Man armed with knife arrested at pro-Palestinian protest in Victorville

A Nevada man was arrested after authorities said he cut down a flag and threatened demonstrators with a large knife during a pro-Palestinian protest on a bridge over the 15 Freeway in Victorville on Sunday.

According to witnesses and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Socorro Cuevas, the incident occurred around 12:30 p.m. when protesters gathered on the Bear Valley Road Bridge.

She said MPs were responding to reports that a man was brandishing a “large knife” and attempting to tear down a “Free Palestine” flag.

“The suspect, Lance Jaeger, pulled a large fixed blade knife from a sheath and began cutting one of the flags,” sheriff’s officials said in a written statement. “Jaeger walked around several passersby with the knife in his hand.”

When officers arrived, “Jaeger was standing in the street, pointing the knife at several protesters on the sidewalk and threatening them,” the statement said.

Yazan Almas, who took part in the protest, said the man with the knife “came towards us and started making racist remarks”.

“He behaved aggressively as he approached us and immediately started cutting down the flags while saying things – I’m not sure what exactly because I was on the phone with the police so I could hardly understand anything,” he said.

Jaeger then crossed the street and tried to cut down the flag hanging on the other side of the overpass, Sebastian Servellon said.

“We got into a fight where he pushed me against the fence behind me and said, ‘This is America and we don’t want you here,'” he said. “After the first fight … he continued to spew his bigotry about what he thinks of Palestinians and people in the Middle East in general.”

Servellon said the man’s actions speak for themselves.

“To come here and cut down flags that advocate for the freedom and equality of a group of people who suffer unconditional dehumanization and outright racism says everything we need to know about the motives of an individual who would do such a thing, or any individual who supports such actions against protests,” he said.

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