the face.”

According to Velasquez he confronted the guy and asked him what was his problem. There was a back and forth argument. “then the next thing I know, he’s hitting me and wrestling me, trying to throw my phone into the street,” he said. “He’s bashing my head and and has his knee on top of my chest, trying to smash my head into the street–‘Die faggot, die,’ he kept saying.”

He says his attacker stopped when a man who jumped out of a Chevy Suburban intervened. Velasquez managed to run away up Hancock Avenue. “A girl came up to me afterwards and said she wanted to press charges. He assaulted her also. Just slapped her for no reason. She was a black girl with two Latino friends. So that’s when I called the police. They came and got me an ambulance. I’m over here at Cedars Sinai again.”

According to Velasquez, he has a cut lip and some head trauma.

The assailant is described at a 6ft tall caucasian male in his 30s with a muscular build and a beard. He was described as nicely dressed seemed to be very inebriated.

A report was filed with the West Hollywood Sheriff’s substation regarding the assault however it is not yet known if there is any information leading to the suspects’ arrest.

If you see something, say something. Anonymous tips can be called into Crimestoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or by texting 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. If you see something, say something. Anyone with information can also drop a tip at https://www.lacrimestoppers.org.

The annual holiday street pole banners went up this week throughout the city of West Hollywood. The City’s WeHo Arsts unveiled the new holiday artwork by artist Sophie Morro along Santa Monica Boulevard, San Vicente Boulevard, and Melrose Avenue. 

A total of 29 of the new banners were produced this year and will become part of the annual collection of holiday street pole banners on display in WeHo to celebrate the holidays. Banners include past holiday artwork by Shag (Josh Agle) and Mosa Tanksley.

The city has also installed annual holiday lights on street poles and around trees lining Santa Monica Boulevard to make the city festive around the holiday and New Year’s celebrations.

Sophie Morro is an artist based in Los Angeles. Her oil paintings are largely informed by an autobiographical narrative with nods to spirituality, dreams and the otherworldly. Visit sophiemorro.com to learn more about the artist.

In April, 2022, the City of West Hollywood Arts Division made a call seeking a visual artist to provide artwork for the city’s annual winter / holiday card and street pole banner display. The deadline to submit their work to WeHo’s Performing Arts and Cultural Affairs Subcommittee was May, 2022.

The new artwork will also be used on the City’s annual end of year Winter / Holiday card, social media promotions along with the printed street pole banners. Artists were invited to submit existing work samples to demonstrate their style and technique.

The Request for Qualifications was open to artists who live in California. Artists who live in
West Hollywood and artists of color, women, artists with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ artists
were highly encouraged to apply. The artists who applied will remain eligible to be selected as semi-finalists for 3 calendar years without needing to reapply.

The City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division and Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission believe
that all people in the City of West Hollywood have the right to celebrate and engage in meaningful and relevant arts and cultural experiences. 

Each member of the community should have access to the arts which reflect and nurture individual identities, affirm personal value, and foster belonging in the community. The right to participate freely in the cultural life of the community is recognized as a basic human right.

The Division and Commission’s definition of diversity includes all ways in which people
differ, including but not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status,
education, age, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ability,
geography, citizenship status, religion, language, physical appearance, and the

Nightlife patrons at the Abbey Food and Bar in West Hollywood had a gun scare after West Hollywood Sheriffs stormed the popular bar in search of an alleged armed man inside. 

Deputies from the West Hollywood Station launched an investigation after a security guard called alleging a man had a gun. Deputies evacuated The Abbey and swarmed the club but did not find him. Authorities said surveillance video captured images of the suspect in the bar with the weapon.

“We do have our EPT team, which is our entertainment policing team — they’re always doing patrol checks at all the businesses on Sunset and Santa Monica, so that’s why we got here within seconds,” LASD spokesperson Sgt. Joana Warren told KABC 7 Eyewitness News.

Media footage of the incident shows multiple units and a swarm of deputies in protective gear surround the bar and they cleared the location on Robertson Boulevard.

A number of other businesses in the area were informed about the incident when it happened and they were given a description of the man.

The scare is very close to the deadly mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub, Club Q, in Colorado Springs, Colorado in which at least five people have been killed and dozens more were injured in the incident which occurred on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a terror threat bulletin November 30, warning that domestic extremists have posted online praise for the fatal shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado earlier this month. and have called for copycat attacks.

In its bulletin, DHS officials noted that several recent attacks, plots, and threats of violence demonstrate the continued dynamic and complex nature of the threat environment in the United States:

“Some domestic violent extremists who have conducted attacks have cited previous attacks and attackers as inspiration. Following the late November shooting at an LGBTQI+ bar in Colorado Springs, Colorado—which remains under investigation—we have observed actors on forums known to post racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist content praising the alleged attacker. Similarly, some domestic violent extremists in the United States praised an October 2022 shooting at a LGBTQI+ bar in Slovakia and encouraged additional violence. The attacker in Slovakia posted a manifesto online espousing white supremacist beliefs and his admiration for prior attackers, including some within the United States,” DHS warned.

The City of West Hollywood is working with the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Block by Block Security Ambassadors program to expand patrols in the City’s Rainbow District.

If you see something, say something. Anonymous tips can be called into Crimestoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or by texting 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. If you see something, say something. Anyone with information can also drop a tip at https://www.lacrimestoppers.org.

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