Protesters blocked a major freeway through downtown Los Angeles Tuesday night to bring attention to an ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan launched artillery in an ethnic Armenian enclave in the country's Nagorno-Karabakh region on Tuesday, escalating fears of a war.

What You Need To Know

  • Protesters blocked a section of the 101 freeway in downtown LA Tuesday night

  • They were calling attention to an ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan

  • On Tuesday, Azerbaijan launched artillery into an ethnic Armenian enclave in the country

  • The area has been a growing source of onflict since December, when Azerbaijan blocked the only overland route between Azerbaijan's Nogorno-Karabakh region and the country of Armenia

Tensions in the area have been escalating since December, when Azerbaijan began blocking the only overland route between Nagorno-Karabakh, which has a population of about 120,000 ethnic Armenians, and the country of Armenia.

The Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan has been a source of dispute since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, when a separatist war led to the area’s control by the Armenian military. Azerbaijan regained some territory in the area in 2020 through a war that killed and displaced thousands of Armenians.

Tuesday night’s protest on a downtown LA thoroughfare began at 10:30 p.m. when several vehicles parked and blocked the lanes. As traffic backed up for miles, protesters walked on the freeway waving Armenian flags and held a large sign that read, “Joe Biden Don’t Ignore Us.” The California Highway Patrol reopened some of the freeway lanes a half hour later.

The 101 freeway shutdown comes about a month after LA area protesters used a big rig to cut off one side of the 134 freeway that travels through the largest Armenian community in the U.S..