Videos: The West Hollywood protest against Prop. 8 results...[Updated]

Here's some video of what went on last night ... gives you a good feel for the amazing energy and passion out there. You can't help but wonder where all this amazing energy was in the months leading up to the vote but it's here now!

Here is a pretty good report from KNBC's Patrick Healy that aired last night:
ct height="394" width="448">

This photo shows how Lance Bass got caught amid protesters as he tried to drive down Sunset Boulevard. Lance wasn't marching but was obviously supportive.

More importantly, I got an update via email from Karen Ocamb this morning: who spoke with Steve Whitmore, the spokesperson for the LA County Sheriff's Department. He said there were between 3,000-5,000 at the rally in West Hollywood last night but "from our perspective, it was peaceful."

There were three arrests - all cited and released. One for drunk and disorderly, two for failure to disperse.

By contrast - this is from Officer April Harding, spokesperson for the LAPD: Four arrests - all booked an in jail.

One -obstructing an officer in the performance of his duties.
Two - Interfering with an officer in the performance of his duties...ie, trying to pull someone in police custody away from the police.
One - inciting a riot.

My pal Ted Johnson has also filed a first-hand report from the protests on his Wilshire & Washington blog. I'm just glad Ted didn't get himself arrested THIS TIME! (He was arrested at the Republican National Convention for basically doing nothing but his job)

Here is an excerpt:

The crowd was an energetic group of demonstrators largely in their 20s and early 30s, chanting "Equality Now" and "Yes, We Can," and cheering as many cars stuck in the gridlock honked their horns in support. There is what I would call controlled anger, but what is striking is that this group is a younger and more aggressive group than those who ran the No on 8 campaign. Many had never participated in anything like this before.

At Santa Monica and Robertson, the demonstrators stopped marching for about 15 minutes, shouting "Gay. Straight. Black White. Marriage is a civil right." They chanted at the corner without stop (my video below), interrupting only at one point to sing "The Star Spangled Banner," drowning out noise from nearby nightclubs.