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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A woman was arrested on suspicion of stealing another protester's property -- a swastika sign -- at City Hall just minutes before the start of Friday's City Council meeting.
Several Los Angeles Police Department officers surrounded the woman and escorted her outside of council chambers. Prior to the arrest, she was seen outside council chambers being asked by three officers whether she took a sign with a swastika on it way from another protester.
She denied the accusation, and officers repeatedly told her she could be arrested for taking someone else's property. At one point, she dropped to the floor and lied face down on the ground.
Betts, the woman arrested, declined to give her last name, and told KNX News that after being detained and released, she was being accused of taking a protester's property, a sign that had a swastika sign on it.
Betts repeated that she "allegedly" took the sign, and said nothing further on the matter. She later returned to council chambers when LAPD officers arrested her on suspicion of theft.
Herman Herman, the man who accused her, is a frequent protester at City Council who often uses racial slurs and other epithets when criticizing the city and council members during public comment.
Herman confirmed his sign had a swastika and said that his accusation was a fact, that the woman wouldn't have been arrested if she just gave the sign back.
"She took it upon herself with the authorities to basically refuse the situation and deescalate the whole problem," Herman told KNX News. "I'm not going to apologize. I just feel bad that she can't understand the First Amendment, your civil rights and your Constitutional rights."
LAPD officers involved in the incident did not comment, and the LAPD's Security Services Division did not immediately respond to calls.