Danny Trejo speaks out following July 4th parade brawl: ‘I hate bullies’
LOS ANGELES - Actor Danny Trejo is speaking out following a Fourth of July parade brawl he was involved in on Thursday.
"It’s sad that people can wake up in the morning and go down and ruin something for everybody else," he told FOX 11.
"I am a protector. I will protect all my friends, always, and that’s what I was doing," he added.
It happened at the Sunland-Tujunga 4th of July Parade. Trejo was a guest in the parade, driving his vintage car. That's when the car was hit by a water balloon from the crowd. Trejo got out of the car and approached the crowd.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Danny Trejo involved in fight during LA 4th of July parade
"Somebody yelled, ‘It’s acid,' And I got out of the car to look, and. And then a balloon hit me. And then I saw the guy throwing it," Trejo said.
"He was more like confronting. It wasn't like he went there to hit somebody," said Arnie Abramiam, who caught the whole thing on his cell phone camera. "But then I think once he got hit, he was throwing punches."
That's when the fight started.
The "Machete" star added, "I hate bullies, and that’s what bullies do. [They were] very really cowards. I did this in the ‘50s and the ’60s, I’m still doing it, I’m 80 years old!"
Both Trejo and his friend Mario Castillo were hit and knocked to the ground at points during the brawl.
Video showed Castillo bloodied up at one point. Castillo was in the lowrider behind Trejo's before the fight started.
He told FOX 11 he believed they were racially targeted.
"We weren’t there to start no trouble. It was, we were just confronting the people that were throwing balloons. It was a grown man, skinhead, tattoos," Castillo alleged.
Police said the crowd had dispersed by the time officers got there, and Trejo had refused to press charges.
In a statement to FOX 11, parade organizers called it "disheartening that this year’s parade was marred by disruptive events that took place between some participants and spectators. We do not condone this type of behavior," adding that "Trejo graciously accepted an invitation to participate in the parade… We would like to apologize to both Mr. Trejo and his associates."