U-Haul drives into crowd at Los Angeles anti-Iranian regime protest

ThatRobGuy · Jan 12, 2026

U-Haul drives into crowd at Los Angeles anti-Iranian regime protest

A U-Haul truck drove into a crowd of demonstrators in Los Angeles during an anti-Iranian regime rally in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, officials said.

abcnews.go.com

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said on X that the FBI is investigating the incident.
"FBI is on scene working with LAPD to determine the motive of the driver. This is an active investigation and we will update the public when we have more information," he said.

The U-Haul had anti-Shah messaging taped to the side. Screenshot of the video from ABC News

ThatRobGuy · Jan 13, 2026

MSN

U-Haul driver identified, released following arrest for reckless driving during Westwood protest

The driver was identified in booking records as Calor Madanescht, 48. He was arrested but later released on his own recognizance, records show.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is looking at the incident to determine whether Madanescht's actions were politically motivated, or if he just got stuck in the crowd.

Perhaps I'm just thinking simplistically here, but it would seem as if it's a no-brainer that this was politically motivated. It was a protest against the current Iranian regime, and a U-Haul with political messaging (pertaining to that exact issue) on the side barrels through. I'm assuming U-Hauls don't come standard equipped with "NO SHAH: USA Don't repeat 1953" signs on the side.

Seems odd that they released this guy.

durangodawood · Jan 13, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
MSN

U-Haul driver identified, released following arrest for reckless driving during Westwood protest

The driver was identified in booking records as Calor Madanescht, 48. He was arrested but later released on his own recognizance, records show.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is looking at the incident to determine whether Madanescht's actions were politically motivated, or if he just got stuck in the crowd.

Perhaps I'm just thinking simplistically here, but it would seem as if it's a no-brainer that this was politically motivated. It was a protest against the current Iranian regime, and a U-Haul with political messaging (pertaining to that exact issue) on the side barrels through. I'm assuming U-Hauls don't come standard equipped with "NO SHAH: USA Don't repeat 1953" signs on the side.

Seems odd that they released this guy.

Did he barrel through the crowd? I mean, thats attempted murder.

Otoh if the protesters were blocking the street, well we know what to think of that, right?

Aryeh Jay · Jan 13, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
I'm assuming U-Hauls don't come standard equipped with "NO SHAH: USA Don't repeat 1953" signs on the side.

It possible, I've had the Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore on ones I've rented.

essentialsaltes · Jan 13, 2026

Officials do not believe that the incident was politically motivated or an act of terrorism but stemmed from an altercation in the crowd, Gabaldon said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said two people were evaluated at the scene and declined treatment. Though police initially said one person was struck by the truck and suffered no injuries, on Monday the department released a statement saying no one reported being hit by the truck.

ThatRobGuy · Jan 13, 2026

durangodawood said:
Did he barrel through the crowd? I mean, thats attempted murder.

Otoh if the protesters were blocking the street, well we know what to think of that, right?

The truck was moving at a pretty good clip through the crowd.
https://www.tiktok.com/video/7594589503805754638
To your second part. (which I assume you're trying to draw parallel to the Good case in MN)

1) the dynamics are different, in this case it's the protestors who are on-foot and the person opposing the protestors is in the vehicle. If you're trying to draw parallel to the Good case in MN, the roles would have to be reversed. If she'd been standing in the street with her friends, and the ICE agent drove through the crowd (at what appears to be about 35mph), then it'd be a different story.

2) a random U-Haul guy isn't a federal official currently operating in a professional capacity trying to get to a location they'd been dispatched to.

3) In the Good case, it was the protestors looking to create a confrontation, in this case, it's the guy opposing the protestors initiating the confrontation.

durangodawood · Jan 13, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
The truck was moving at a pretty good clip through the crowd.
https://www.tiktok.com/video/7594589503805754638
To your second part. (which I assume you're trying to draw parallel to the Good case in MN)

1) the dynamics are different, in this case it's the protestors who are on-foot and the person opposing the protestors is in the vehicle. If you're trying to draw parallel to the Good case in MN, the roles would have to be reversed. If she'd been standing in the street with her friends, and the ICE agent drove through the crowd (at what appears to be about 35mph), then it'd be a different story.

2) a random U-Haul guy isn't a federal official currently operating in a professional capacity trying to get to a location they'd been dispatched to.

3) In the Good case, it was the protestors looking to create a confrontation, in this case, it's the guy opposing the protestors initiating the confrontation.

I wasnt thinking of the Good homicide.

I was thinking more of a typical sense that protest needs to be legal to be valid. And if you break the law youre sort of "at your own risk" both for physical danger and for your sympathy evaporating. Maybe they had a permit to close the street tho.

ThatRobGuy · Jan 13, 2026

essentialsaltes said:
Officials do not believe that the incident was politically motivated or an act of terrorism but stemmed from an altercation in the crowd, Gabaldon said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said two people were evaluated at the scene and declined treatment. Though police initially said one person was struck by the truck and suffered no injuries, on Monday the department released a statement saying no one reported being hit by the truck.

Yeah, they'll have to show their work on that one.

Is it a case where they really don't think it's politically motivated? Or is it a case where it's LA, so the political motivations (that appear to be pretty obvious) in question would be ones that wouldn't be popular to criticize in that area?

If Mom's Demand Action was having a protest in a very conservative jurisdiction in East Texas, and someone rented a U-Haul and slapped an NRA sign on it, and another sign that said "Shall not be infringed, Gun Control = Tyranny", and drove through the crowd, and the local officials said "nope, nothing to see here, doesn't appear to be politically motivated" only a day or two after it happened, we'd all be raising some eyebrows and suggesting "Wait a minute, you just don't want to take the side opposite the pro-gun guy because you know you'll get booed off the stage doing that in Texas" (not to mention that's not even long enough to do a proper investigation to determine whether or not there were political motives)

ThatRobGuy · Jan 13, 2026

durangodawood said:
I wasnt thinking of the Good homicide.

I was thinking more of a typical sense that protest needs to be legal to be valid. And if you break the law youre sort of "at your own risk" both for physical danger and for your sympathy evaporating. Maybe they had a permit to close the street tho.

Permit to close the street or not, I remember people suggesting that vehicles (that were going much more slowly than that U-Haul) that were bumping #JustStopOil protestors that were blocking main roads and intersections should be tried for attempted murder. (with the justification that a 3,000 pound mechanical piece of metal is a weapon)

durangodawood · Wednesday at 8:37 AM

ThatRobGuy said:
Permit to close the street or not....

So in you opinion is this an illegitimate protest because they were illegally occupying the street?

ThatRobGuy said:
I remember people suggesting that vehicles (that were going much more slowly than that U-Haul) that were bumping #JustStopOil protestors that were blocking main roads and intersections should be tried for attempted murder. (with the justification that a 3,000 pound mechanical piece of metal is a weapon)

I'm asking about your opinion on the validity of this protest. Because I recall you (not other random people who arent here) taking a dim view of protests which illegally block roads and similar. Maybe I am not recalling correctly?

ThatRobGuy · Wednesday at 8:51 AM

durangodawood said:
So in you opinion is this an illegitimate protest because they were illegally occupying the street?

I'm asking about your opinion on the validity of this protest. Because I recall you (not other random people who arent here) taking a dim view of protests which illegally block roads and similar. Maybe I am not recalling correctly?

I'm personally not a fan of the approach.

One of my key objections is that's it's rather stupid and counterintuitive.

If I were looking to raise awareness over something, and win people over to my side, making them late for work (and potentially scaring them) doesn't seem like an effective way to go about it.

Protests, to be effective at least in my opinion, should be at least somewhat targeted toward the entity they have a problem with. For instance, when segregation was still in full swing, and the method of civil disobedience was people sitting at the counter in diners and refusing to move, that had a tie-in to the issue. It shouldn't be targeted against other random people just because they happened to be unfortunate enough to be there.

There should also be some sort of list of actionable items or demands that are achievable, otherwise it's yelling just to yell.

In this particular instance, protesting the leader of another country doesn't seem to check most of those boxes.
1) Demanding a leadership change in another country isn't exactly a practical request that a politician can do with the push of a button
2) Even if it was quickly doable, random motorists and the LA city council wouldn't be the entities that would have any influence in that decision

All that aside, recklessly driving through a group of people still wouldn't be a "preferable response"

durangodawood · Wednesday at 9:04 AM

ThatRobGuy said:
I'm personally not a fan of the approach.

One of my key objections is that's it's rather stupid and counterintuitive.

If I were looking to raise awareness over something, and win people over to my side, making them late for work (and potentially scaring them) doesn't seem like an effective way to go about it.

Protests, to be effective at least in my opinion, should be at least somewhat targeted toward the entity they have a problem with. For instance, when segregation was still in full swing, and the method of civil disobedience was people sitting at the counter in diners and refusing to move, that had a tie-in to the issue. It shouldn't be targeted against other random people just because they happened to be unfortunate enough to be there.

There should also be some sort of list of actionable items or demands that are achievable, otherwise it's yelling just to yell.

In this particular instance, protesting the leader of another country doesn't seem to check most of those boxes.
1) Demanding a leadership change in another country isn't exactly a practical request that a politician can do with the push of a button
2) Even if it was quickly doable, random motorists and the LA city council wouldn't be the entities that would have any influence in that decision

All that aside, recklessly driving through a group of people still wouldn't be a "preferable response"

I'm ok with a little fuss making even when it causes some inconvenience. (In this case it helps that I support their cause against Irans ultra conservative clerical regime.) The acceptable amount of inconvenience is matter of judgement of course. Would be nice if they had a consulate in LA to protest at. But they dont.

And obviously the driver was there to counter-protest. It did look like dangerous driving even tho Id say it was more 25mph than 35. Still thats reckless on a crowded street.

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