Actor Danny Trejo has broken his silence regarding an incident which found him trading punches with a parade-goer who threw a water balloon at him during a Fourth of July event.
The 80-year-old veteran actor said that he was provoked and targeted over his race in the ugly incident in Los Angeles on Thursday.
He and a friend who was also involved in the altercation spoke to TMZ on Friday as he said: ‘I’m just sad that there is still people like from the Fifties and Sixties that still feel the same way because no one else was starting it.’
The interviewer clarified that Danny was saying that it had to do with the fact that they were Mexican.
His friend replied: ‘It was targeted. There was nobody else getting hit with balloons in front of us or behind us. You know there were just our lowriders .
Actor Danny Trejo has broken his silence regarding an incident which found him trading punches with a parade-goer who threw a water balloo n at him during a Fourth of July event
The 80-year-old actor was seen in wild footage trading punches with a parade-goer who threw a water balloon at him during a Fourth of July event in Los Angeles
‘C’mon you got a classic lowrider at a parade. That’s the last thing that you want is to get water on it or anything on it.’
Danny added that there were concerns that the substance was much more sinister than water as he said that someone in the crowd yelled that it was acid which sent him into a panic.
He also said that he was not the first one who initiated the physical altercation as he insisted that he was grabbed when it all went down.
Danny did express regret over his actions and that the incident happened at a celebratory event.
He explained: ‘Honest to god, I am so sad. I am so sad that I behaved the way I behaved. I am so sad that grown men gotta throw water balloons to enjoy a day.’
This comes as the Spy Kids star flew into a frenzy at the Sunland-Tujunga Independence Day Parade in Los Angeles, where he was a guest star.
Trejo was moving down the parade route in a vintage convertible when he was hit with a water balloon, which led him to exit the vehicle to confront the man.
Footage filmed by stunned witnesses showed Trejo and the man throw wild punches at each other, with the actor being knocked to the floor while his friend was left with a bloodied face.
Trejo was passing by in a convertible when he was hit with a water balloon, which led him to exit the car to confront the person who threw it
The scuffle only broke up as witnesses hauled Trejo away from the others in the fight
He and a friend who was also involved in the altercation spoke to TMZ on Friday as he said: ‘I’m just sad that there is still people like from the Fifties and Sixties that still feel the same way because no one else was starting it’
A larger melee broke out as soon as the 80-year-old was hit to the floor, as ugly scenes took hold of the family event.
Another water balloon also appeared to be thrown at Trejo during the scuffle, while several other men piled into the fighting.
The man who initially swung at Trejo then punched another person and sent him to the ground.
Two small children were also seen being led away from the convertible, while the center of the fighting moved to the sidewalk.
Trejo picked up a folding chair and flung it at another man, before the brawl ended as it was broken up by bystanders.
A woman was seen holding Trejo – an ex-convict who spent a decade behind bars in the 1960s – back away from the group at the end of the fight.
A witness told ABC7 that throwing water balloons is a regular part of the Los Angeles suburb’s Fourth of July celebrations, but Trejo took offense to them being targeted at him as a special guest.
‘This parade is like a thing where you throw water balloons back and forth at each other,’ said Stanley Herrarte.
Trejo is an ex-convict who spent a decade behind bars in the 1960s, but turned his life around to become a movie star
‘The reason why Danny was so infuriated was because usually people don’t throw water balloons at fancy cars when they come by.’
Another witness, Arnie Abramiam, told Fox11 Los Angeles that it did not appear that Trejo was looking to cause violence, and ‘at first it was more like confronting.’
‘It wasn’t like he went there to hit somebody,’ he said.
‘But then once he got hit, he was throwing punches.’
Abramiam said he hoped the incident wouldn’t deter Trejo from coming back to his community, as he said he ‘knows he is a good man.’
‘Thank you for taking your time and coming down to our Fourth of July parade, and I’m sorry on behalf of our community… we love you and we appreciate you.’