latimes--2020-05-31--Two of L.A.'s hippest streets — Melrose and Fairfax — become targets for looters

As darkness fell on Los Angeles Saturday night , two of the city ’ s most famous retail strips — Melrose and Fairfax avenues — became a focus for looting and vandalism .
Several businesses on Melrose Avenue , a trendy row of design and clothing stores , were looted .
One building was set on fire and burned for hours .
Dozens of looters ran into an Adidas store on Melrose and Edinburgh avenues at 9:45 p.m. , running out with blue boxes of shoes .
Empty shoe boxes and glass littered the sidewalk outside the store .
Two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scene unfold together .
“ It ’ s horrible .
They need any excuse just to take something , ” said Mel , a 39-year-old Compton resident who would provide only his first name .
Mel said he came to the area to witness this part of the country ’ s history .
“ It ’ s going to be in the news , ” he said .
“ It ’ s going to be like the Watts riots .
I wasn ’ t really alive for it , but I was alive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tell my kids and family members what happened.
” Mariana Solaris , 20 , of San Bernardino was walking along Melrose when police fired foam pellets .
“ I came out peacefully to show my support , and the police are aiming right at me .
To feel and experience it for myself — to have to run — I ’ m still shivering .
“ I saw this on the news earlier tonight , and I thought , ‘ No way is it really like that out there with the police.
’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And , yeah , it ’ s really like that.
” “ Sometimes peaceful is not enough , ” said Alexis Equihua , 20 , who was marching along Melrose at 11 p.m. , as rioters destroyed storefronts and stole goods .
“ I ’ m not one of the people vandalizing , but honestly , I get it .
They feel like actions speak louder than words.
” Numerous stores were also vandalized on Fairfax Avenue , which has become a streetwear haven .
Protesters set fires in the street .
Travon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Beach , arrived in the Fairfax area in the afternoon to join the protests .
He said that he saw many nonblack protesters inciting the police from up close and worries that the black community will receive the blame .
“ All the white people are in the front , ” he said .
“ We ’ re going to be the ones that get the backlash.
” This was his first protest , and he planned to leave after the city ’ s 8 p.m. curfew .
“ We thought we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a peaceful protest , ” he said , “ but as you can see it ’ s not that at all.
” In front of Shorty ’ s Barber Shop on Fairfax Avenue , a group of hooting protesters lit a dumpster on fire just after 10 p.m. and then moved it into the middle of the street .
A fire burning inside it quickly grew larger .
A female protester posed for a photo in front of the dumpster while others bearing cardboard signs watched the flames from the sidewalk .

Anticipating their arrest, two women hug each other Saturday on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles.
As darkness fell on Los Angeles Saturday night, two of the city’s most famous retail strips — Melrose and Fairfax avenues — became a focus for looting and vandalism.
Several businesses on Melrose Avenue, a trendy row of design and clothing stores, were looted. One building was set on fire and burned for hours.
Dozens of looters ran into an Adidas store on Melrose and Edinburgh avenues at 9:45 p.m., running out with blue boxes of shoes. Empty shoe boxes and glass littered the sidewalk outside the store.
Cars honked as the looting continued.
Two men stood across the street watching the scene unfold together.
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“It’s horrible. They need any excuse just to take something,” said Mel, a 39-year-old Compton resident who would provide only his first name.
Mel said he came to the area to witness this part of the country’s history.
“It’s going to be in the news,” he said. “It’s going to be like the Watts riots. I wasn’t really alive for it, but I was alive for this one. I’ll tell my kids and family members what happened.”
Mariana Solaris, 20, of San Bernardino was walking along Melrose when police fired foam pellets. “I came out peacefully to show my support, and the police are aiming right at me. To feel and experience it for myself — to have to run — I’m still shivering.
A protestor falls tot he ground after being shot with a rubber projectile from LAPD officers at 3rd St. and Fairfax Ave. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
“I saw this on the news earlier tonight, and I thought, ‘No way is it really like that out there with the police.’ So I came out to see. And, yeah, it’s really like that.”
“Sometimes peaceful is not enough,” said Alexis Equihua, 20, who was marching along Melrose at 11 p.m., as rioters destroyed storefronts and stole goods. “I’m not one of the people vandalizing, but honestly, I get it. They feel like actions speak louder than words.”
Numerous stores were also vandalized on Fairfax Avenue, which has become a streetwear haven. Protesters set fires in the street.
California Newsom declares state of emergency in L.A., deploys National Guard After three days of protests, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has requested state troops and imposed a citywide curfew to quell looting, vandalism and violence.
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Travon Walton, a 25-year-old student from Long Beach, arrived in the Fairfax area in the afternoon to join the protests.
He said that he saw many nonblack protesters inciting the police from up close and worries that the black community will receive the blame.
“All the white people are in the front,” he said. “We’re going to be the ones that get the backlash.”
This was his first protest, and he planned to leave after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew.
“We thought we’d just come out here to have a peaceful protest,” he said, “but as you can see it’s not that at all.”
In front of Shorty’s Barber Shop on Fairfax Avenue, a group of hooting protesters lit a dumpster on fire just after 10 p.m. and then moved it into the middle of the street.
A fire burning inside it quickly grew larger. A female protester posed for a photo in front of the dumpster while others bearing cardboard signs watched the flames from the sidewalk.


latimes--2020-05-31--Protesters clash with police in Santa Ana

Protesters clashed with police Saturday night at the Santa Ana police headquarters .
Hundreds demonstrators demanding justice for George Floyd , who died in police custody in Minneapolis , converged on the police station , at times throwing objects at officers and setting off firecrackers .
Santa Ana police said it began about 8 p.m. at McFadden Avenue and Bristol Street .
Videos showed police using tear gas to push back the demonstrators .
Orange County Fire Authority firefighters were on standby in case of fires .
There were no immediate reports of arrests , injuries or looting .
Protest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vandalism and the destruction of some police cars .
Demonstrations elsewhere in California included San Jose , San Francisco , Bakersfield and Oakland .
A Federal Protective Service officer was fatally shot and another officer was critically injured outside a federal courthouse in Oakland during a protest Friday night over the Officials described the shooting of the officer as an “ act of domestic terrorism.
” The officers were keeping watch over the Oakland protest when the shooting occurred , authorities said , but it was not immediately clear if the incident was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials said Saturday that the shooting was part of “ an outright assault on our law enforcement community ” and suggested that it fit into a larger pattern of extremist groups hijacking peaceful protests to commit acts of violence .
“ Let me be clear : When someone targets a police officer or a police station with an intention to do harm and intimidate , that is an act of domestic terrorism , ” Ken Cuccinelli , acting deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security , said at a news conference .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ V. Dellums Federal Building at 1301 Clay St. at about 9:45 p.m. , and someone inside the vehicle fired gunshots at the contract security officers , the FBI said in a statement .
One officer was killed and another was hospitalized in critical condition , authorities said .
No arrest was reported .

Workers at the Smart & Final store clean up debris and damage caused by looters during a demonstration to protest the death of George Floyd in Santa Ana.
Protesters clashed with police Saturday night at the Santa Ana police headquarters.
Hundreds demonstrators demanding justice for George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis, converged on the police station, at times throwing objects at officers and setting off firecrackers. Santa Ana police said it began about 8 p.m. at McFadden Avenue and Bristol Street. Videos showed police using tear gas to push back the demonstrators.
Orange County Fire Authority firefighters were on standby in case of fires.
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There were no immediate reports of arrests, injuries or looting.
1 / 81 Protesters stand on top of a burned LAPD cruiser. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 81 Protesters stand on top of a bus stop at the Los Angeles Civic Center to demonstrate for justice Wednesday night. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 3 / 81 Protestors turn on their cell phone flashlights at Los Angeles City Hall at 9 pm on Wednesday as part of a silent protest against the death of George Floyd. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) 4 / 81 A protester confronts National Guardsmen as thousands of protesters march down Spring Street in Los Angeles to demonstrate for justice in the George Floyd murder by cop case Wednesday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 5 / 81 Protesters dance on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday night. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 6 / 81 Thousands of protesters march down Spring Street in Los Angeles Wednesday night to demonstrate for justice in the killing of George Floyd. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 7 / 81 LAPD Cmdr. Gerald Woodyard takes a knee with protesters and L.A. clergy during a march in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times) 8 / 81 Khalil Mitchell speaks to protesters kneeling near a police line, preaching calm and working to preserve a peaceful protest on Monday. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 9 / 81 In Hollywood, hundreds of protesters march Monday against police brutality. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 81 AJ Lovelace, a director and writer, and others keep potential looters from entering a dry cleaning store as they attempt to march peacefully. “We need peace and we need someone to talk to each other,” he said after the looters fled the scene. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 11 / 81 Demonstrators in Riverside retreat as county sheriff’s deputies fire nonlethal rounds on Monday after law enforcement announced an unlawful assembly. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 81 Protesters in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 81 An arrest in Hollywood during a protest Monday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 81 A demonstrator, injured while trying to flee the firing of nonlethal rounds, lies on the ground in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 81 An LAPD officer arrests a looting suspect in an alley behind a Hollywood Boulevard store. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 81 Riverside County deputies advance on demonstrators on Monday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 81 Fireworks thrown by a protester explode at the feet of Riverside police. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 81 Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco takes a knee with demonstrators. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 81 A watch and jewelry store is looted in Van Nuys on Monday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 81 A looting arrest in Van Nuys. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 81 AJ Lovelace, director and writer, tries to stop looters from breaking into a Walgreens in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 81 An LAPD officer arrests a suspected looter in an alley behind a Hollywood Boulevard store. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 81 Police advance on a line of protesters in Hollywood, firing rubber bullets. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 81 Arrests are made of those out after curfew in Hollywood. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 81 Protesters in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 81 A store is looted in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 81 Protesters in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 81 People out after curfew are arrested Monday at Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 81 Arrests in Hollywood. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 81 Protests in Westwood. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 81 Volunteers help clean up the mess left by looters in Long Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 81 Protest in Hollywood. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 81 National Guardsmen outside Santa Monica Place. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 81 Gilbert Haro and sons Richard, 8, and James, 6, help clean up in Santa Monica. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 81 Protesters face off with police in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 81 Santa Monica stores were the target of looting on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 81 Suspected looters in custody in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 81 L.A. County sheriff’s deputies in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 81 Sake House employee Jared Settles can’t bear to watch as the restaurant burns in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 81 An arrest in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 81 Broken glass from a looted store covers the sidewalk in Santa Monica. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 81 Cecelia Rosales, who said she was homeless, walks past a line of police officers in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 81 A man guards a convenience store in Santa Monica. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 81 Looting erupted Sunday in Long Beach. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 81 Police and protesters face off in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 81 A police officer inspects the damage to a Santa Monica supermarket. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 81 A protester is treated after being struck by a rubber bullet. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 81 Looting in Long Beach on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 81 Looting in Long Beach. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 81 A suspected looter in Long Beach. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 81 Smashing windows in Santa Monica. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 52 / 81 An arrest in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 53 / 81 People walk away with surfboards in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 54 / 81 People rush out of a looted store in Santa Monica. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 55 / 81 Protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 56 / 81 Cheers for protesters in downtown Los Angeles. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 57 / 81 City Hall on Sunday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 58 / 81 A shattered storefront on Melrose Avenue on Sunday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 59 / 81 Smashed windows on La Cienega Boulevard. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 60 / 81 Downtown L.A. on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 61 / 81 People carry merchandise from a looted store. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 62 / 81 A person carries items from a looted store in the Fairfax District on Saturday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 63 / 81 A couple of protesters embrace on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 64 / 81 People protest Saturday at Pan Pacific Park. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times) 65 / 81 Protesters gather around a fire in the middle of a downtown L.A. street on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 66 / 81 Police fire percussion rounds to clear protesters from Grand Avenue in in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 67 / 81 A protester remains defiant after being pushed to the ground by police on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 68 / 81 Protesters are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall on Saturday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 69 / 81 Protesters block the 110 Freeway. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 70 / 81 Protesters take to the streets Friday in downtown L.A. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 71 / 81 Protesters are escorted off the northbound 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 72 / 81 A protester is escorted off the northbound 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 73 / 81 Protesters climb over a barrier during the May 29 protest in downtown L.A. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 74 / 81 Protesters block the 110 Freeway northbound and southbound in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 75 / 81 Police officers assume a defensive stance as a protester approaches them on the 110 Freeway on May 29. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 76 / 81 During a May 29 protest, Los Angeles police patrol the 110 after having moved protesters off the freeway. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 77 / 81 A protester rides a skateboard on the 110 Freeway. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 78 / 81 Protesters block the 110 Freeway northbound and southbound in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 79 / 81 A protester confronts LAPD officers on Friday in downtown L.A. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 80 / 81 A protester lies hurt on the 101 Freeway near downtown Los Angeles on May 27. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 81 / 81 An injured man gets up with the help of emergency workers during a protest May 27 in downtown L.A. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Protest scenes in Los Angeles included looting, vandalism and the destruction of some police cars. Demonstrations elsewhere in California included San Jose, San Francisco, Bakersfield and Oakland.
A Federal Protective Service officer was fatally shot and another officer was critically injured outside a federal courthouse in Oakland during a protest Friday night over the killing of Floyd. Officials described the shooting of the officer as an “act of domestic terrorism.”
California Newsom declares state of emergency in L.A., deploys National Guard After three days of protests, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has requested state troops and imposed a citywide curfew to quell looting, vandalism and violence.
The officers were keeping watch over the Oakland protest when the shooting occurred, authorities said, but it was not immediately clear if the incident was directly related to the unrest.
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Federal officials said Saturday that the shooting was part of “an outright assault on our law enforcement community” and suggested that it fit into a larger pattern of extremist groups hijacking peaceful protests to commit acts of violence.
“Let me be clear: When someone targets a police officer or a police station with an intention to do harm and intimidate, that is an act of domestic terrorism,” Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security, said at a news conference.
A vehicle pulled up to the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building at 1301 Clay St. at about 9:45 p.m., and someone inside the vehicle fired gunshots at the contract security officers, the FBI said in a statement.
One officer was killed and another was hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said. No arrest was reported.
City News Service contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-05-30--Column: Angelenos are taking to the streets. Again. Will it produce real change this time?

I understand why so many people in Los Angeles are restless , and angry , and taking to the streets as they did in 1965 and 1992 .
Things haven ’ t changed much since then .
Now , as then , the notion of equal opportunity is distant dream and not a reality , and the darker your skin , the bleaker the outlook .
Schools are not equal .
Healthcare is not equal .
Criminal justice is not equal .
And black Americans just keep dying at the hands of police .
These are not opinions .
These @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years of covering Los Angeles , I ’ ve seen all these things play out here .
There is so much to cheer about in our mixed-up , polyglot city .
But there is also so much to cry about .
And so many frustrations that have to boil over .
On Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles , glass shattered Friday night , looters roamed and smoke rose .
At 3rd and Fairfax on Saturday afternoon , police vehicles were torched and riot squad officers fired nonlethal shots at advancing protesters .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ up after months of coronavirus lockdown , we were shutting down again with curfews .
It ’ s a shame because it seemed clear that most of the protesters , who had every right and reason to demonstrate , wanted to make a statement rather than draw blood .
I ’ m not going to excuse the destruction of property .
It ’ s chilling and irrational , especially in a city where so many shop owners , the heart and soul of L.A. , are barely scraping by themselves .
But the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a knee on the neck of a black man was chilling and irrational too .
And at the same time so utterly familiar that it set off little explosions across the U.S. Is it any wonder that people are far too tired of waiting for change that never comes ?
The inequality is everywhere .
For decades , the skid row population has been mostly black .
Countywide , due in part to decades of housing discrimination and institutional racism , African Americans account for about a third of the total homeless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the total population .
In Los Angeles Unified , the second-largest school district in the nation , 90 % of the students are nonwhite , and 80 % meet poverty standards that qualify them for free or reduced-price meals .
The numbers are shocking , and every time I write about them , I hear from readers who think I must have gotten something wrong .
That they ’ re shocked is revealing in itself .
We live in a city where people with vastly different realities live in close proximity .
A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million ; the homeless count approaches 60,000 .
California has the world ’ s fifth-largest economy ; it has the nation ’ s highest rate of poverty .
And in recent weeks , a marauding coronavirus has made the playing field even more unlevel .
In Los Angeles , black people are dying at twice the rate of white people , largely because of underlying health conditions related to trauma , poverty and lack of access to regular healthcare .
In the Los Angeles I know , the seeds of revolution have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was never a matter of if the smoke would rise again , but when .
It ’ s understandable but a shame , really , that the clash we ’ re witnessing in L.A. is between protesters and police , most of whom do a hard job as well as they can .
Police don ’ t run the schools or the economy or write public policy that determines who we invest in and who we leave behind .
It ’ s true that in L.A. County , cops accused of brutality are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the law , and it ’ s true as well that the Los Angeles Police Department is not perfect , by a mile .
It ’ s a different force than it was in 1965 and 1992 ; more diverse , more progressive , but we still have a long way to go .
I hope righteous but nonviolent protests , a great and vital expression of American liberty , continue and bring about real change .
When the civil rights movement surpasses its half-century anniversary and people still feel constantly judged and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the color of their skin , it ’ s time .
When an unarmed man is killed by police in broad daylight while begging to breathe , it ’ s time .
When the politics of division and scapegoating and race-baiting carry a man to the White House , it ’ s time .
When schools are not equal , healthcare is not equal and criminal justice is not equal , it ’ s time .
When promises are made in 1965 and again in 1992 , but real change is still elusive @ @ @ @ @ @

A skateboarder falls over a fire set in the street by protesters in Los Angeles on Saturday.
I understand why so many people in Los Angeles are restless, and angry, and taking to the streets as they did in 1965 and 1992.
Things haven’t changed much since then.
Now, as then, the notion of equal opportunity is distant dream and not a reality, and the darker your skin, the bleaker the outlook.
Schools are not equal. Healthcare is not equal. Criminal justice is not equal. And black Americans just keep dying at the hands of police.
These are not opinions. These are the irrefutable truths.
In 20 years of covering Los Angeles, I’ve seen all these things play out here. There is so much to cheer about in our mixed-up, polyglot city. But there is also so much to cry about. And so many frustrations that have to boil over.
On Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles, glass shattered Friday night, looters roamed and smoke rose.
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At 3rd and Fairfax on Saturday afternoon, police vehicles were torched and riot squad officers fired nonlethal shots at advancing protesters.
Just as we were beginning to open up after months of coronavirus lockdown, we were shutting down again with curfews. It’s a shame because it seemed clear that most of the protesters, who had every right and reason to demonstrate, wanted to make a statement rather than draw blood.
I’m not going to excuse the destruction of property. It’s chilling and irrational, especially in a city where so many shop owners, the heart and soul of L.A., are barely scraping by themselves.
But the scene of a murderous white Minneapolis cop with a knee on the neck of a black man was chilling and irrational too. And at the same time so utterly familiar that it set off little explosions across the U.S. Is it any wonder that people are far too tired of waiting for change that never comes?
The inequality is everywhere. For decades, the skid row population has been mostly black. Countywide, due in part to decades of housing discrimination and institutional racism, African Americans account for about a third of the total homeless population despite representing just 11% of the total population.
1 / 81 Protesters stand on top of a burned LAPD cruiser. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 81 Protesters stand on top of a bus stop at the Los Angeles Civic Center to demonstrate for justice Wednesday night. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 3 / 81 Protestors turn on their cell phone flashlights at Los Angeles City Hall at 9 pm on Wednesday as part of a silent protest against the death of George Floyd. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) 4 / 81 A protester confronts National Guardsmen as thousands of protesters march down Spring Street in Los Angeles to demonstrate for justice in the George Floyd murder by cop case Wednesday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 5 / 81 Protesters dance on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday night. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 6 / 81 Thousands of protesters march down Spring Street in Los Angeles Wednesday night to demonstrate for justice in the killing of George Floyd. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) 7 / 81 LAPD Cmdr. Gerald Woodyard takes a knee with protesters and L.A. clergy during a march in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times) 8 / 81 Khalil Mitchell speaks to protesters kneeling near a police line, preaching calm and working to preserve a peaceful protest on Monday. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 9 / 81 In Hollywood, hundreds of protesters march Monday against police brutality. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 81 AJ Lovelace, a director and writer, and others keep potential looters from entering a dry cleaning store as they attempt to march peacefully. “We need peace and we need someone to talk to each other,” he said after the looters fled the scene. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 11 / 81 Demonstrators in Riverside retreat as county sheriff’s deputies fire nonlethal rounds on Monday after law enforcement announced an unlawful assembly. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 81 Protesters in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 81 An arrest in Hollywood during a protest Monday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 81 A demonstrator, injured while trying to flee the firing of nonlethal rounds, lies on the ground in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 81 An LAPD officer arrests a looting suspect in an alley behind a Hollywood Boulevard store. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 81 Riverside County deputies advance on demonstrators on Monday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 81 Fireworks thrown by a protester explode at the feet of Riverside police. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 81 Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco takes a knee with demonstrators. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 81 A watch and jewelry store is looted in Van Nuys on Monday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 81 A looting arrest in Van Nuys. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 81 AJ Lovelace, director and writer, tries to stop looters from breaking into a Walgreens in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 81 An LAPD officer arrests a suspected looter in an alley behind a Hollywood Boulevard store. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 81 Police advance on a line of protesters in Hollywood, firing rubber bullets. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 81 Arrests are made of those out after curfew in Hollywood. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 81 Protesters in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 81 A store is looted in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 81 Protesters in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 81 People out after curfew are arrested Monday at Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 81 Arrests in Hollywood. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 81 Protests in Westwood. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 81 Volunteers help clean up the mess left by looters in Long Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 81 Protest in Hollywood. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 81 National Guardsmen outside Santa Monica Place. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 81 Gilbert Haro and sons Richard, 8, and James, 6, help clean up in Santa Monica. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 81 Protesters face off with police in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 81 Santa Monica stores were the target of looting on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 81 Suspected looters in custody in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 81 L.A. County sheriff’s deputies in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 81 Sake House employee Jared Settles can’t bear to watch as the restaurant burns in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 81 An arrest in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 81 Broken glass from a looted store covers the sidewalk in Santa Monica. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 81 Cecelia Rosales, who said she was homeless, walks past a line of police officers in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 81 A man guards a convenience store in Santa Monica. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 81 Looting erupted Sunday in Long Beach. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 81 Police and protesters face off in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 81 A police officer inspects the damage to a Santa Monica supermarket. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 81 A protester is treated after being struck by a rubber bullet. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 81 Looting in Long Beach on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 81 Looting in Long Beach. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 81 A suspected looter in Long Beach. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 81 Smashing windows in Santa Monica. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 52 / 81 An arrest in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 53 / 81 People walk away with surfboards in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 54 / 81 People rush out of a looted store in Santa Monica. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 55 / 81 Protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 56 / 81 Cheers for protesters in downtown Los Angeles. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 57 / 81 City Hall on Sunday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 58 / 81 A shattered storefront on Melrose Avenue on Sunday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 59 / 81 Smashed windows on La Cienega Boulevard. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 60 / 81 Downtown L.A. on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 61 / 81 People carry merchandise from a looted store. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 62 / 81 A person carries items from a looted store in the Fairfax District on Saturday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 63 / 81 A couple of protesters embrace on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) 64 / 81 People protest Saturday at Pan Pacific Park. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times) 65 / 81 Protesters gather around a fire in the middle of a downtown L.A. street on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 66 / 81 Police fire percussion rounds to clear protesters from Grand Avenue in in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 67 / 81 A protester remains defiant after being pushed to the ground by police on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 68 / 81 Protesters are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall on Saturday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 69 / 81 Protesters block the 110 Freeway. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 70 / 81 Protesters take to the streets Friday in downtown L.A. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 71 / 81 Protesters are escorted off the northbound 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 72 / 81 A protester is escorted off the northbound 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 73 / 81 Protesters climb over a barrier during the May 29 protest in downtown L.A. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 74 / 81 Protesters block the 110 Freeway northbound and southbound in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 75 / 81 Police officers assume a defensive stance as a protester approaches them on the 110 Freeway on May 29. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 76 / 81 During a May 29 protest, Los Angeles police patrol the 110 after having moved protesters off the freeway. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 77 / 81 A protester rides a skateboard on the 110 Freeway. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 78 / 81 Protesters block the 110 Freeway northbound and southbound in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 79 / 81 A protester confronts LAPD officers on Friday in downtown L.A. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 80 / 81 A protester lies hurt on the 101 Freeway near downtown Los Angeles on May 27. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 81 / 81 An injured man gets up with the help of emergency workers during a protest May 27 in downtown L.A. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
In Los Angeles Unified, the second-largest school district in the nation, 90% of the students are nonwhite, and 80% meet poverty standards that qualify them for free or reduced-price meals.
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The numbers are shocking, and every time I write about them, I hear from readers who think I must have gotten something wrong. That they’re shocked is revealing in itself.
We live in a city where people with vastly different realities live in close proximity. A house lists for more than $200 million; the homeless count approaches 60,000. California has the world’s fifth-largest economy; it has the nation’s highest rate of poverty.
And in recent weeks, a marauding coronavirus has made the playing field even more unlevel. In Los Angeles, black people are dying at twice the rate of white people, largely because of underlying health conditions related to trauma, poverty and lack of access to regular healthcare.
In the Los Angeles I know, the seeds of revolution have been in the ground for years. It was never a matter of if the smoke would rise again, but when.
It’s understandable but a shame, really, that the clash we’re witnessing in L.A. is between protesters and police, most of whom do a hard job as well as they can. Police don’t run the schools or the economy or write public policy that determines who we invest in and who we leave behind.
It’s true that in L.A. County, cops accused of brutality are seldom prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and it’s true as well that the Los Angeles Police Department is not perfect, by a mile. It’s a different force than it was in 1965 and 1992; more diverse, more progressive, but we still have a long way to go.
I hope righteous but nonviolent protests, a great and vital expression of American liberty, continue and bring about real change.
When the civil rights movement surpasses its half-century anniversary and people still feel constantly judged and feared and treated like suspects because of the color of their skin, it’s time.
When an unarmed man is killed by police in broad daylight while begging to breathe, it’s time.
When the politics of division and scapegoating and race-baiting carry a man to the White House, it’s time.
When schools are not equal, healthcare is not equal and criminal justice is not equal, it’s time.
When promises are made in 1965 and again in 1992, but real change is still elusive, it’s time.
steve.lopez@latimes.com


latimes--2020-05-30--As looters hit the Grove mall, a security guard begs them to stop: 'We're one of you'

As looters began to descend on the Grove shopping mall on Saturday evening , two security guards outside the Nike store begged protesters not to enter .
“ We ’ re one of you , ” one guard said .
Several stores at the upscale shopping mall next to Farmers Market in Los Angeles were hit , including the Nordstrom .
A police kiosk at the mall was set on fire but officials were able to extinguish it before it spread .
The crowd rushed into the mall after police attempted to push some of the protesters assembled near 3rd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ area , the Grove ’ s outdoor speakers played music — the familiar crooners the shopping mall is known for .
Over a span of 20 minutes , looters broke into stores and emerged with goods .
At the Apple Store , people were seen coming out with large boxes .
One man and woman took goods from the Sephora beauty products store and placed them into a suitcase .
The Nordstrom department store was ransacked by looters .
A police kiosk was burned .
Some stores , including the Gap , had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recently lifted restrictions .
As police cruisers drove into the back entrance of the mall , sirens blaring , looters fled , carrying boxes of shoes and clothes with plastic hangers still attached .
Some scrambled up the hill at nearby Pan Pacific Park , throwing their loot over the fence .
Across the street , another shopping center was hit .
When a protester smashed the front window of the nearby Whole Foods on 3rd Street with a hammer , some screamed , “ Don ’ t do that !
Please !
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ began to clash among themselves .
Some who urged peace created a barricade of shopping carts around the store ’ s entrance to protect it , but moments later , another group jumped the barricade and broke the store ’ s door down .
More than three dozen officers stormed the scene from the Westside , firing rubber bullets and sending hundreds sprinting .
“ Stop running !
” one man screamed , standing atop a car with a megaphone .
“ Stand as one !
Say his name !
” Police and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Grove , with police shooting rubber bullets and striking demonstrators with batons .
Several police cars were set on fire and other vehicles vandalized .
Protesters also took over a Metro bus and climbed onto its roof to record videos of the police .
Speaking to a reporter at the Grove on Saturday evening , Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said he understood people ’ s anger and frustration but that the city needed to pull together .
“ This is not the solution , ” he said , standing next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We haven ’ t given up on L.A. , and L.A. shouldn ’ t give up on itself .
We can pull around this ... Policing doesn ’ t fix these kinds of societal problems .
I need all of L.A. to step up right now and be part of the solution .
”

As looters began to descend on the Grove shopping mall on Saturday evening, two security guards outside the Nike store begged protesters not to enter.
“We’re one of you,” one guard said.
Several stores at the upscale shopping mall next to Farmers Market in Los Angeles were hit, including the Nordstrom. A police kiosk at the mall was set on fire but officials were able to extinguish it before it spread.
The crowd rushed into the mall after police attempted to push some of the protesters assembled near 3rd Street. As the looters entered the area, the Grove’s outdoor speakers played music — the familiar crooners the shopping mall is known for.
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Over a span of 20 minutes, looters broke into stores and emerged with goods. At the Apple Store, people were seen coming out with large boxes. One man and woman took goods from the Sephora beauty products store and placed them into a suitcase.
The Nordstrom department store was ransacked by looters. A police kiosk was burned.
Some stores, including the Gap, had just opened for in-store shopping after officials recently lifted restrictions.
As police cruisers drove into the back entrance of the mall, sirens blaring, looters fled, carrying boxes of shoes and clothes with plastic hangers still attached.
Some scrambled up the hill at nearby Pan Pacific Park, throwing their loot over the fence.
Across the street, another shopping center was hit.
When a protester smashed the front window of the nearby Whole Foods on 3rd Street with a hammer, some screamed, “Don’t do that! Please!” while others cheered.
The protesters began to clash among themselves. Some who urged peace created a barricade of shopping carts around the store’s entrance to protect it, but moments later, another group jumped the barricade and broke the store’s door down.
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More than three dozen officers stormed the scene from the Westside, firing rubber bullets and sending hundreds sprinting. “Stop running!” one man screamed, standing atop a car with a megaphone. “Stand as one! Say his name!”
Police and protesters were in a tense standoff near the Grove, with police shooting rubber bullets and striking demonstrators with batons. Several police cars were set on fire and other vehicles vandalized. Protesters also took over a Metro bus and climbed onto its roof to record videos of the police.
Speaking to a reporter at the Grove on Saturday evening, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said he understood people’s anger and frustration but that the city needed to pull together.
“This is not the solution,” he said, standing next to the Nordstrom store that was looted. “We haven’t given up on L.A., and L.A. shouldn’t give up on itself. We can pull around this...Policing doesn’t fix these kinds of societal problems. I need all of L.A. to step up right now and be part of the solution.”


latimes--2020-05-30--LAPD cars set on fire near The Grove amid violent clashes between police, protesters in Fairfax Dist

LAPD cars set on fire near The Grove amid violent clashes between police, protesters in Fairfax District

A tense standoff between police and protesters marking the killing of George Floyd was underway in the Fairfax District after demonstrators set several LAPD cruisers on fire .
The group marched past The Grove and Farmers Market .
At one point , some people tagged a Metro bus with graffiti along with some walls of the Grove .
Some demonstrators stood on top of DuPars restaurant holding banners .
Hundreds were now stalled at Third Street just west of Fairfax Avenue , blocked by a row of LAPD officers .
Some protesters vandalized police cars , including breaking windows and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assembly order and told protesters to leave .
On Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue , a group of protesters crashed with police , throwing debris at them and officers fired less-than-lethal weapons .
The officers retreated from the intersection , and protesters marched down the street , some riding on top of trash dumpsters .
Some protesters tried to get into CBS Television City but we pushed back security officers and police , Protesters spray painted “ Cops and Klan go hand and hand ” along on the side of a Citibank at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eat the Rich ” was scrawled on the Writers Guild of America building .
People climbed up on the roof of the Farmers Market ’ s Starbucks Coffee , while nearby protesters held signs that read , “ Abolish Cops.
” The Grove appeared to be untouched and some people walked through the outdoor mall as they headed away from the crowd .
A woman who gave her name as Tof came upon the protest after doing some shopping in the neighborhood .
Looking down the street , she said peaceful protests hadn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ There ’ s no wrong way to protest , ” she said .
“ We would never do this if they weren ’ t killing us.
” Hopefully , with the afternoon ’ s destruction , “ they will listen.
” Many in the group held their hands up , silently facing the officers .
Loud bangs could be heard , prompting some in the crowd to run down 3rd street and into nearby alleys .
Two protesters said they witnessed officers shooting what looked to be canisters into the ground .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ patrol cars at a press conference and urged protesters to leave the scene , “ There is no good that can come of it , ” he said .
He announced a curfew for downtown tonight but said the new rules would not cover Fairfax or other parts of the city .
To the west , the Beverly Hills Police Department said protesters were now also in that city but few other details were available .
The large crowd at Pan Pacific Park off Beverly Boulevard chanted “ defund police ” and “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a rally organized by Black Lives Matter and social justice group BLD PWR .
The rally ’ s speakers called for fewer public dollars for police departments and for schools and prisons to be overhauled .
“ We ’ re living in the middle of an uprising , ” Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors told the group .
“ Let ’ s be clear : We are in an uprising for black life.
” Marsha Steinberg , 76 , who described herself as a longtime activist , was among those who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I was here for Rodney [ King ] , ” said Steinberg , who lives in the neighborhood .
“ Nothing has changed.
” “ People have not had an outlet for justice , ” Steinberg said , adding that new district attorneys need to be elected and prosecute cops accused of misconduct .
Alvardo , 21 , lives in Santa Clarita and drove to the L.A. rally because she is “ sick and tired of waking up every morning ” to news about police killings .
“ I can ’ t compare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through , ” she said of being black.
“ But I ’ m here to support them.
” By 2 p.m. , more than 1,000 marchers made their way from Pan Pacific Park near The Grove shopping center and began marching west down 3rd Street toward Beverly Hills .
Police helicopters whirred overhead , while people standing on the sidewalks cheered on the marchers .
Some marchers chanted “ No Justice , No Peace !
” But overall the crowd was peaceful and there were no acts of violence or vandalism .
Some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the marchers and motorists honked their support .
The protesters demonstrating against the in Minneapolis are part of a movement that has raged across the country in recent days , turning destructive in various cities .
In downtown Los Angeles , the situation deteriorated into vandalism and looting later Friday evening .

A police car burns near Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street after a demonstration at Pan Pacific Park turned violent Saturday.
A tense standoff between police and protesters marking the killing of George Floyd was underway in the Fairfax District after demonstrators set several LAPD cruisers on fire.
The group marched past the Grove and Farmers Market. At one point, some people tagged a Metro bus with graffiti along with some walls of the Grove. Some demonstrators stood on top of Du-pars restaurant holding banners.
People at a gathering setup by groups Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and Build Power at Pan Pacific Park on Saturday. Protests erupted across the country, with people outraged over the death of George Floyd. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Hundreds were now stalled at 3rd Street just west of Fairfax Avenue, blocked by a row of LAPD officers. Some protesters vandalized police cars, including breaking windows and tagging. The LAPD issued an unlawful assembly order and told protesters to leave.
On Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, a group of protesters clashed with police, throwing debris at them and officers fired less-than-lethal weapons. The officers retreated from the intersection, and protesters marched down the street, some riding on top of trash dumpsters.
Some protesters tried to get into CBS Television City but were pushed back by security officers and police.
Protesters spray-painted “Cops and Klan go hand in hand” along on the side of a Citibank at Fairfax. Across the street, “Eat the Rich” was scrawled on the Writers Guild of America building.
People climbed up on the roof of the Farmers Market’s Starbucks Coffee, while nearby protesters held signs that read, “Abolish Cops.”
The Grove appeared to be untouched and some people walked through the outdoor mall as they headed away from the crowd.
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A woman who gave her name as Tof came upon the protest after doing some shopping in the neighborhood. Looking down the street, she said peaceful protests hadn’t worked in the past. “There’s no wrong way to protest,” she said. “We would never do this if they weren’t killing us.”
Hopefully, with the afternoon’s destruction, “they will listen.”
People at a gathering setup by groups Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and Build Power at Pan Pacific Park on Saturday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Many in the group held their hands up, silently facing the officers. Loud bangs could be heard, prompting some in the crowd to run down 3rd street and into nearby alleys. Two protesters said they witnessed officers shooting what looked to be canisters into the ground.
Mayor Eric Garcetti condemned the burning of patrol cars at a press conference and urged protesters to leave the scene,
“There is no good that can come of it,” he said.
He announced a curfew for downtown tonight but said the new rules would not cover Fairfax or other parts of the city.
To the west, the Beverly Hills Police Department said protesters were now also in that city but few other details were available.
Protesters are on the roof of Du-Pars at the Farmers Market. pic.twitter.com/rN0Uzm9zyj — Steve Saldivar (@stevesaldivar) May 30, 2020
The large crowd at Pan Pacific Park off Beverly Boulevard chanted “defund police” and “prosecute killer cops” and waved signs at a rally organized by Black Lives Matter and social justice group BLD PWR.
The rally’s speakers called for fewer public dollars for police departments and for schools and prisons to be overhauled.
“We’re living in the middle of an uprising,” Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors told the group. “Let’s be clear: We are in an uprising for black life.”
Marsha Steinberg, 76, who described herself as a longtime activist, was among those who came out for the rally. “I was here for Rodney [King],” said Steinberg, who lives in the neighborhood. “Nothing has changed.”
The scene outside the Grove pic.twitter.com/cox39mofVJ — Steve Saldivar (@stevesaldivar) May 30, 2020
“People have not had an outlet for justice,” Steinberg said, adding that new district attorneys need to be elected and prosecute cops accused of misconduct.
Isabel Alvardo waved a sign reading “Latinos for Black Lives Matter.”
Alvardo, 21, lives in Santa Clarita and drove to the L.A. rally because she is “sick and tired of waking up every morning” to news about police killings. “I can’t compare myself to what they’re going through,” she said of being black.“But I’m here to support them.”
By 2 p.m., more than 1,000 marchers made their way from Pan Pacific Park near The Grove shopping center and began marching west down 3rd Street toward Beverly Hills.
Police helicopters whirred overhead, while people standing on the sidewalks cheered on the marchers. Some marchers chanted “No Justice, No Peace!”
Smoke and loud bangs. pic.twitter.com/SIIksIygwH — Steve Saldivar (@stevesaldivar) May 30, 2020
But overall the crowd was peaceful and there were no acts of violence or vandalism. Some bystanders even offered bottles of water to the marchers and motorists honked their support.


latimes--2020-05-30--Newsom declares state of emergency in L.A., deploys National Guard

Gov .
Gavin Newsom late Saturday declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles county and city and activated the National Guard to assist police after two days of violent demonstrations sparked by the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd , a black man whose neck was pinned down by a white police officer .
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti requested that Newsom mobilize the Guard less than an hour after the mayor expanded a mandator curfew , first set for downtown , to the entire city from 8 p.m. Saturday to 5:30 a.m. Sunday .
Los Angeles Metro said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ curfew period .
The decision to call in the National Guard was criticized by City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson , who represents a portion of South L.A. “ It ’ s clear that our fear is real that additional law enforcement will only further violence against people of color , ” Harris-Dawson said in a statement .
“ Anarchists are taking advantage of our pain with looting and violence — this is not Black Lives Matter or members of our community who have suffered from systematic racism and oppression — these are domestic terrorists.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ demonstrations in the Fairfax district deteriorated , with shops at the Grove , including Nordstrom and the Apple Store , vandalized and looted .
A small police kiosk in the shopping center was set on fire .
When a protester smashed the front window of the nearby Whole Foods with a hammer , some screamed , “ Don ’ t do that !
Please !
” while others cheered .
The protesters began to clash among themselves ; those urging peace created a barricade of shopping carts around the store ’ s entrance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , another group jumped the barricade and broke the store ’ s door down .
More than three dozen officers stormed the scene from the Westside , firing rubber bullets and sending hundreds sprinting .
“ Stop running !
” one man screamed , standing atop a car with a megaphone .
“ Stand as one !
Say his name !
” As the night wore on , there were more reports of looting on Fairfax and Melrose avenues , where several stores were ransacked and a Starbucks coffee shop was set on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an Adidas store on Melrose and Edinburgh avenues at 9:45 pm , running out carrying with blue boxes of shoes .
Empty shoe boxes and glass littered the sidewalk outside the store .
Cars honked as the looting continued .
Two men stood across the street watching the scene unfold together .
“ It ’ s horrible , they need any excuse just to take something , ” said one of them , Mel , a 39 year old Compton resident who would provide only his first name .
Mel said he came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ witness history .
“ It ’ s going to be in the news , ” he said .
“ It ’ s going to be like the Watts riots .
I wasn ’ t really alive for it but I was alive for this one .
I ’ ll tell my kids and family members what happened.
” By early Sunday , the chao was replaced by an eerie quiet .
Around 1 a.m.y , a few stragglers remained in the Fairfax District , the epicenter of the prior day ’ s protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that had smoldered for hours .
Metro buses , flanked by police motorcycle escorts , carried detained people who had zipties on their wrists .
Broken glass glittered on the sidewalk and hung from window flames , including once building with cardboard signs reading : “ Black Owned.
” In Santa Ana , where protesters and police clashed , the streets were quiet by 2:30 a.m. At the intersection of McFadden Avenue and Bristol Street , where much of Saturday ’ s skirmishes took place , the scent of melted plastic lingered in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across the intersection .
One man drinking with friends outside a nearby house described the entire episode as “ dumb.
” “ Do you have to loot ?
” he said .
“ You ’ re just making the city look bad .
The man , who declined to provide his name , said he watched police officers fire tear gas at demonstrators , who threw rocks and other items at officers .
Workers at a Smart and Final on Edinger Avenue were cleaning up broken glass .
A small cardboard sign lay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lynching a federal crime.
” Nearby , Julio De La Chica said he watched demonstrators break windows at the Smart and Final and an O ’ Reilly Auto Store , whose walls were scrawled with anti-police graffiti .
“ I was stunned , ” he said .
“ I ’ ve never really seen anything like that before.
” Garcetti said the simultaneous protests and coronavirus pandemic represented “ the heaviest moment I ’ ve experienced as a resident of Los Angeles ” since the riots in 1992 .
“ This was supposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and then we saw the closing of a life in Minneapolis , ” Garcetti said , referring to the death there of Floyd at the hands of police .
Instead of focusing on recovery , Los Angeles had been forced to close all of its coronavirus testing sites as a safety precaution , he said .
Health officials were worried about “ super spreaders ” being among the protesters , potentially impeding the city ’ s progress in beating back the virus .
Garcetti said he welcomes peaceful protests to continue in future @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time to go home .
Come back [ and ] protest peacefully when there is peace.
” He said police will be empowered to make arrests if people violate the curfew .
Beverly Hills , Glendale , Pasadena and West Hollywood also announced an 8 p.m. curfew .
“ I am asking everyone to stay home , ” Beverly Hills Mayor Les Friedman said .
In San Francisco , Mayor London Breed ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew that began Sunday night and asked Newsom to place the National Guard on standby to assist .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ came after peaceful protests lasted in San Francisco ’ s Civic Center through Saturday afternoon .
But as night fell , there were increased levels of violence , police cars were vandalized and police officers were assaulted , Police Chief Bill Scott said .
have been smashed on the city ’ s main commercial thoroughfare , Market Street .
“ We can not , and we will not tolerate that , ” Scott said late Saturday .
On Saturday afternoon , police and protesters had a tense standoff near the Grove , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with batons while several police cars were set on fire and other vehicles vandalized .
Protesters also took over a Metro bus and climbed on its roof to videotape police .
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority halted all bus and rail service until Sunday at 5:30 a.m. to “ ensure the safety of both the public and L.A. Metro employees , ” said the agency ’ s chief executive , Phil Washington .
Hundreds of protesters were marching to decry Floyd ’ s death when the standoff occurred at West 3rd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the group held their hands up , silently facing the officers .
Loud bangs could be heard , prompting some in the crowd to run down 3rd Street and into nearby alleys .
Two protesters said they witnessed officers shooting what looked to be rubber bullets and canisters .
The large crowd first gathered at Pan Pacific Park off Beverly Boulevard , where they chanted “ defund police ” and “ prosecute killer cops ” and waved signs at a rally organized by Black Lives Matter and social justice group BLD PWR .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ fewer public dollars for police departments and for schools and prisons to be overhauled .
“ We ’ re living in the middle of an uprising , ” Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors told the group .
“ Let ’ s be clear : We are in an uprising for black life.
” Marsha Steinberg , 76 , who described herself as a longtime activist , was among those who came out for the rally .
“ I was here for Rodney [ King ] , ” said Steinberg , who lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changed.
” “ People have not had an outlet for justice , ” Steinberg said , adding that new district attorneys need to be elected and prosecute cops accused of misconduct .
Isabel Alvardo waved a sign reading “ Latinos for Black Lives Matter.
” Alvardo , 21 , lives in Santa Clarita and drove to the L.A. rally because she is “ sick and tired of waking up every morning ” to news about police killings .
“ I can ’ t compare myself to what they ’ re going through , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ But I ’ m here to support them.
” By 2 p.m. , thousands of marchers made their way from Pan Pacific Park and began marching west down 3rd Street toward Beverly Hills .
Police helicopters whirred overhead , while people standing on the sidewalks cheered on the marchers .
Some marchers chanted , “ No justice , no peace !
” Early on , the crowd was peaceful , and there were no acts of violence or vandalism .
Some bystanders even offered bottles of water to the marchers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then the crowd and police engaged in a standoff , and matters quickly spiraled out of control .
By 4:30 p.m. , the crowd appeared to be dispersing .
Some protesters could be seen heading away from the mass of people gathered at Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street .
With the crowd thinning , it was easier to spot the destruction of property in this popular commercial neighborhood .
About a dozen destroyed or defaced LAPD cruisers stood parked on 3rd Street , yards from where a loud crowd of protesters faced a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charred rubber wafted through the area .
The cruisers ’ windows were smashed , mirrors ripped out and the vehicles ’ bodies scrawled with writing : “ F— pigs ” and “ Kill cops.
” Protesters spray-painted “ Cops and Klan go hand and hand ” along the side of a Citibank at Fairfax .
Across the street , “ Eat the Rich ” was scrawled on the Writers Guild of America building .
People climbed up on the roof of the Farmers Market ’ s Starbucks , while nearby protesters held signs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A woman who gave her name as Tof came upon the protest after doing some shopping in the neighborhood .
Looking down the street , she said peaceful protests hadn ’ t worked in the past .
“ There ’ s no wrong way to protest , ” she said .
“ We would never do this if they weren ’ t killing us.
” With the afternoon ’ s destruction , she hopes “ they will listen.
” Around 6 p.m. , police arrested about 20 protesters who were then loaded onto @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of protesters — many dressed in black and wearing masks — posed for photographs , each with a fist in the air , while standing atop a burned and graffiti-marked car by Edinburgh Avenue and Beverly Boulevard .
One demonstrator walked by carrying a sign that said , “ Who do you call when a murderer wears a badge ?
” A helicopter circled overhead while police sirens wailed nearby .
About 6:15 p.m. , a crowd suddenly dispersed as police shot rubber bullets at protesters near intersection of Beverly Boulevard and Hayworth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minutes later and stood in front of a barricade of police officers .
Many held their hands in the air .
“ George Floyd !
” they chanted .
A 24-year-old protester who came from Northridge watched from a few feet away .
“ This is how they ’ re trying to calm us down ?
” he said .
“ We ’ re just trying to prove a point.
” Shortly afterward , officers declared an unlawful assembly and the crowd scattered again .
Glass littered the sidewalk from a broken storefront @ @ @ @ @ @ @ looters broke into the Nordstrom department store and the Apple Store and ran off with merchandise .
Sheriff ’ s deputies , some armed with semi-automatic weapons , arrived to assist police on 3rd Street .
An officer in a police helicopter overhead urged the crowd of several hundred protesters to disperse .
A 26-year-old protester shook as police fired another round of rubber bullets at demonstrators gathering at nearby Edinburgh Avenue and Beverly Boulevard .
She had been encouraged to attend the protest — her first ever — by her boyfriend but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the leg by a bullet .
“ It ’ s like they don ’ t even care , ” said Latanya Marie , who agreed to be identified by her middle name .
“ People are chanting .
How are you going to hit people with rubber bullets ?
” She said she wasn ’ t confident the protests would effect a change , but that she felt better driving out to participate from the Valley than supporting only via social media .
“ I really don ’ t think it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said .
“ But at least I ’ m getting out here and letting my anger be known.
” Travon Walton , a 25-year-old student from Long Beach , arrived in the Fairfax area in the afternoon to join the protests .
He said that he saw many non-black protesters inciting the police from up close and said he worried that the black community will receive the blame .
“ All the white people are in the front , ” he said .
“ We ’ re going to be the ones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his first protest , and he planned to leave after the city ’ s 8 p.m. curfew .
“ We thought we ’ d just come out here to have a peaceful protest but as you can see , it ’ s not that as all , ” he said .
Speaking to a reporter at the Grove on Saturday evening , LAPD Chief Moore said he was troubled by how things had gotten out of control .
He said he understood people ’ s anger and frustration but that the city needed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not the solution , ” he said , standing next to the Nordstrom store that was looted .
“ We haven ’ t given up on L.A. , and L.A. shouldn ’ t give up on itself .
We can pull around this ... .Policing doesn ’ t fix these kind of societal problems .
I need all of L.A. to step up right now and be part of the solution.
” Protesters in downtown clashed with police repeatedly , at times throwing rocks and other projectiles at police .
Officers at times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Businesses were vandalized , and at one point a dumpster fire was started in the middle of a major thoroughfare .
Keena Rizzo , 35 , of Los Angeles , said she and other protesters were exhausted by an unfair policing system and an unfair economic system that had left them out to dry amid the pandemic .
“ We feel like we don ’ t mean anything , ” she said .
“ There ’ s not even a middle class anymore .
It ’ s just us and the rich.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it onto the 101 Freeway before officers escorted them off .
Traffic on the freeway was snarled .
A smaller group of sign-carrying protesters gathered in front of police headquarters downtown , where a larger number of LAPD officers stood by , behind metal barricades .
“ We came to let our voices be heard , ” said Monica Lopez of Alhambra .
“ Police brutality is not OK. ” Lopez brought her 12-year-old daughter Jazlyn , who said she was protesting for the first time .
She was waving a white sign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kill My Dad , I Need Him.
” The demonstrations came after Los Angeles police arrested more than 500 people after protests led to a night and morning of vandalism and looting on the streets of downtown Los Angeles .
The LAPD spent much of Friday night and Saturday morning trying to clear the streets as people smashed windows , stole items from stores , clashed with police and set items , including at least two LAPD vehicles , on fire .
A total of 533 people were arrested on suspicion of charges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of probation , battery on a police officer , attempted murder and failure to disperse , police said .
All but 18 of those arrested were released on their own recognizance by Saturday afternoon .
Authorities said they had to make so many arrests because those on the street refused repeated orders to leave , including an unlawful-assembly order for all of downtown , issued at 9:30 p.m. Friday .
Six LAPD officers were hurt , some after being hit by debris .
Their injuries were not life-threatening , police said .
Numerous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials could not give an immediate count .
At one point early Saturday , officers opened fire after a man drove through an intersection where they were holding skirmish lines , police said .
The suspect , Richard Dodson , 49 , suffered a minor injury and was charged with attempted murder , according to investigators .
Dodson sped through a police line at 6th Street and Broadway just before 2 a.m. , narrowly missing officers standing at the intersection and prompting one to fire a nonlethal round at Dodson ’ s vehicle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through a second skirmish line , and another officer fired rounds from his service weapon , according to investigators .
Dodson continued driving down the street until his car was blocked in by other traffic and he was arrested , police said .
In Oakland , one Federal Protective Service officer was fatally shot and another critically wounded outside a U.S. courthouse Friday night in an incident that federal authorities described as an act of domestic terrorism .
The officers were keeping watch over a protest there , but it wasn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be directly related to the unrest .
Earlier in the night , demonstrators blocked the 880 Freeway .
Protesters smashed windows , sprayed buildings with anti-police graffiti and were met with chemical spray from police .
Six Oakland police officers were injured , as well as seven members of other agencies who responded to assist , Oakland police said Saturday .
Twenty-two people were arrested , and 60 people suspected of looting were detained for further investigation , police said .
In Los Angeles , merchants tried to pick up the pieces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Claudia Oliveira , a board member of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council , showed up on Broadway with more than a dozen volunteers to sweep up broken glass and swab down walls .
A Brazilian immigrant , Oliveira grew up in Minneapolis .
She said she understood the anger and the outrage that boiled over on Friday night .
Floyd ’ s death at the hands of police in her hometown made her want to throw up , she said .
“ I ’ m a black Latina undocumented immigrant , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me .
I feel distraught and angry and frustrated .
We saw an innocent man ’ s life taken from him.
” But she said she was frustrated that the damage in downtown would disproportionately hurt the working class and people of color .
Most stores that were vandalized or looted are mom-and-pop stores , “ immigrant-owned , run by black and brown folks , ” Oliveira said .
The chain stores that were damaged , including Walgreens and Fallas Paredes , provide jobs , sell affordable goods and serve as lifelines for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oliveira said .
A Starbucks at 6th and Spring streets saw some of the worst damage , with windows smashed and damage to the inside of the store .
The cafe is on the first floor of the Hotel Hayward , a single resident occupancy hotel for low-income residents , Oliveira said .
“ It ’ s not that I don ’ t understand the struggle or the anger , ” she said .
“ I ’ m freaking furious .
But who would want to hurt and steal from black- and brown-owned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ owner Bill Nabati rubbed his face and fielded multiple calls from his security alarm company .
“ They looted my store , ” said Nabati , who has run the small storefront on Broadway since 1983 .
“ After two months of the coronavirus , we don ’ t need this.
” Some electronics had been taken , windows broken and shelves smashed , Nabati said .
The last time he saw this kind of damage was in 1992 , he said .
As then , Nabati said , he was frustrated that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protect his small business .
“ They knew it was going to happen , and they told me I needed to prepare , ” Nabati said .
“ There ’ s only so much I can do .
It ’ s out of my hands .
If they want to come destroy my business , they can.
” Times staff writers Hailey Branson-Potts , Rong-Gong Lin II , Laura J. Nelson and Alex Wigglesworth contributed to this report .

Kevin Rector, Dakota Smith, Kevin Baxter, Leila Miller, Emily Baumgaertner, Matthew Ormseth, Ruben Vives

An injured man gets up with the help of emergency workers during a protest May 27 in downtown L.A. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
A protester lies hurt on the 101 Freeway near downtown Los Angeles on May 27. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
During a May 29 protest, Los Angeles police patrol the 110 after having moved protesters off the freeway. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Police officers assume a defensive stance as a protester approaches them on the 110 Freeway on May 29. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Protesters climb over a barrier during the May 29 protest in downtown L.A. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Protesters are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall on Saturday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
A protester remains defiant after being pushed to the ground by police on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Police fire percussion rounds to clear protesters from Grand Avenue in in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Protesters gather around a fire in the middle of a downtown L.A. street on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Cecelia Rosales, who said she was homeless, walks past a line of police officers in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Sake House employee Jared Settles can’t bear to watch as the restaurant burns in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Gilbert Haro and sons Richard, 8, and James, 6, help clean up in Santa Monica. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Volunteers help clean up the mess left by looters in Long Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
People out after curfew are arrested Monday at Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Arrests are made of those out after curfew in Hollywood. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
AJ Lovelace, director and writer, tries to stop looters from breaking into a Walgreens in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A demonstrator, injured while trying to flee the firing of nonlethal rounds, lies on the ground in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Demonstrators in Riverside retreat as county sheriff’s deputies fire nonlethal rounds on Monday after law enforcement announced an unlawful assembly. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
AJ Lovelace, a director and writer, and others keep potential looters from entering a dry cleaning store as they attempt to march peacefully. “We need peace and we need someone to talk to each other,” he said after the looters fled the scene. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Khalil Mitchell speaks to protesters kneeling near a police line, preaching calm and working to preserve a peaceful protest on Monday. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
LAPD Cmdr. Gerald Woodyard takes a knee with protesters and L.A. clergy during a march in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Thousands of protesters march down Spring Street in Los Angeles Wednesday night to demonstrate for justice in the killing of George Floyd. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
A protester confronts National Guardsmen as thousands of protesters march down Spring Street in Los Angeles to demonstrate for justice in the George Floyd murder by cop case Wednesday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Protestors turn on their cell phone flashlights at Los Angeles City Hall at 9 pm on Wednesday as part of a silent protest against the death of George Floyd. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
Protesters stand on top of a bus stop at the Los Angeles Civic Center to demonstrate for justice Wednesday night. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Gov. Gavin Newsom late Saturday declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles county and city and activated the National Guard to assist police after two days of violent demonstrations sparked by the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a black man whose neck was pinned down by a white police officer.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti requested that Newsom mobilize the Guard less than an hour after the mayor widened a mandatory curfew, first imposed on downtown L.A., to the entire city from 8 p.m. Saturday to 5:30 a.m. Sunday. Los Angeles Metro said it was suspending all transit during the curfew period.
The decision to call in the National Guard was criticized by City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents a portion of South L.A.
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“It’s clear that our fear is real that additional law enforcement will only further violence against people of color,” Harris-Dawson said in a statement. “Anarchists are taking advantage of our pain with looting and violence — this is not Black Lives Matter or members of our community who have suffered from systematic racism and oppression — these are domestic terrorists.”
The decision came Saturday as peaceful demonstrations in the Fairfax district deteriorated, with shops at the Grove, including Nordstrom and the Apple Store, vandalized and looted. A small police kiosk in the shopping center was set on fire.
When a protester smashed the front window of the nearby Whole Foods with a hammer, some screamed, “Don’t do that! Please!” while others cheered.
The protesters began to clash among themselves. Those urging peace created a barricade of shopping carts around the store’s entrance to protect it, but moments later, another group jumped the barricade and broke the store’s door down.
More than three dozen officers stormed the scene from the Westside, firing rubber bullets and sending hundreds sprinting. “Stop running!” one man screamed, standing atop a car with a megaphone. “Stand as one! Say his name!”
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As the night wore on, there were more reports of looting on Fairfax and Melrose avenues, where several stores were ransacked and a Starbucks coffee shop was set ablaze. Dozens of looters ran into an Adidas store on Melrose and Edinburgh avenues at 9:45 p.m., emerging with blue boxes of shoes. Empty shoe boxes and glass littered the sidewalk outside the store. Cars honked as the looting continued.
Two men stood across the street watching the scene unfold together.
“It’s horrible — they need any excuse just to take something,” said one of them, Mel, a 39-year-old Compton resident who would provide only his first name. Mel said he came to the area to witness history.
“It’s going to be in the news,” he said. “It’s going to be like the Watts riots. I wasn’t really alive for it but I was alive for this one. I’ll tell my kids and family members what happened.”
By early Sunday, the chaos was replaced by an eerie quiet.
Around 1 a.m., a few stragglers remained in the Fairfax District, the epicenter of the prior day’s protests and looting. Fire crews doused storefronts that had smoldered for hours.
Metro buses, flanked by police motorcycle escorts, carried detained people who had zip-ties on their wrists. Broken glass glittered on the sidewalk and hung from window frames, including one building with cardboard signs reading: “Black Owned.”
In Santa Ana, where protesters and police clashed, the streets were quiet by 2:30 a.m.
At the intersection of McFadden Avenue and Bristol Street, where many of Saturday’s skirmishes took place, the scent of melted plastic lingered in the air. Broken glass was scattered across the intersection.
One man drinking with friends outside a nearby house described the entire episode as “dumb.”
“Do you have to loot?” he said. “You’re just making the city look bad.”
The man, who declined to provide his name, said he watched police officers fire tear gas at demonstrators, who threw rocks and other items at officers.
Workers at a Smart and Final on Edinger Avenue were cleaning up broken glass. A small cardboard sign lay close by, which read: “Make lynching a federal crime.”
Nearby, Julio De La Chica said he watched demonstrators break windows at the Smart and Final and an O’Reilly Auto Store, whose walls were scrawled with anti-police graffiti.
“I was stunned,” he said. “I’ve never really seen anything like that before.”
Garcetti said the simultaneous protests and COVID-19 pandemic represented “the heaviest moment I’ve experienced as a resident of Los Angeles” since the riots in 1992.
“This was supposed to be a weekend of openings, and then we saw the closing of a life in Minneapolis,” Garcetti said, referring to the death there of Floyd at the hands of police.
Instead of focusing on recovery, Los Angeles had been forced to close all of its coronavirus testing sites as a safety precaution, he said. Health officials were worried about “super spreaders” being among the protesters, potentially impeding the city’s progress in beating back the virus.
Garcetti said he welcomes peaceful protests to continue in future days, but “now is the time to go home. Come back [and] protest peacefully when there is peace.”
He said police will be empowered to make arrests if people violate the curfew.
Beverly Hills, Glendale, Pasadena and West Hollywood also announced an 8 p.m. curfew.
“I am asking everyone to stay home,” Beverly Hills Mayor Les Friedman said.
In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew that began Sunday night and asked Newsom to place the National Guard on standby to assist.
The call for help from the state came after peaceful protests lasted in San Francisco’s Civic Center through Saturday afternoon. But as night fell, there were increased levels of violence, police cars were vandalized and police officers were assaulted, Police Chief Bill Scott said. Storefront windows have been smashed on the city’s main commercial thoroughfare, Market Street.
“We cannot, and we will not, tolerate that,” Scott said late Saturday.
California Beverly Hills, West Hollywood prepare for protests, impose curfews Beverly Hills officials have urged residents to stay indoors in preparation for protests, and West Hollywood’s mayor said that city plans to issue a curfew for 8 p.m. through the 5:30 a.m. Beverly Hills is also ordering a curfew.
On Saturday afternoon, police and protesters had a tense standoff near the Grove in L.A.’s Fairfax District, with police shooting rubber bullets and striking demonstrators with batons while several police cars were set on fire and other vehicles vandalized. Protesters also took over a Metro bus and climbed on its roof to videotape police.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority halted all bus and rail service until Sunday at 5:30 a.m. to “ensure the safety of both the public and L.A. Metro employees,” said the agency’s chief executive, Phil Washington.
Hundreds of protesters were marching to decry Floyd’s death when the standoff occurred at West 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue. Many in the group held their hands up, silently facing the officers. Loud bangs could be heard, prompting some in the crowd to run down 3rd Street and into nearby alleys. Two protesters said they witnessed officers shooting what looked to be rubber bullets and canisters.
The large crowd first gathered at Pan Pacific Park off Beverly Boulevard, where they chanted “de-fund police” and “prosecute killer cops” and waved signs at a rally organized by Black Lives Matter and social justice group BLD PWR. The rally’s speakers called for fewer public dollars for police departments and for schools and prisons to be overhauled.
Areas of unrest in downtown L.A. and on the Westside. (Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times)
“We’re living in the middle of an uprising,” Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors told the group. “Let’s be clear: We are in an uprising for black life.”
Marsha Steinberg, 76, who described herself as a longtime activist, was among those who came out for the rally. “I was here for Rodney [King],” said Steinberg, who lives in the neighborhood. “Nothing has changed.”
“People have not had an outlet for justice,” Steinberg said, adding that new district attorneys need to be elected and cops prosecuted who are accused of misconduct.
Isabel Alvarado waved a sign reading “Latinos for Black Lives Matter.” Alvarado, 21, lives in Santa Clarita and drove to the L.A. rally because she is “sick and tired of waking up every morning” to news about police killings. “I can’t compare myself to what they’re going through,” she said, of being black. “But I’m here to support them.”
By 2 p.m., thousands of marchers made their way from Pan Pacific Park and began marching west down 3rd Street toward Beverly Hills.
Police helicopters whirred overhead, while people standing on the sidewalks cheered on the marchers. Some marchers chanted, “No justice, no peace!” Early on, the crowd was peaceful, and there were no acts of violence or vandalism. Some bystanders even offered bottles of water to the marchers, and motorists honked their support.
But then the crowd and police engaged in a standoff, and matters quickly spiraled out of control.
By 4:30 p.m., the crowd appeared to be dispersing. Some protesters could be seen heading away from the mass of people gathered at Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street.
With the crowd thinning, it was easier to spot the destruction of property in this popular commercial neighborhood.
About a dozen destroyed or defaced LAPD cruisers stood parked on 3rd Street, yards from where a loud crowd of protesters faced a row of police. The smell of charred rubber wafted through the area. The cruisers’ windows were smashed, mirrors ripped out and the vehicles’ bodies scrawled with writing: “F— pigs” and “Kill cops.”
Protesters spray-painted “Cops and Klan go hand and hand” along the side of a Citibank at Fairfax. Across the street, “Eat the Rich” was scrawled on the Writers Guild of America building.
People climbed up on the roof of the Farmers Market’s Starbucks, while nearby protesters held signs that read, “Abolish Cops.”
A woman who gave her name as Tof came upon the protest after doing some shopping in the neighborhood. Looking down the street, she said peaceful protests hadn’t worked in the past. “There’s no wrong way to protest,” she said. “We would never do this if they weren’t killing us.”
With the afternoon’s destruction, she hopes “they will listen.”
Around 6 p.m., police arrested about 20 protesters who were then loaded onto a sheriff’s bus. Dozens of protesters — many dressed in black and wearing masks — posed for photographs, each with a fist in the air, while standing atop a burned and graffiti-marked car by Edinburgh Avenue and Beverly Boulevard.
One demonstrator walked by carrying a sign that said, “Who do you call when a murderer wears a badge?” A helicopter circled overhead while police sirens wailed nearby.
About 6:15 p.m., a crowd suddenly dispersed as police shot rubber bullets at protesters near intersection of Beverly Boulevard and Hayworth Avenue. The protesters returned a few minutes later and stood in front of a barricade of police officers. Many held their hands in the air. “George Floyd!” they chanted.
A 24-year-old protester who came from Northridge watched from a few feet away.
“This is how they’re trying to calm us down?” he said. “We’re just trying to prove a point.”
Shortly afterward, officers declared an unlawful assembly and the crowd scattered again. Glass littered the sidewalk from a broken storefront window.
At the Grove nearby, looters broke into the Nordstrom department store and the Apple Store and ran off with merchandise. Sheriff’s deputies, some armed with semi-automatic weapons, arrived to assist police on 3rd Street. An officer in a police helicopter overhead urged the crowd of several hundred protesters to disperse.
A 26-year-old protester shook as police fired another round of rubber bullets at demonstrators gathering at nearby Edinburgh Avenue and Beverly Boulevard. She had been encouraged to attend the protest — her first ever — by her boyfriend but had already been hit in the back of the leg by a bullet.
“It’s like they don’t even care,” said Latanya Marie, who agreed to be identified by her middle name. “People are chanting. How are you going to hit people with rubber bullets?”
She said that she wasn’t confident the protests would effect a change, but that she felt better driving out to participate from the Valley than supporting only via social media.
“I really don’t think it’s going to do anything,” she said. “But at least I’m getting out here and letting my anger be known.”
Travon Walton, a 25-year-old student from Long Beach, arrived in the Fairfax area in the afternoon to join the protests. He said that he saw many non-black protesters inciting the police from up close and said he worried that the black community would receive the blame.
“All the white people are in the front,” he said. “We’re going to be the ones that get the backlash.”
This was his first protest, and he planned to leave after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew.
“We thought we’d just come out here to have a peaceful protest, but as you can see, it’s not that at all,” he said.
Speaking to a reporter at the Grove on Saturday evening, LAPD Chief Moore said he was troubled by how things had gotten out of control. He said he understood people’s anger and frustration but that the city needed to pull together.
“This is not the solution,” he said, standing next to the Nordstrom store that was looted. “We haven’t given up on L.A., and L.A. shouldn’t give up on itself. We can pull around this. ... Policing doesn’t fix these kind of societal problems. I need all of L.A. to step up right now and be part of the solution.”
Protesters in downtown clashed with police repeatedly, at times throwing rocks and other projectiles at police. Officers at times responded by firing projectiles toward protesters. Businesses were vandalized, and at one point a dumpster fire was started in the middle of a major thoroughfare.
Keena Rizzo, 35, of Los Angeles, said she and other protesters were exhausted by an unfair policing system and an unfair economic system that had left them out to dry amid the pandemic.
“We feel like we don’t mean anything,” she said. “There’s not even a middle class anymore. It’s just us and the rich.”
In Silver Lake, some protesters made it onto the 101 Freeway before officers escorted them off. Traffic on the freeway was snarled.
A smaller group of sign-carrying protesters gathered in front of police headquarters downtown, where a larger number of LAPD officers stood by, behind metal barricades.
“We came to let our voices be heard,” said Monica Lopez of Alhambra. “Police brutality is not OK.”
Lopez brought her 12-year-old daughter Jazlyn, who said she was protesting for the first time. She was waving a white sign that read, “Don’t Kill My Dad, I Need Him.”
The demonstrations came after Los Angeles police arrested more than 500 people after protests led to a night and morning of vandalism and looting on the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
The LAPD spent much of Friday night and Saturday morning trying to clear the streets as people smashed windows, stole items from stores, clashed with police and set items, including at least two LAPD vehicles, on fire.
A total of 533 people were arrested on suspicion of charges that included burglary, looting, violation of probation, battery on a police officer, attempted murder and failure to disperse, police said. All but 18 of those arrested were released on their own recognizance by Saturday afternoon.
Authorities said they had to make so many arrests because those on the street refused repeated orders to leave, including an unlawful-assembly order for all of downtown, issued at 9:30 p.m. Friday.
Six LAPD officers were hurt, some after being hit by debris. Their injuries were not life-threatening, police said. Numerous stores were vandalized and looted, but officials could not give an immediate count.
At one point early Saturday, officers opened fire after a man drove through an intersection where they were holding skirmish lines, police said. The suspect, Richard Dodson, 49, suffered a minor injury and was charged with attempted murder, according to investigators.
Dodson sped through a police line at 6th Street and Broadway just before 2 a.m., narrowly missing officers standing at the intersection and prompting one to fire a nonlethal round at Dodson’s vehicle, police said.
Dodson then drove through a second skirmish line, and another officer fired rounds from his service weapon, according to investigators. Dodson continued driving down the street until his car was blocked in by other traffic and he was arrested, police said.
In Oakland, one Federal Protective Service officer was fatally shot and another critically wounded outside a U.S. courthouse Friday night in an incident that federal authorities described as an act of domestic terrorism. The officers were keeping watch over a protest there, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether the shooting was believed to be directly related to the unrest.
Earlier in the night, demonstrators blocked the 880 Freeway. Protesters smashed windows, sprayed buildings with anti-police graffiti and were met with chemical spray from police.
Six Oakland police officers were injured, as well as seven members of other agencies who responded to assist, Oakland police said Saturday. Twenty-two people were arrested, and 60 people suspected of looting were detained for further investigation, police said.
In Los Angeles, merchants tried to pick up the pieces Saturday afternoon after a wave of destruction.
Claudia Oliveira, a board member of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, showed up on Broadway with more than a dozen volunteers to sweep up broken glass and swab down walls.
A Brazilian immigrant, Oliveira grew up in Minneapolis. She said she understood the anger and the outrage that boiled over on Friday night. Floyd’s death at the hands of police in her hometown made her want to throw up, she said.
“I’m a black Latina undocumented immigrant,” she said. “It hurts me. I feel distraught and angry and frustrated. We saw an innocent man’s life taken from him.”
But she said she was frustrated that the damage in downtown would disproportionately hurt the working class and people of color. Most stores that were vandalized or looted are mom-and-pop stores, “immigrant-owned, run by black and brown folks,” Oliveira said.
The chain stores that were damaged, including Walgreens and Fallas Paredes, provide jobs, sell affordable goods and serve as lifelines for poor and homeless residents of downtown, Oliveira said.
A Starbucks at 6th and Spring streets saw some of the worst damage, with windows smashed and damage to the inside of the store. The cafe is on the first floor of the Hotel Hayward, a single resident occupancy hotel for low-income residents, Oliveira said.
“It’s not that I don’t understand the struggle or the anger,” she said. “I’m freaking furious. But who would want to hurt and steal from black- and brown-owned businesses?”
Inside Discount Electronics, owner Bill Nabati rubbed his face and fielded multiple calls from his security alarm company.
“They looted my store,” said Nabati, who has run the small storefront on Broadway since 1983. “After two months of the coronavirus, we don’t need this.”
Some electronics had been taken, windows broken and shelves smashed, Nabati said. The last time he saw this kind of damage was in 1992, he said. As then, Nabati said, he was frustrated that the police had not done more to protect his small business.
“They knew it was going to happen, and they told me I needed to prepare,” Nabati said. “There’s only so much I can do. It’s out of my hands. If they want to come destroy my business, they can.”
Times staff writers Hailey Branson-Potts, Rong-Gong Lin II , Laura J. Nelson and Alex Wigglesworth contributed to this report.