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'I hope you all die! I hope your country gets blown up!' Armenian protesters victims of hate speech at CBS Studios in LA

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Over 100,000 Armenian-Americans took the streets in Los Angeles on October 11 to protest the Azeri and Turkish aggression in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Some protesters were unhappy with CBS 2 Los Angeles' coverage following the march and demonstrations, and they went to CBS headquarters in Hollywood to voice their concern.

Filmer Narek Doganyan from Granada Hills, California, shared the experience he had at CBS Studios, and the hate speech he experienced.

"At around 3 a.m., a group of 10 people and I were peacefully protesting at CBS Studios due to the TV network being one-sided story in their segment on the historic protest from Sunday. CBS 2 Los Angeles only featured the Azerbaijan Consulate General in their segment spreading lies. They did not give the Armenian Consulate General an opportunity to speak. So we wanted to make our voices heard about their poor news judgment.

"We were simply standing in front of the CBS headquarter gates, not causing any violence. At around 6 a.m. a Ford truck pulled into the CBS driveway and started pressing the gas pedal, almost hitting one of the peaceful protestors. After doing this, the driver in the Ford truck pulled away from the driveway and said, "I hope you all die! I hope your country gets blown up.' LAPD was standing by at the scene as this happened. An hour after this occurred, a person with a CBS Studio badge named Chris Derry came over, pulled his mask down and started coughing on us. We were again standing there not causing any violence or destruction. Everyone that was protesting was being respectful."

On October 12, after Doganyan's video spread on social media, a new and even larger group of Armenian protesters again went to CBS Studios to make their voices heard about the hate speech that was caught on camera from CBS headquarters.

Azerbaijani and Armenian forces have exchanged heavy rocket and artillery fire ever since the conflict started September 27, with each side accusing the other of targeting civilian areas.

The dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet Republics, stems over control of the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh.

Armenia's denied it directed fire “of any kind” toward Azerbaijan; Azerbaijani authorities said they'd taken “retaliatory measures.”

Turkey has sent in Syrian religious fighters to support Azerbaijani Muslims, according to Armenia's Minister of Foreign Affairs. Turkey has disputed these claims publicly.

Populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians, and aided by the Armenian diaspora, Nagorno-Karabakh sits inside Azerbaijani territory and is connected to Armenia proper by a highway.

Nagorno-Karabakh is heavily militarized and its forces have been backed by Armenia, which has a security alliance with Russia. Azerbaijan, who has close ethnic and religious ties to Turkey, has long claimed it will retake the territory.

A war over the region ensued in 1994 between Azerbaijanis and Armenians, and the current conflict is the most severe it's been since then, despite back-and-forth battles throughout the years.

In 1915, over 1.5 million Armenians died during the Armenian Genocide, killings that were carried out by the Ottoman Empire.

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