latimes--2020-05-30--Newsom's budget cuts would hit Californians most vulnerable to coronavirus

Shirley Madden , 83 , relies on a caregiver and her two grown daughters to remain living at home — and not in a nursing home .
Her daughters , 55-year-old Carrie and 60-year-old Kristy Madden , both use wheelchairs and need a second caregiver to help them navigate their own daily lives .
But that critical caregiving support , along with other healthcare benefits for millions of Californians , could be scaled back to help plug a massive budget deficit triggered by the coronavirus .
California Gov .
Gavin Newsom has proposed sweeping budget cuts to safety-net healthcare programs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Medicaid program for low-income people ― just as enrollment is projected to spike because of record job losses related to the pandemic .
Healthcare experts fear the cuts could also jeopardize billions of dollars in emergency federal health funding allotted to California .
“ I understand there ’ s a pandemic , and it ’ s really bad and everybody is hurting , ” said Carrie Madden of Chatsworth .
Carrie and her sister have muscular dystrophy , and their mother is a heart attack survivor who struggles with dementia .
Madden ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis , which has hit older people and those with chronic health conditions the hardest .
She doesn ’ t want her mother , her sister or herself to end up in a nursing home or other long-term care facility — the settings with the most outbreaks of COVID-19 .
“ This is the wrong approach , ” she said .
“ This will make disabled people end up in nursing homes.
” States across the country are eyeing Medicaid cuts to balance their budgets , in part because healthcare is usually the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ education .
They also project that more people will sign up for the public healthcare program as the number of unemployed Americans hits astronomical heights .
More than 20 million Americans filed for in April , raising the jobless rate to at least 14.7 % , the worst since the Great Depression .
approved Medicaid cuts that will take effect after the federal emergency ends , while has instructed all its agencies to reduce spending by 14 % .
In California , where almost 2.9 million people have filed for in the past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ budget cuts as “ prudent ” and “ strategic , ” a huge pivot from the he unveiled earlier this year to expand healthcare to some of the neediest residents .
To address an estimated $ 54-billion deficit in the 2020-21 state budget , Newsom proposes a $ 205-million cut — or a 7 % reduction in caregiver hours — to the In-Home Supportive Services program the Maddens rely on .
The program , primarily funded by Medi-Cal , pays caregivers to make meals for people who need help to live independently , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bathe them , administer medical treatments and keep their homes clean .
of Newsom ’ s other proposed cuts is lengthy : He would scale back or eliminate other programs intended to keep low-income seniors and people with disabilities in their own homes , such as adult day healthcare and support from social workers .
He proposes to make it easier for the state to collect from deceased Medi-Cal enrollees ages 55 and older for a broad range of medical costs through the controversial “ Estate Recovery .
” He suggests reinstituting for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to qualify for free Medi-Cal .
And he is calling on lawmakers to remove $ 54.7 million in “ optional ” Medi-Cal benefits , such as adult podiatry care , eyeglasses , speech therapy and hearing exams — benefits that lawmakers recently restored after they were cut during the last recession .
“ These don ’ t feel optional to people if they have had a stroke or need teeth to eat their food , ” said Tricia Berke Vinson , an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ budget crisis , ” she added .
“ I just don ’ t think it can be balanced on the old and the sick.
” Physicians , dentists and other healthcare providers who treat Medi-Cal patients also stand to lose $ 1.2 billion in supplemental Medi-Cal payments that flow from Proposition 56 , a tobacco tax that voters approved in 2016 .
The Democratic governor ’ s proposal includes an automatic “ trigger ” to restore the cuts if the state gets more federal COVID relief dollars , shifting the responsibility to Congress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawmakers will make the sweeping Medi-Cal cuts the governor has proposed is uncertain .
For example , the state Senate plan preserves Medi-Cal funding and assumes Congress will pass another stimulus bill .
Both houses of the legislature must come to an agreement and present their version of the budget to the governor for consideration by June 15 .
“ Save these programs , and you save lives and money , ” said Assembly member Jim Wood ( D-Santa Rosa ) , chair of the Assembly Health Committee .
“ Cut these programs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be lost.
” Healthcare experts and some lawmakers also fear Newsom ’ s approach could jeopardize billions of dollars in emergency federal health funding already allotted to California .
States that drop Medicaid enrollees or reduce benefits risk losing out on additional federal health authorized by Congress this spring , said Edwin Park , an expert on Medicaid and a professor at Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy .
“ The federal government has said you can ’ t cut eligibility or dis-enroll or cut benefits , ” Park said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ delayed their state Medicaid cuts until after the federal emergency ends to ensure they still receive the added federal help now .
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did not respond to requests for comment .
posted on the agency ’ s website suggests that states must keep Medicaid programs intact .
California is expected to receive $ 5.1 billion in additional federal funding for Medi-Cal through June 30 , 2021 , according to the proposed budget Newsom released in mid-May .
The Newsom administration is not convinced that its Medi-Cal budget @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal money already approved by Congress .
“ There ’ s never a guarantee until we have that conversation with the federal government .
So until then , it ’ s hard for us to tell what the Fed ’ s going to do , ” said Yang Lee , an analyst at the state Department of Finance .
Newsom ’ s administration predicts that about 2 million Californians will sign up for Medi-Cal by July as a result of the pandemic , bringing the program ’ s enrollment to 14.5 million , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The administration anticipates $ 3.1 billion in added costs to cover the new enrollees .
The Legislative Analyst ’ s Office believes that is too high by $ 750 million , in part because new sign-ups will primarily be young and healthy individuals who do not need as much care as low-income seniors and people with disabilities .
For many current enrollees , Newsom ’ s proposals would cut into multiple benefits .
Cynde Soto , 63 , said it felt like “ someone had punched me in the gut ” when she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to cut the In-Home Supportive Services budget .
As a quadriplegic , the Long Beach resident worries that state cutbacks could force her into a nursing home .
On top of that , she fears she might lose her Medi-Cal dental and vision care if Newsom ’ s other cuts are approved .
“ I ’ ve had nightmares about it .
I don ’ t know what I ’ m going to do , ” Soto said .
“ Why do we always get hit first ?
” This story was produced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ independent service of the .
KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente .

Shirley Madden depends on help from Felix Valbuena to live independently at home in Chatsworth. Gov. Newsom’s proposed state budget would reduce the number of hours caregivers can work under the state’s In-Home Supportive Services program.
Shirley Madden, 83, relies on a caregiver and her two grown daughters to remain living at home — and not in a nursing home.
Her daughters, 55-year-old Carrie and 60-year-old Kristy Madden, both use wheelchairs and need a second caregiver to help them navigate their own daily lives.
But that critical caregiving support, along with other healthcare benefits for millions of Californians, could be scaled back to help plug a massive budget deficit triggered by the coronavirus.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed sweeping budget cuts to safety-net healthcare programs ― including Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program for low-income people ― just as enrollment is projected to spike because of record job losses related to the pandemic.
Healthcare experts fear the cuts could also jeopardize billions of dollars in emergency federal health funding allotted to California.
“I understand there’s a pandemic, and it’s really bad and everybody is hurting,” said Carrie Madden of Chatsworth. Carrie and her sister have muscular dystrophy, and their mother is a heart attack survivor who struggles with dementia.
Madden’s fears are compounded by the COVID-19 crisis, which has hit older people and those with chronic health conditions the hardest. She doesn’t want her mother, her sister or herself to end up in a nursing home or other long-term care facility — the settings with the most outbreaks of COVID-19.
“This is the wrong approach,” she said. “This will make disabled people end up in nursing homes.”
States across the country are eyeing Medicaid cuts to balance their budgets, in part because healthcare is usually the second-biggest portion of state spending, after education. They also project that more people will sign up for the public healthcare program as the number of unemployed Americans hits astronomical heights. More than 20 million Americans filed for unemployment in April, raising the jobless rate to at least 14.7%, the worst since the Great Depression.
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New York approved Medicaid cuts that will take effect after the federal emergency ends, while Georgia has instructed all its agencies to reduce spending by 14%.
In California, where almost 2.9 million people have filed for unemployment in the past two months, Newsom described the proposed budget cuts as “prudent” and “strategic,” a huge pivot from the grand plans he unveiled earlier this year to expand healthcare to some of the neediest residents.
To address an estimated $54-billion deficit in the 2020-21 state budget, Newsom proposes a $205-million cut — or a 7% reduction in caregiver hours — to the In-Home Supportive Services program the Maddens rely on. The program, primarily funded by Medi-Cal, pays caregivers to make meals for people who need help to live independently, as well as do their laundry, bathe them, administer medical treatments and keep their homes clean.
The list of Newsom’s other proposed cuts is lengthy: He would scale back or eliminate other programs intended to keep low-income seniors and people with disabilities in their own homes, such as adult day healthcare and support from social workers. He proposes to make it easier for the state to collect posthumous payback from deceased Medi-Cal enrollees ages 55 and older for a broad range of medical costs through the controversial “Estate Recovery Program .”
He suggests reinstituting stricter income requirements for some older people and those with disabilities to qualify for free Medi-Cal.
And he is calling on lawmakers to remove $54.7 million in “optional” Medi-Cal benefits, such as adult podiatry care, eyeglasses, speech therapy and hearing exams — benefits that lawmakers recently restored after they were cut during the last recession.
“These don’t feel optional to people if they have had a stroke or need teeth to eat their food,” said Tricia Berke Vinson, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County.
“I understand we are in a budget crisis,” she added. “I just don’t think it can be balanced on the old and the sick.”
Physicians, dentists and other healthcare providers who treat Medi-Cal patients also stand to lose $1.2 billion in supplemental Medi-Cal payments that flow from Proposition 56, a tobacco tax that voters approved in 2016.
The Democratic governor’s proposal includes an automatic “trigger” to restore the cuts if the state gets more federal COVID relief dollars, shifting the responsibility to Congress to negotiate another stimulus package.
Whether lawmakers will make the sweeping Medi-Cal cuts the governor has proposed is uncertain. For example, the state Senate plan preserves Medi-Cal funding and assumes Congress will pass another stimulus bill.
Both houses of the legislature must come to an agreement and present their version of the budget to the governor for consideration by June 15.
“Save these programs, and you save lives and money,” said Assembly member Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa), chair of the Assembly Health Committee. “Cut these programs, and costs will increase and lives will be lost.”
Healthcare experts and some lawmakers also fear Newsom’s approach could jeopardize billions of dollars in emergency federal health funding already allotted to California.
States that drop Medicaid enrollees or reduce benefits risk losing out on additional federal health payments authorized by Congress this spring, said Edwin Park, an expert on Medicaid and a professor at Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy.
“The federal government has said you can’t cut eligibility or dis-enroll or cut benefits,” Park said. He noted that New York lawmakers have delayed their state Medicaid cuts until after the federal emergency ends to ensure they still receive the added federal help now.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did not respond to requests for comment. Guidance posted on the agency’s website suggests that states must keep Medicaid programs intact.
California is expected to receive $5.1 billion in additional federal funding for Medi-Cal through June 30, 2021, according to the proposed budget Newsom released in mid-May.
The Newsom administration is not convinced that its Medi-Cal budget cuts will cost the state the additional federal money already approved by Congress.
“There’s never a guarantee until we have that conversation with the federal government. So until then, it’s hard for us to tell what the Fed’s going to do,” said Yang Lee, an analyst at the state Department of Finance.
Newsom’s administration predicts that about 2 million Californians will sign up for Medi-Cal by July as a result of the pandemic, bringing the program’s enrollment to 14.5 million, more than one-third of all Californians.
The administration anticipates $3.1 billion in added costs to cover the new enrollees. The Legislative Analyst’s Office believes that figure is too high by $750 million, in part because new sign-ups will primarily be young and healthy individuals who do not need as much care as low-income seniors and people with disabilities.
For many current enrollees, Newsom’s proposals would cut into multiple benefits.
Cynde Soto, 63, said it felt like “someone had punched me in the gut” when she heard about the governor’s plan to cut the In-Home Supportive Services budget. As a quadriplegic, the Long Beach resident worries that state cutbacks could force her into a nursing home. On top of that, she fears she might lose her Medi-Cal dental and vision care if Newsom’s other cuts are approved.
“I’ve had nightmares about it. I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Soto said. “Why do we always get hit first?”


latimes--2020-05-30--'It's worse today than it was back then': Watching Minneapolis, some Angelenos recall Rodney King

For millions who ’ ve watched it since Monday , George Floyd ’ s final plea to the Minneapolis police officer now charged with his murder was an echo of Eric Garner ’ s dying words : “ I can ’ t breathe.
” For the second time in six years , those words have become a rallying cry for protesters across the country , including hundreds in Los Angeles , where demonstrators stopped traffic on the 101 Freeway on Wednesday evening and again on Friday .
But for some black Angelenos , footage of Floyd ’ s killing and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Minneapolis are also painful reminders of a much older tape .
Nearly 30 years after the police beating of Rodney King , the rage and despair remain familiar — but hope for justice has ebbed .
“ I don ’ t feel better , and it troubles me to say that , ” said Kerman Maddox , a public affairs consultant who lived near the epicenter of the uprising in 1992 and covered the riots as a reporter in South L.A. “ It ’ s worse today than it was back then.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Rodney King tape had felt briefly revelatory — at last , he and others believed , white Americans would be forced to confront how police treated black men .
“ My first response was , finally someone caught it on videotape , ” Maddox said .
“ Some of us had been the victim of that ourselves , but there was never a camera .
We thought , finally we ’ re going to get justice , because it ’ s clear what ’ s going on , it ’ s clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Even after a Simi Valley jury found the officers not guilty , Maddox consoled himself that the riots would make such police violence singular .
“ When you saw the destruction after , you thought people got the message , and this will never happen again , ” Maddox said .
“ But it happens over and over and over again and nothing seems to change .
Nothing seems to get better.
” Watching the civil unrest in Minneapolis , he said he felt the same pain and rage as when his neighborhood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But as the father of a teenage boy , that outrage is now shot through with terror .
“ Back then , they used to beat the crap out of us , but they didn ’ t kill us , ” he said .
“ Now when my 13-year-old son goes to the park , I worry ... is someone going to call the cops on him ?
” U.S. Rep. Karen Bass ( D-Los Angeles ) was already working on police misconduct through the Community Coalition , her South L.A. social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ King being beaten surfaced .
In an interview Friday , she recalled widespread hope that the tape would mark a turning point for communities like hers .
“ I remember feeling that — it was visceral , ” the congresswoman said .
“ With the invention of the video camera , we were sure we would finally get justice .
Since then there ’ s been I don ’ t know how many recordings of black people being shot in the back , shot when they are running .
In the overwhelming majority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charged or not convicted.
” On Friday , former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder in connection with Floyd ’ s killing .
But videos of the incident appear to show several officers standing by as Chauvin pressed his knee to Floyd ’ s neck , and Bass said they too must be arrested and held responsible .
“ These officers stood and assisted in the commission of a crime , they deserve to be arrested too , ” Bass said .
In the meantime , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ In spite of how we feel , we have to soldier on , ” she said .
“ I want to see despair expressed in action that moves things forward.
” That ’ s the message Dominique DiPrima has emphasized to callers this week on her early morning talk radio show on KJLH .
The longtime Angeleno was still living in her native Bay Area when the verdict was handed down in 1992 , but she remembered protesting in the streets of San Francisco .
Since then , she said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conversation ” in her work .
“ What I ’ m hearing the most is frustration , like when is this going to stop ?
” DiPrima said of the recent calls to her show .
“ I ’ ve had some people say we ’ ve got to start shooting back .
And I ’ ve had people saying they give up.
” Though she said the task of reform feels Sisyphean , she pointed out that recent protests have brought concrete change .
“ When people get on the phone and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I say [ State Assemblywoman ] Shirley Weber passed a bill that changes when police can use deadly force , ” DiPrima said .
“ We now have a sheriffs ’ oversight committee with subpoena power — that doesn ’ t happen without Black Lives Matter.
” Still , she said , that progress had come at an enormous cost — both in lives lost , and those weighted down by the struggle to hold law enforcement accountable .
“ A couple of years before his death , I got the opportunity to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was really very haunting , ” DiPrima said .
“ Because you could see the weight of that : not just the incident and being beaten , but the weight of carrying that for us .
”

Elyssa Wells and others protest Thursday on Grand Avenue downtown, defying police orders to leave the area.
For millions who’ve watched it since Monday, George Floyd’s final plea to the Minneapolis police officer now charged with his murder was an echo of Eric Garner’s dying words: “I can’t breathe.”
For the second time in six years, those words have become a rallying cry for protesters across the country, including hundreds in Los Angeles, where demonstrators stopped traffic on the 101 Freeway on Wednesday evening and again on Friday.
But for some black Angelenos, footage of Floyd’s killing and the civil unrest that has followed in Minneapolis are also painful reminders of a much older tape. Nearly 30 years after the police beating of Rodney King, the rage and despair remain familiar — but hope for justice has ebbed.
“I don’t feel better, and it troubles me to say that,” said Kerman Maddox, a public affairs consultant who lived near the epicenter of the uprising in 1992 and covered the riots as a reporter in South L.A. “It’s worse today than it was back then.”
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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)
Disturbing as it was, Maddox said the Rodney King tape had felt briefly revelatory — at last, he and others believed, white Americans would be forced to confront how police treated black men.
“My first response was, finally someone caught it on videotape,” Maddox said. “Some of us had been the victim of that ourselves, but there was never a camera. We thought, finally we’re going to get justice, because it’s clear what’s going on, it’s clear as the nose on your face.”
Even after a Simi Valley jury found the officers not guilty, Maddox consoled himself that the riots would make such police violence singular.
“When you saw the destruction after, you thought people got the message, and this will never happen again,” Maddox said. “But it happens over and over and over again and nothing seems to change. Nothing seems to get better.”
Watching the civil unrest in Minneapolis, he said he felt the same pain and rage as when his neighborhood was ripped apart around him in 1992. But as the father of a teenage boy, that outrage is now shot through with terror.
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“Back then, they used to beat the crap out of us, but they didn’t kill us,” he said. “Now when my 13-year-old son goes to the park, I worry ... is someone going to call the cops on him?”
U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) was already working on police misconduct through the Community Coalition, her South L.A. social justice organization, when video of Rodney King being beaten surfaced. In an interview Friday, she recalled widespread hope that the tape would mark a turning point for communities like hers.
“I remember feeling that — it was visceral,” the congresswoman said. “With the invention of the video camera, we were sure we would finally get justice. Since then there’s been I don’t know how many recordings of black people being shot in the back, shot when they are running. In the overwhelming majority of cases, officers were either not charged or not convicted.”
On Friday, former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder in connection with Floyd’s killing. But videos of the incident appear to show several officers standing by as Chauvin pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck, and Bass said they too must be arrested and held responsible.
“These officers stood and assisted in the commission of a crime, they deserve to be arrested too,” Bass said.
In the meantime, she urged her constituents not to lose hope.
“In spite of how we feel, we have to soldier on,” she said. “I want to see despair expressed in action that moves things forward.”
That’s the message Dominique DiPrima has emphasized to callers this week on her early morning talk radio show on KJLH. The longtime Angeleno was still living in her native Bay Area when the verdict was handed down in 1992, but she remembered protesting in the streets of San Francisco.
Since then, she said, police violence has been “a constant conversation” in her work.
“What I’m hearing the most is frustration, like when is this going to stop?” DiPrima said of the recent calls to her show. “I’ve had some people say we’ve got to start shooting back. And I’ve had people saying they give up.”
Though she said the task of reform feels Sisyphean, she pointed out that recent protests have brought concrete change.
“When people get on the phone and say all we do is protest, I say [State Assemblywoman] Shirley Weber passed a bill that changes when police can use deadly force,” DiPrima said. “We now have a sheriffs’ oversight committee with subpoena power — that doesn’t happen without Black Lives Matter.”
Still, she said, that progress had come at an enormous cost — both in lives lost, and those weighted down by the struggle to hold law enforcement accountable.
“A couple of years before his death, I got the opportunity to interview Rodney King at KJLH and it was really very haunting,” DiPrima said. “Because you could see the weight of that: not just the incident and being beaten, but the weight of carrying that for us.”


latimes--2020-05-30--Schools issue warning: Coronavirus testing and tracing are needed before campuses reopen

Raising the possibility that campuses won ’ t reopen in the fall , leaders of the state ’ s two largest K-12 school systems on Friday demanded that public health authorities , not school districts , take the lead on setting up coronavirus testing and contact tracing of students and employees .
Los Angeles Supt .
Austin Beutner and San Diego Supt .
Cindy Marten — whose combined districts represent 915,000 children and workers — issued a public warning : Either their school districts get more funding and assertive health department intervention or they can ’ t consider reopening campuses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools will not be as easy as separating desks or placing pieces of tape on the floor , ” Beutner and Marten said in their statement .
“ A robust system of COVID-19 testing and contact tracing will need to be in place before we can consider reopening schools .
Local health authorities , not school districts , have to lead the way on testing , contact tracing and a clear set of protocols on how to respond to any occurrence of the virus.
” Beutner and Martens also said it will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and carry out reopening plans , without having to devise and pay for public health safety measures .
“ Facilities will need to be reconfigured and supplies purchased to sanitize schools on a regular basis .
Personal protective equipment will need to be provided to students and staff , ” they said in the statement .
“ More teachers and staff will be needed to do this extra work .
... And state authorities have to provide the funding.
” The statement comes after the Los Angeles County Office of Education released guidelines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ necessary to reopening schools .
Based on these guidelines , school districts will have to consider staggered schedules that would allow for no more than 12 to 16 in a classroom , where students also would take their meals .
Everyone would wear masks all day , and recess or physical education could mean students playing alone with their own ball or hula hoop .
Schools also face questions of how often to sanitize , whether to screen students and staff as they enter and what to do when someone gets sick or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Statewide , campuses have been closed since mid-March , with schools switching to remote instruction .
The reopening of campuses is widely seen as essential to fully reopening the economy .
On Thursday , an alliance called the Education Coalition took aim at Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s proposed budget , which calls for cuts to education funding of about 10 % .
That spending plan would exacerbate “ the already precarious financial situation of public schools , ” said Vernon M. Billy , CEO of California School Boards Assn.
, @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` It ’ s not realistic ” An alternate plan being developed in the Legislature would postpone cuts , allowing more time for a hoped-for federal bailout .
Coalition members called it an improvement , but not nearly enough .
When asked Friday to respond to education leaders , Newsom offered little encouragement , calling the state ’ s $ 54.3-billion budget shortfall “ without precedent ” and pointed toward Congress for relief .
Democrats in the House of Representatives have passed new emergency funding for schools and states , but the legislation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Newsom also spoke about long-awaited state guidelines for reopening schools , which are still being completed .
“ Foundational in that is an appropriate level of protective gear ... for our caregivers , ” he said , referring to teachers , custodians , bus drivers and other staff .
The state ’ s top education official said it ’ s reasonable to question how campuses will be able to reopen .
School districts are “ saying the reality is we would need more revenue , ” said state Supt .
of Public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t know that anyone would disagree .
The governor wouldn ’ t disagree.
” He said school leaders are justified in asking for clarity “ over who ’ ll do what.
” The state education department , he said , is trying to coordinate planning among education and health officials .
Thurmond expressed optimism that the state would provide substantial funding for the face coverings that will be needed .
L.A. Unified also pressed its case in joint letters with local union leaders .
They called for more money , liability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a revised education funding formula that would not penalize a school district if a student stayed home because of illness .
In a separate letter to the county , the labor-district coalition called on other agencies to conduct the necessary testing and contact tracing for the coronavirus .
They also want a common response plan for COVID-19 cases .
“ Varying recommendations by Los Angeles County and the 26 cities that are within the Los Angeles Unified geographical boundaries will create confusion and unnecessary risk by treating students and employees differently , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the unions representing teachers , administrators and other nonteaching employees .
When asked Friday , county officials sidestepped whether students and school staffs should be tested periodically or screened before entering campus .
The county is awaiting state guidance , said Barbara Ferrer , director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health .
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said Friday that voluntary coronavirus testing is available for school staff and families as it is for all L.A. residents , with or without symptoms .
But the city does not plan to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added .
“ The district has a budget just as we have a budget , ” said Garcetti , whose own budget contains deep cutbacks .
The guidelines from the county education office contain no mandates , but “ we do recommend that districts follow public health orders , ” said county Supt .
Debra Duardo , who shares concerns over funding .
Health officials should “ offer clear and consistent direction , ” she added .
“ We also understand that as the crisis evolves , information and conditions may change .
@

Raising the possibility that campuses won’t reopen in the fall, leaders of the state’s two largest K-12 school systems on Friday demanded that public health authorities, not school districts, take the lead on setting up coronavirus testing and contact tracing of students and employees.
Los Angeles Supt. Austin Beutner and San Diego Supt. Cindy Marten — whose combined districts represent 915,000 children and workers — issued a public warning: Either their school districts get more funding and assertive health department intervention or they can’t consider reopening campuses in the fall.
“Opening our schools will not be as easy as separating desks or placing pieces of tape on the floor,” Beutner and Marten said in their statement. “A robust system of COVID-19 testing and contact tracing will need to be in place before we can consider reopening schools. Local health authorities, not school districts, have to lead the way on testing, contact tracing and a clear set of protocols on how to respond to any occurrence of the virus.”
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Beutner and Martens also said it will be difficult enough to craft effective education programs and carry out reopening plans, without having to devise and pay for public health safety measures.
“Facilities will need to be reconfigured and supplies purchased to sanitize schools on a regular basis. Personal protective equipment will need to be provided to students and staff,” they said in the statement. “More teachers and staff will be needed to do this extra work. ... And state authorities have to provide the funding.”
The statement comes after the Los Angeles County Office of Education released guidelines Wednesday outlining measures seen as advisable or necessary to reopening schools.
Based on these guidelines, school districts will have to consider staggered schedules that would allow for no more than 12 to 16 in a classroom, where students also would take their meals. Everyone would wear masks all day, and recess or physical education could mean students playing alone with their own ball or hula hoop.
Schools also face questions of how often to sanitize, whether to screen students and staff as they enter and what to do when someone gets sick or could have been exposed to the virus.
Statewide, campuses have been closed since mid-March, with schools switching to remote instruction. The reopening of campuses is widely seen as essential to fully reopening the economy.
On Thursday, an alliance called the Education Coalition took aim at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget, which calls for cuts to education funding of about 10%.
That spending plan would exacerbate “the already precarious financial situation of public schools,” said Vernon M. Billy, CEO of California School Boards Assn., which is part of the coalition.”It’s not realistic”
An alternate plan being developed in the Legislature would postpone cuts, allowing more time for a hoped-for federal bailout. Coalition members called it an improvement, but not nearly enough.
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When asked Friday to respond to education leaders, Newsom offered little encouragement, calling the state’s $54.3-billion budget shortfall “without precedent” and pointed toward Congress for relief. Democrats in the House of Representatives have passed new emergency funding for schools and states, but the legislation faces steep hurdles in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Newsom also spoke about long-awaited state guidelines for reopening schools, which are still being completed.
“Foundational in that is an appropriate level of protective gear ... for our caregivers,” he said, referring to teachers, custodians, bus drivers and other staff.
The state’s top education official said it’s reasonable to question how campuses will be able to reopen. School districts are “saying the reality is we would need more revenue,” said state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “And I don’t know that anyone would disagree. The governor wouldn’t disagree.”
He said school leaders are justified in asking for clarity “over who’ll do what.”
The state education department, he said, is trying to coordinate planning among education and health officials.
Thurmond expressed optimism that the state would provide substantial funding for the face coverings that will be needed.
L.A. Unified also pressed its case in joint letters with local union leaders. They called for more money, liability protection from COVID-19 related litigation and for a revised education funding formula that would not penalize a school district if a student stayed home because of illness.
In a separate letter to the county, the labor-district coalition called on other agencies to conduct the necessary testing and contact tracing for the coronavirus. They also want a common response plan for COVID-19 cases.
“Varying recommendations by Los Angeles County and the 26 cities that are within the Los Angeles Unified geographical boundaries will create confusion and unnecessary risk by treating students and employees differently,” said the letter, which was cosigned by the unions representing teachers, administrators and other nonteaching employees.
When asked Friday, county officials sidestepped whether students and school staffs should be tested periodically or screened before entering campus. The county is awaiting state guidance, said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said Friday that voluntary coronavirus testing is available for school staff and families as it is for all L.A. residents, with or without symptoms. But the city does not plan to take responsibility for campus testing, he added.
“The district has a budget just as we have a budget,” said Garcetti, whose own budget contains deep cutbacks.
The guidelines from the county education office contain no mandates, but “we do recommend that districts follow public health orders,” said county Supt. Debra Duardo, who shares concerns over funding.
Health officials should “offer clear and consistent direction,” she added. “We also understand that as the crisis evolves, information and conditions may change.”
Times staff writer Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-05-30--As our world reopens, can I trust you to keep me safe from the coronavirus?

Are you ready to accept the ever-present risk of the coronavirus as you jump back into a newly reopened big world ?
I want to be .
I ’ d love to be .
I want to help save businesses and jobs .
I want to get out into my city again .
I ’ d love to trust that we ’ re all going to head out to do these things responsibly , taking every step we can to protect one another .
But I don ’ t feel able to take that leap of faith just yet , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me .
I ’ m not just talking about the images of last weekend ’ s crowds , many in them not wearing masks , on the Venice Beach boardwalk and the trails of Eaton Canyon — though I find that level of disregard for our current peril hard to fathom .
I ’ m talking about the casual disregard for the pandemic ’ s dangers I see manifested every day in the small neighborhood world that has been my whole world since mid-March .
Each time I venture out from home , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good safety measures .
But I see just as many people who don ’ t seem to be taking our mutual safety seriously .
They can ’ t be bothered to follow clearly stated directions .
They don ’ t take mandated precautions .
And I know what I ’ m seeing is not an anomaly .
I get similar reports from other observers all over the area .
Reopening is predicated on the notion that we will all go forth acting in the best interests of our collective well-being , as Los @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keeps telling us .
“ There is a lot at stake as we reopen , ” Ferrer said this week .
“ More people being around one another can result in more transmission of COVID-19 , which is more cases and likely more hospitalizations and deaths .
This is why it couldn ’ t be more important for us to take care of each other when we ’ re out of our homes.
” But out of my home , when I go out walking , I don ’ t have full confidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this ideal .
I see plenty of unmasked people out on busy stretches of sidewalk where they are guaranteed to pass plenty of other people .
No matter that putting on a face covering when out among others is now required by the city and county .
No matter that doing so can help us reduce transmission of a virus that we know can be spread by asymptomatic people who have no idea that they have it .
No matter that it ’ s easy to find face coverings that you can wear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cover your face as needed , when other people are near .
Do they resist because they don ’ t believe the risks are real ?
Because they don ’ t like being told what to do ?
Because they ’ re sick of the restrictions and have called time ’ s up on caring ?
Because they feel invulnerable — as I know I once did when I was young ?
I don ’ t presume to know their thinking , but I ’ m willing to give them a pass if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of everyone ’ s way — to keep themselves even more than the recommended six feet away from others .
More often than not , though , I find that they aren ’ t .
They don ’ t try to protect us .
They leave it to the rest of us not just to protect them but to dodge them or contort our bodies to stay out of their way .
( When unmasked people approach me without giving way on narrow sidewalks , I frequently jump into the street — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ normal . )
And it ’ s not just the mask orders that people are flouting .
It ’ s also other well-publicized safety instructions in places where masks are required for entry .
Wearing face coverings and distancing go hand in hand .
Doing one doesn ’ t obviate the need to do the other .
Both my supermarket and my farmers market have worked hard to remind people to keep their distance from one another — taping and chalking lines on the ground as guides .
The Hollywood Farmers Market draws @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get people to minimize crowding by walking up the market on one side of the street and down it on the other .
But so many people pay no mind , either to those instructions or to basic distancing .
I come back from both markets exhausted from all the defensive maneuvering and social awkwardness required .
How do you tell a person politely to not stand so close , to back off a little ?
I have yet to find the proper etiquette that makes such a request feel comfortable to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received with good grace .
So , no , I don ’ t think I ’ m ready yet to just see what happens if I go shopping at an indoor mall or eat out at a restaurant , which just became possible again .
I want to do these things to help the economy — but I won ’ t until I ’ m confident that they won ’ t greatly add to our societal risk .
L.A. County , after all , remains the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ died of the virus — which adds up to more than half of the deaths statewide so far .
We have more than 51,000 COVID-19 cases here , which is nearly half the cases in the state .
Yes , our number of hospitalized patients appears to be holding steady at this moment .
And yes , testing now is widely available .
But people are still getting sick from the virus .
People are still dying from it every single day .
A vaccine probably remains a long way off .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s safe and what isn ’ t safe keeps changing .
And just because our hospitals have yet to be overwhelmed doesn ’ t mean that they won ’ t if we handle all this reopening badly .
Which is what I fear will happen if we don ’ t all accept the seriousness of the risk we are taking .
And my guess is that the mere fact that we ’ re reopening will lead more people , not less , to act as if we no longer have anything to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I still haven ’ t found quite the right turns of phrase to very politely tell people ignoring the safety basics to stop doing so .
But I think we all have to find ways to convey this message , now more than ever , if we want to move forward , not backward , together .

Are you ready to accept the ever-present risk of the coronavirus as you jump back into a newly reopened big world?
I want to be. I’d love to be. I want to help save businesses and jobs. I want to get out into my city again.
I’d love to trust that we’re all going to head out to do these things responsibly, taking every step we can to protect one another.
But I don’t feel able to take that leap of faith just yet, based on the behavior I see around me.
I’m not just talking about the images of last weekend’s crowds, many in them not wearing masks, on the Venice Beach boardwalk and the trails of Eaton Canyon — though I find that level of disregard for our current peril hard to fathom.
Advertisement
I’m talking about the casual disregard for the pandemic’s dangers I see manifested every day in the small neighborhood world that has been my whole world since mid-March.
Each time I venture out from home, I see a lot of people practicing good safety measures. But I see just as many people who don’t seem to be taking our mutual safety seriously. They can’t be bothered to follow clearly stated directions. They don’t take mandated precautions.
And I know what I’m seeing is not an anomaly. I get similar reports from other observers all over the area.
Reopening is predicated on the notion that we will all go forth acting in the best interests of our collective well-being, as Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer keeps telling us.
“There is a lot at stake as we reopen,” Ferrer said this week. “More people being around one another can result in more transmission of COVID-19, which is more cases and likely more hospitalizations and deaths. This is why it couldn’t be more important for us to take care of each other when we’re out of our homes.”
Advertisement
But out of my home, when I go out walking, I don’t have full confidence that we’ll live up to this ideal.
I see plenty of unmasked people out on busy stretches of sidewalk where they are guaranteed to pass plenty of other people.
No matter that putting on a face covering when out among others is now required by the city and county. No matter that doing so can help us reduce transmission of a virus that we know can be spread by asymptomatic people who have no idea that they have it. No matter that it’s easy to find face coverings that you can wear around your neck and pull up to cover your face as needed, when other people are near.
Do they resist because they don’t believe the risks are real? Because they don’t like being told what to do? Because they’re sick of the restrictions and have called time’s up on caring? Because they feel invulnerable — as I know I once did when I was young?
I don’t presume to know their thinking, but I’m willing to give them a pass if they’re taking pains to stay out of everyone’s way — to keep themselves even more than the recommended six feet away from others. More often than not, though, I find that they aren’t.
They don’t try to protect us. They leave it to the rest of us not just to protect them but to dodge them or contort our bodies to stay out of their way. (When unmasked people approach me without giving way on narrow sidewalks, I frequently jump into the street — grateful that traffic still is lighter than normal.)
And it’s not just the mask orders that people are flouting. It’s also other well-publicized safety instructions in places where masks are required for entry.
Wearing face coverings and distancing go hand in hand. Doing one doesn’t obviate the need to do the other. Both my supermarket and my farmers market have worked hard to remind people to keep their distance from one another — taping and chalking lines on the ground as guides. The Hollywood Farmers Market draws big arrows on the pavement to try to get people to minimize crowding by walking up the market on one side of the street and down it on the other.
But so many people pay no mind, either to those instructions or to basic distancing.
I come back from both markets exhausted from all the defensive maneuvering and social awkwardness required. How do you tell a person politely to not stand so close, to back off a little? I have yet to find the proper etiquette that makes such a request feel comfortable to me and guarantees that it will be received with good grace.
So, no, I don’t think I’m ready yet to just see what happens if I go shopping at an indoor mall or eat out at a restaurant, which just became possible again. I want to do these things to help the economy — but I won’t until I’m confident that they won’t greatly add to our societal risk.
L.A. County, after all, remains the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in California. More than 2,200 people here have died of the virus — which adds up to more than half of the deaths statewide so far. We have more than 51,000 COVID-19 cases here, which is nearly half the cases in the state.
Yes, our number of hospitalized patients appears to be holding steady at this moment. And yes, testing now is widely available. But people are still getting sick from the virus. People are still dying from it every single day. A vaccine probably remains a long way off. The information we get about symptoms and what’s safe and what isn’t safe keeps changing. And just because our hospitals have yet to be overwhelmed doesn’t mean that they won’t if we handle all this reopening badly.
Which is what I fear will happen if we don’t all accept the seriousness of the risk we are taking. And my guess is that the mere fact that we’re reopening will lead more people, not less, to act as if we no longer have anything to worry about.
As I said, I still haven’t found quite the right turns of phrase to very politely tell people ignoring the safety basics to stop doing so. But I think we all have to find ways to convey this message, now more than ever, if we want to move forward, not backward, together.


latimes--2020-05-31--L.A. turns to National Guard, curfew as violence, looting escalate

National Guard troops deployed onto the streets of Los Angeles early Sunday morning as looting , vandalism and violence intensified and the Police Department struggled to restore order after two days of discord .
The dramatic move came after a day of deteriorating conditions , as protests marking the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police began peacefully but turned violent .
Demonstrators burned Los Angeles Police Department cruisers , threw objects at officers and looted retail businesses , including the Apple Store and Nordstrom at the Grove shopping mall .
Some protesters even made it to Beverly Hills ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ met by a line of officers .
Since the protests started , Mayor Eric Garcetti and other city leaders had encouraged peaceful expression and voiced support for the marches .
But on Saturday , the mayor said the conditions on the streets were getting worse by the hour .
First , he ordered a night curfew for downtown L.A. Then , about an hour later , he extended it to the entire city .
Less than an hour after that , he requested the National Guard .
The last time the National Guard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 1992 riots , which erupted after the police officers who beat Rodney King were found not guilty .
Compared with those riots , the events in Los Angeles on Saturday were significantly less widespread and dangerous .
The protests and looting were limited Friday night and Saturday morning largely to downtown Los Angeles and on Saturday afternoon and evening to the Fairfax District .
Several police officers were hurt when protesters threw objects at them .
But there have been no fatalities .
The 1992 riots swept across large swaths of Southern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dead .
From Friday afternoon to early Saturday , police clashed with protesters across downtown , pushing them off the 110 Freeway and getting into physical altercations .
When the sun rose Saturday , scores of businesses had been looted and merchants were adding to the losses they already had experienced because of the coronavirus shutdown .
Police and protesters spent hours in a tense standoff near the Grove , with police shooting rubber bullets and striking demonstrators with batons while several police cars were set on fire and other vehicles vandalized .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and climbed on its roof to take video of police .
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 .
The rally ’ s speakers called for less public money for police departments and for schools and prisons to be overhauled .
“ We ’ re living in the middle of an uprising , ” Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group .
“ Let ’ s be clear : We are in an uprising for black life.
” 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 , referring to African Americans .
“ But I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scene turned more violent as the day wore on .
About a dozen destroyed or defaced LAPD cruisers sat abandoned on 3rd Street , yards from where a loud crowd of protesters faced a row of police .
The odor of charred rubber wafted through the area .
The cruisers ’ windows were smashed , mirrors ripped out and the vehicles ’ bodies scrawled with anti-police slogans .
Protesters spray-painted “ Cops and Klan go hand and hand ” on the side of a Citibank on Fairfax Avenue .
Across the street , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the Writers Guild of America building .
Around 6 p.m. , police arrested about 20 people 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 graffitied car by Edinburgh Avenue and Beverly Boulevard .
At the Grove nearby , looters broke into the Nordstrom department store and the Apple Store and ran off with merchandise .
As looters approached two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they begged them not to enter .
“ We ’ re one of you , ” one guard said .
Eventually , some set a small police kiosk at the mall on fire .
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore was personally leading the operation in the Fairfax District and rushed to the Grove after the looting began .
He said he was troubled by how things had gotten out of control .
He said that he understood people ’ s anger and frustration but that the city needed to pull together .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said , standing next to broken glass from the Nordstrom facade .
“ 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.
” There appeared to be divisions among the protesters .
When one smashed the front window of a nearby Whole Foods on 3rd Street with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Don ’ t do that !
Please !
” while others cheered .
The protesters also 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 barrier and broke down the store ’ s door .
Meanwhile , merchants downtown were picking up the pieces .
People carrying brooms and plywood outnumbered those walking dogs around the city center .
Some of the dogs being walked were outfitted with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protect against the broken glass that dotted most sidewalks .
Claudia Oliveira , a board member of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council , showed up on Broadway with more than a dozen volunteers Saturday morning to and scrub down walls .
A Brazilian immigrant , Oliveira grew up in Minneapolis .
She said she understood the that boiled over Friday night .
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 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by black and brown folks , ” Oliveira said .

Kevin Rector, Richard Winton, Dakota Smith, Leila Miller

National Guard troops arrived in Santa Monica on Sunday evening and were headed to Long Beach after both cities were hit by extensive looting.
It was a surreal end to a surreal day in Southern California as demonstrators once again gathered en masse in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak to protest the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died last week in police custody after a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him down by his neck for several minutes.
National Guard troops and police officers guarded the barricaded steps of Los Angeles City Hall. Emergency alerts on phones warned Los Angeles County residents of a mandatory overnight curfew.
In Santa Monica, looters spent hours in the city’s upscale business district stealing items and setting several fires. In Long Beach, an outlet mall and some downtown shops were hit as protesters screamed at looters and begged them to stop. Caltrans closed westbound lanes of the 10 Freeway at Bundy Drive to prevent people from coming into Santa Monica. Hundreds were arrested.
Protests in downtown Los Angeles, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and elsewhere were largely peaceful.
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)
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In Long Beach, hundreds of protesters — many chanting and holding signs reading “No Justice, No Peace” and “Black Lives Matter” — walked at about 3 p.m. from the city’s downtown and through Alamitos Beach as residents stood on sidewalks and balconies, shouting words of support.
But less than two hours later, hundreds of people began looting stores at the Pike Outlets. People smashed windows with hammers and trash can lids. Some protesters yelled for the looters to leave the stores alone. Others shouted, “Let’s hit Nike!” before running toward the athletic store.
Several minutes later, a mob rushed back and stormed into Forever 21, slipping on clothes scattered on the floor. At G by Guess, a man used a hammer to smash the store’s door before another man intervened and asked him to stop. Suddenly, the would-be looters began punching the man.
Chandarley Lim, 28, stood in the middle of the street that runs through the outdoor mall yelling, “Peaceful protest!”
“This is sad, man,” she said of the looting. “This is not a good look. Don’t let the bad examples ruin it for the rest of us.”
Shortly after 6 p.m., Long Beach police declared an unlawful assembly in the area, signaling that arrests would soon follow. About an hour later, police and demonstrators were at a standoff on Broadway and Pine Avenue. At least one protester threw a water bottle at the officers standing along Pine, prompting them to shoot rubber projectiles into the crowd.
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Looting continued into the night, and someone set fire to a men’s clothing business in downtown Long Beach.
A similar scene unfolded in Santa Monica. Hundreds of people walked from the Santa Monica Pier north along Ocean Avenue, carrying signs and chanting. Some protesters were in a tense standoff with police, who were firing non-lethal weapons after some demonstrators threw objects toward them.
A little before 2 p.m., dozens of looters stormed Santa Monica Place, smashing the windows of Louis Vuitton and several other stores. They left before police arrived.
Paul Cain, who owns the Britannia Pub in Santa Monica, said he called police early in the afternoon to ask about safety in the area. They told him the protesters were peaceful and that he had nothing to worry about.
But soon, he saw waves of crowds on the street outside of his business. He ushered his customers sitting on the patio inside, and they watched looters storm the area.
“The people were outside eating and drinking, and all of a sudden it arrived,” he said.
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Looters also ransacked the Vans store at 400 Broadway, stealing shoes and skateboards. People carried merchandise past the Promenade as police guarding 3rd Street watched them. They ran to a nearby alley, found what looked to be the back entrance to a store, and swarmed inside.
Amid sirens blaring and shouts of “police!” the group ran back out of the alley, carrying shoe boxes. Some of them were picked up by a waiting car. They rushed to stuff the merchandise inside while police on motorcycles approached.
A few blocks away, at 7th Street and Broadway, people were seen breaking into a pharmacy, using a skateboard to shatter the window before climbing inside. Next door, people smashed the window of a jewelry store.
At least one sheriff’s patrol car parked outside the civic center was set ablaze. Police shut down all off-ramps into Santa Monica from the 10 Freeway and Pacific Coast Highway and told people to avoid the downtown area.
In response to the protests across the region, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced a countywide curfew beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday and ending at 6 a.m. Monday.
But the looting throughout Santa Monica continued into the evening. Protesters crashed store windows with hammers and ran in, taking what they could before police arrived. Store alarms and police sirens sounded throughout the city.
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Inside the Britannia Pub, Cain periodically shouted and pointed out the window toward people with their arms full of merchandise from the Gap and other stores.
“Take a picture of that,” he said. “He must be carrying his body weight in jeans.”
Protests also took place Sunday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles, including a march from Pershing Square to City Hall. National Guard troops established a perimeter around City Hall, joining officers from the Los Angeles Police Department.
“This is the opportunity for our generation to decide who we want to be as Americans,” Elevn St. James, who organized the protest, said into a megaphone from the steps of City Hall. “I can’t help but think, maybe this is the dream that Dr. King died for.”
At some point, he said, “Peace wins,” and urged the crowd not to escalate the violence.
“We can’t give them any more reason to shoot and kill us,” he said. “No more names.”
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The crowd shouted back: “No more names.”
Neissa Diabate, 27, stood nearby holding a sign that read, “America would not exist without the black community.”
“It’s actually wild that we have to be out here in the middle of a pandemic,” she said. “America has taught us that peace does not get us far.”
At 7:45 p.m., nearly two hours after police warned them that they had violated curfew orders and faced arrests, a few hundred demonstrators departed City Hall and began streaming south on Hill Street. They filed past an empty Grand Central Market, past boarded-up storefronts, past wary security guards who assured them that they, too, had no tolerance for police brutality, and past stone-faced National Guard troops.
When an LAPD helicopter circling overhead turned its beam onto the procession, marchers paused to extend middle fingers to the pilot.
At one point, a marcher flung an M-80 firecracker into a group of police officers stationed at Main and Ninth streets. After it exploded, officers briefly fired rubble projectiles at the marchers, who took off running.
In Huntington Beach, police declared a protest with about 500 people near the pier to be an unlawful assembly about 1 p.m. The crowd shrunk considerably, but police fired pepper balls at some demonstrators who did not disperse, according to reports from the scene.
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There were no reports of vandalism, but several people were arrested, said Angela Bennett, public information officer for the Huntington Beach Police Department.
Sunday’s demonstrations capped a weekend of violent protests in Southern California, with numerous buildings, including in the upscale Grove shopping center in the Fairfax District, being set on fire.
Los Angeles police said 398 people were arrested Saturday on suspicion of crimes including burglary, looting, vandalism, failure to disperse, and firearms and curfew violations. Five LAPD officers were injured, with two of them hospitalized, officials said.
The most seriously injured officer was struck by a brick in the Fairfax area and suffered a fractured skull, authorities said. An officer also suffered a broken arm, and another’s leg was broken during clashes with protesters.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the officer whose skull was fractured underwent surgery Saturday night. “I believe he will survive,” he said at a Sunday news conference.
The unrest — which undercut a weekend meant to be focused on the the reopening of restaurants, barbershops and hair salons that had been shuttered due to the coronavirus outbreak — spurred cities across the region to enact overnight curfews.
The cities of Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Culver City, El Segundo and Torrance announced curfews for Sunday into Monday, as did the city of Santa Ana in Orange County.
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In West Hollywood and Torrance, the curfews will be in effect each night until they are lifted by city officials. In Beverly Hills, the curfew took effect at 1 p.m. for the business district, which includes Rodeo Drive, and at 4 p.m. for the rest of the city.
“Violence, looting, and vandalism will not be tolerated in our city,” Beverly Hills Mayor Lester Friedman said. “It’s unfortunate that the message of the peaceful protesters has been diminished by criminal behavior.”
On Sunday, National Guard troops in full combat gear stood outside shattered storefronts in downtown L.A. as the morning light revealed damage from the days before: broken windows, trash-strewn streets and graffiti-tagged buildings.
By 7 a.m., scores of Guardsmen toting M-4 rifles marched on patrol along Broadway between 7th and 8th streets.
National Guardsmen patrol downtown Los Angeles on Sunday morning. (Monte Morin / Los Angeles Times)
Gov. Gavin Newsom had declared a state of emergency in the city and county of Los Angeles shortly before midnight.
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Los Angeles County officials also proclaimed a countywide state of emergency to deal with the unrest.
“This emergency comes as we are in the midst of battling another emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Sunday in a statement. “This taxes our resources, but not our resolve.”
The proclamation will help authorities coordinate an emergency response and mutual aid and speed up the procurement of supplies, officials said. It also provides for future state and federal reimbursement of costs the county incurs.
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.”
The last time the National Guard patrolled the streets of L.A. was during the 1992 riots, which erupted after the police officers who beat black motorist Rodney King were found not guilty in a jury trial.
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Compared with those riots, the events in Los Angeles over the weekend were significantly less widespread and less dangerous.
Although officers were hurt when protesters threw objects at them, there have been no fatalities. The 1992 riots swept across large swaths of Southern California and left more than 60 people dead.
On Sunday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority apologized to passengers who were left stranded across L.A. County when bus and rail service was suspended Saturday with little warning.
The unprecedented closure of the Metro system drew immediate criticism from advocates and elected officials who said essential workers were left stranded on sidewalks, at stations and in bus shelters in the hours after the 8 p.m. curfews imposed in Los Angeles and other cities.
Metro’s chief executive Phil Washington told KNX 1070 News Radio that the agency chose to shut down service because he had seen “a lot of damage,” and was concerned for the safety of Metro employees.
Washington said Metro supervisors were driving around the city on Saturday night to look for people at bus stops, then calling nearby bus yards and asking them to dispatch vehicles to pick them up.
On Sunday morning, a Metro spokesperson said the agency would reimburse trips taken in a taxi, Uber or Lyft after the system shut down. Anyone seeking a refund should call Metro customer service at (323) 466-3876.
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Protesters are thrown out of a Whole Foods Market in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles on Saturday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Lindsay Pierce was operating on only about an hour of sleep when she headed to Melrose Avenue on Sunday morning to survey the damage to her business. What she had seen on her security cameras Saturday night had made her ill.
The Melrose Avenue business owner had been monitoring her shop, Wax, via security cameras as the protests moved through the Fairfax district. At about 11 p.m., she said, three young men darted inside her store after its windows were shattered. They immediately moved to the business’ internet router and disconnected it, cutting off Pierce’s connection.
“I started sweating, I got sick to my stomach, I was just thinking, ‘Please don’t light it on fire,’” Pierce said Sunday morning.
Her survey revealed that all the business’ electronics were stolen, along with some small merchandise.
L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz, who represents many of the areas that incurred damage, said business districts along Fairfax Avenue and Melrose Avenue had been “devastated” by looting, vandalism and graffiti.
“This was the weekend that the city had given permission for restaurants and retail to emerge from COVID,” he said. “And instead, businesses that were already hanging by a thread are now destroyed.”
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Rodney Beckwith, who goes by his artist name, Flewnt, is the manager of Resist 323 on Melrose, a store selling custom clothing and art that had one of its windows smashed. He spent the night inside the store, where a garage door security gate was pulled down in front to protect it.
Beckwith was inside Saturday night when he heard people trying to break in through the back door. He shoved a table saw against the security door.
“All I could do was try to get to the rooftop,” he said. “My survival mode, get high and get out the door. I’m not going to sit down there, they’re breaking through a door, they’re not knocking.”
“I know they’re black lives matter, I’m black but ... they’re doing something crazy,” he said. “... I feel them, I’m with them, but at the same time I’m protecting a business.”
No one was able to breach the security door and get inside.
Eli Ventov has had his store, Reloaded L.A., along Melrose for nearly 12 years. The clothing and jewelry store had just reopened Wednesday after being closed because of the pandemic. On Saturday, as they saw the protests start to grow, workers rushed to Home Depot and got painters paper to cover the windows so no one would break in.
No one did. But in the same building, people broke into the Dr. Martens store. Around 7 p.m., someone threw a bottle with gasoline inside, Ventov said. A fire erupted.
“It went from this store, to this store, to this store,” Ventov said, gesturing to shoe store Tony-K and then to his store.
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Ventov stood across the street and watched his business burn.
On Sunday morning, he stood outside the blackened store, where the roof appeared on the verge of collapse and the sky was visible through patches. He grew teary-eyed as a friend embraced him and told him it would be OK.
“I understand where they’re coming from,” Ventov said of the protesters, “but did you really need to come that way?”
Ricky Flores swept inside the clothing store Flashback, where a sign out front read “Now open! Please wear a mask for entry.”
He and his friend had opened the store four years ago, and business was going so well they moved from a smaller space next door to a larger one.
The store had just reopened Friday after being closed since March. But they closed Saturday because of the protests. They watched on the news as buildings across the street burned.
When Flores arrived Sunday morning, around 7 a.m., people were still stealing items from the store, he said. The alarm was blaring and people had broken the security gate the night before. People stole three televisions off the wall, shoes and clothes. They even stole the ice cube trays from the freezer.
“What kind of a sick person takes the ice cube trays out of the freezer?”
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Times staff writers Richard Winton, Kevin Rector, Monte Morin, Gustavo Arellano, Alex Wigglesworth, Andrew Campa, Hannah Fry, Kim Christensen, Dakota Smith, Laura J. Nelson, David Zahniser, Kevin Baxter, Leila Miller and Emily Baumgaertner contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-05-31--San Francisco orders curfews, wants National Guard on standby after looting

San Francisco Mayor London Breed ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew that begins Sunday night and has asked Gov .
Gavin 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 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tolerate that , ” Scott said in a briefing just after 10 p.m. “ Right now , as I speak , we have officers at Union Square dealing with looting , dealing with people breaking windows .
Really , tearing down businesses that people have spent their lives to build.
” In the East Bay , TV news images showed looters entering stores in Emeryville , northwest of Oakland .
There was no indication the looters were associated with any protests , local TV stations said , with looters carrying no signs or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the looting was done by people who hauled merchandise into cars .
Breed , the first black woman elected mayor of San Francisco , said she understood the pain being felt across the city and country .
“ Far too often we see this happen , time and time again : African American men who unfortunately lose their lives in this way , ” Breed said .
“ I understand the hurt and the pain .
I ’ ve lived through it growing up in the city.
” She said earlier peaceful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , were understandable .
But she said the violence and vandalism that occurred after nightfall crossed the line .
“ We have a responsibility to protect our city .
And we will do what we need to do to do just that , ” Breed said just before she said the city was planning to implement a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m .
Breed said she did not want to ask the governor to put the National Guard on standby but was forced to do so to ensure safety .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do as mayor .
I want peace .
I want protest .
But I don ’ t want the kind of violence and crime we see playing itself across the streets of our city to continue , ” Breed said .
“ And we have a responsibility to deal with it , and that ’ s exactly what we will do.
” Scott , once one of the Los Angeles Police Department ’ s highest-ranking officers , said as an African American man and as a chief of police , he can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ People have lost their lives at the hands of the police .
And police officers have lost their lives doing their job .
I understand both sides , ” Scott said .
“ We will help 1st Amendment activity that ’ s peaceful and that does not destroy our city and other people , ” Scott said .
“ But again , we will not tolerate people getting hurt , people losing their lives because [ of ] selfish people who just want to destroy this city and this country.
” On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officer was fatally shot and another officer was critically injured outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland 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 .

San Francisco Mayor London Breed ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew that begins Sunday night and has asked Gov. Gavin 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 in a briefing just after 10 p.m. “Right now, as I speak, we have officers at Union Square dealing with looting, dealing with people breaking windows. Really, tearing down businesses that people have spent their lives to build.”
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In the East Bay, TV news images showed looters entering stores in Emeryville, northwest of Oakland. There was no indication the looters were associated with any protests, local TV stations said, with looters carrying no signs or part of a planned march; rather, the looting was done by people who hauled merchandise into cars.
Breed, the first black woman elected mayor of San Francisco, said she understood the pain being felt across the city and country.
“Far too often we see this happen, time and time again: African American men who unfortunately lose their lives in this way,” Breed said. “I understand the hurt and the pain. I’ve lived through it growing up in the city.”
She said earlier peaceful protests Saturday, expressing hurt and anger, were understandable. But she said the violence and vandalism that occurred after nightfall crossed the line.
“We have a responsibility to protect our city. And we will do what we need to do to do just that,” Breed said just before she said the city was planning to implement a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Breed said she did not want to ask the governor to put the National Guard on standby but was forced to do so to ensure safety.
“This is the last thing I want to do as mayor. I want peace. I want protest. But I don’t want the kind of violence and crime we see playing itself across the streets of our city to continue,” Breed said. “And we have a responsibility to deal with it, and that’s exactly what we will do.”
Scott, once one of the Los Angeles Police Department’s highest-ranking officers, said as an African American man and as a chief of police, he can relate to what people are feeling.
“People have lost their lives at the hands of the police. And police officers have lost their lives doing their job. I understand both sides,” Scott said.
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“We will help 1st Amendment activity that’s peaceful and that does not destroy our city and other people,” Scott said. “But again, we will not tolerate people getting hurt, people losing their lives because [of] selfish people who just want to destroy this city and this country.”
On Friday night, a Federal Protective Service officer was fatally shot and another officer was critically injured outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland 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.