Cities across the nation banned fireworks and even outright canceled their fireworks display for the 4th of July.
Massive fireworks displays are a 4th of July tradition, but with COVID-19 and civil unrest sweeping the nation, many cities canceled their displays.
Los Angeles took things even further.
Aside from canceling their fireworks display, they flat out BANNED anyone in Los Angeles county from even launching fireworks.
In other words, the fireworks might as well have been "illegal."
But freedom loving patriots IGNORED the city's orders.
Jaw dropping footage showcases hundreds, if not thousands, of people in Los Angeles county shooting off fireworks.
No matter which direction you looked, countless fireworks were lighting up the night sky.
Even life-long residents of Los Angeles said they'd never seen anything like it before.
See some of the footage for yourself below:
According to LAPD, over 1,000 calls came into the department reporting people shooting off fireworks despite the mayor's orders.
But the police department was quickly overwhelmed and was unable to respond.
They compared it to "shoveling the ocean with a spoon."
Deadline reports:
No fireworks on Independence Day, said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. To hell with that, said the people.
Ignoring the mayor’s order and a lack of traditional municipal displays, Los Angeles residents set off their own celebration, lighting up Southern California skies with their own fireworks.
Fireworks are illegal in the city of Los Angeles and all firework displays were banned in L.A. County this year. But explosions and roman candles have been going off for weeks, culminating in a massive display on Saturday night.
Police claimed more than 1,000 fireworks complaints came in to various branches, and they tried to respond. But the task was akin to shoveling the ocean with a spoon, and while not every citizen was happy – particularly those with nervous pets – the city was ablaze with lights and sounds for many hours on Saturday night.
Despite political differences, it is inspiring that so many people are willing to celebrate our country despite a global pandemic.
Some eye witness accounts on the ground report that the fireworks were ongoing for 3-4 HOURS in Los Angeles county.
Los Angeles, which is run by Democrats, attempted to ban fireworks for the 4th of July after CANCELLING the annual fireworks display.
Yet, citizens throughout the county put on a display of their own.
Local KLTA 5 News has more details on the historic LA fireworks:
All across the region, fireworks lit up the skies for Fourth of July in near constant bursts of color Saturday night.
The fireworks left a blanket of smoke over cities as firefighters spent the night rushing to put out scattered blazes.
[...]The Los Angeles Police Department said it was inundated with 911 calls, and urged residents not call the emergency line for illegal fireworks unless there’s a fire or injury.
Los Angeles County had banned large firework displays in an effort to stop crowding amid a surge of coronavirus cases. Many of the planned displays and parades were streamed online as residents marked a very different Independence Day.
With so many residents openly defying the mayor's orders and shooting off their own fireworks, it is unclear whether any arrests were made.
Though over 1,000 phone calls were made to the LAPD reporting violaters of the fireworks ban, they were unable to respond to every request.
One thing is for certain: this was a 4th to remember!
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