Danny Trejo claimed he was targeted when he was struck with a water balloon during a Fourth of July parade in Los Angeles, which led to a chaotic brawl involving the iconic actor.
The “Machete” star was riding in the passenger seat in a baby blue convertible alongside his buddy Mario Castillo, driving through the Sunland-Tujunga neighborhood when a water balloon was thrown at them, the actor told TMZ.
Trejo said he panicked when he seemingly heard somebody yell that the balloon contained “acid.”
“I’m so sad, by the way I behaved, so sad that grown men have to throw water balloons to enjoy a day,” Trejo told the outlet. “I don’t think I would’ve gotten out of the car if someone hadn’t yelled ‘it’s acid.’ That’s when I panicked,” he added.
Trejo hopped out of the car to confront a group of people on the sidewalk and began fighting with one man who wore a black sleeveless shirt.
The alleged suspect threw a punch at Trejo as the two grabbed at each other, resulting in the actor falling backward onto the street, video obtained by KTTV captured.
Trejo and Castillo claimed they were singled out because they are Mexican, especially since no one else was struck with water balloons during the parade.
“It was targeted, because there was no one else being it by balloons in front of us or behind us,” Castillo said. “You know it was just at our lowrider.”
“Come on, you got a classic lowrider in a parade, that is the last thing you want getting water, or anything in it,” he added.
Nearly a dozen people had surrounded the classic car to greet the legendary actor when a paradegoer allegedly threw a water balloon.
“There were like eight, nine, ten people around this car when they threw that balloon, so somebody wasn’t worried that they weren’t gonna hit anybody else,” he explained.
Trejo told TMZ he only reacted because someone grabbed him first.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the confrontation turned violent when a second water balloon was thrown at Trejo’s head.
“Everybody was holding him back,” Arnie Abramyan, who captured parts of the fight, told the newspaper. “There were a lot of people between him and the people who threw the water balloon. He was just upset. He was yelling, screaming, mad and was trying to get to the guy who threw the water balloon.”
Others attending the Fourth of July celebration blamed Trejo for the brawl, saying he should’ve remained in his car.
“[Trejo] pushed women out of the way to get to those guys,” Sunland-Tujunga resident James Spishak told The Times. “There were kids there. It could’ve gotten really ugly. It would’ve never happened if he stayed in the car.”
“I love Danny Trejo, I think he’s a cool dude, but he needs to know when to say ‘no,’” Spishak said, claiming the actor slapped him as he tried to break up the fight.
It took several paradegoers to separate the brawl, and footage from the aftermath saw Castillo bleeding from his eye as Trejo was being held back.
The actor’s friend said he suffered a bruised right eye and red swollen arms after people stomped on them as they were holding him down.
Trejo didn’t seem too bothered by the incident, as he laughed off the brawl calling it embarrassing.
“They couldn’t hurt me, it was sad, I would be embarrassed if I attacked an 80-year-old man and he’s still talking and laughing,” Trejo said.
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