latimes--2020-05-30--Mom-and-pop stores hit in downtown L.A. looting are 'immigrant-owned, run by black and brown folks'

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 sweep up broken glass and swab down walls .
A Brazilian immigrant , Oliveira grew up in Minneapolis .
She said she understood the anger and the outrage that boiled over Friday night , saying George Floyd ’ s death at the hands of a police officer in her hometown made her want to throw up .
“ I ’ m a black Latina undocumented immigrant , ” she said .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ angry and frustrated .
We saw an innocent man ’ s life taken from him.
” But she said she was frustrated that the damage in downtown would disproportionately hurt the working class and people of color .
Numerous businesses were , which lasted hours in the heart of the historic core and along the Broadway corridor .
Protests against the have raged across the country in recent days , turning violent in various cities .
In downtown L.A. , the situation deteriorated into vandalism and looting late Friday evening .
Most stores @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stores , “ immigrant-owned , run by black and brown folks , ” Oliveira said .
The chain stores that were damaged , including Walgreens and Fallas Paredes , provide jobs , sell affordable goods and serve as lifelines for poor and homeless residents in downtown , Oliveira said .
As Oliveira spoke , an elderly woman wearing a face mask and using a walker approached the Rite Aid at 5th Street and Broadway , which was closed behind metal gates .
She asked a security guard standing outside when it would reopen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prescriptions.
” A Starbucks at 6th and Spring streets saw some of the worst damage , with windows smashed and damage to the inside of the store .
The cafe is in the first floor of the Hotel Hayward , a single-resident occupancy hotel for low-income residents , Oliveira said .
“ It ’ s not that I don ’ t understand the struggle or the anger , ” she said .
“ I ’ m freaking furious .
But who would want to hurt and steal from black- and brown-owned businesses ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Snack Shop on 6th Street stood on a ladder on the sidewalk on Saturday morning , using a hammer to try to bend his store ’ s metal security gate back into shape .
Crowds had dented it and shattered the glass behind it , he said .
He was struggling to get inside to assess the damage .
The store has been in downtown for 65 years , and he ’ s owned it for 16 , said the owner , who would give only his first name , Roger .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but that the destruction to his business could devastate him financially .
His shop was just preparing to reopen after being closed for two months during the coronavirus stay-at-home orders .
Inside Discount Electronics , owner Bill Nabati rubbed his face and fielded multiple calls from his security alarm company as he surveyed the shattered glass and merchandise strewn across the floor .
“ They looted my store , ” said Nabati , who has run the small storefront on Broadway since 1983 .
“ After two months of the coronavirus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Some electronics had been taken , and windows were broken and shelves smashed , Nabati said .
He said the damage would take three weeks to repair , but that he would need to conduct an inventory to assess how much had been stolen.The last time he saw this kind of damage was in 1992 , he said .
As then , Nabati said , he was frustrated that the police had not done more to protect his small business .
“ They knew it was going to happen and they told me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ There ’ s only so much I can do .
It ’ s out of my hands .
If they want to come destroy my business , they can .
”

Looters run from a jewelry store as LAPD officers approach in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
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 sweep up broken glass and swab down walls.
A Brazilian immigrant, Oliveira grew up in Minneapolis. She said she understood the anger and the outrage that boiled over Friday night, saying George Floyd’s death at the hands of a police officer in her hometown made her want to throw up.
“I’m a black Latina undocumented immigrant,” she said. “It hurts me. I feel distraught and angry and frustrated. We saw an innocent man’s life taken from him.”
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But she said she was frustrated that the damage in downtown would disproportionately hurt the working class and people of color.
Numerous businesses were damaged by the unrest , which lasted hours in the heart of the historic core and along the Broadway corridor.
Protests against the killing of Floyd and police brutality have raged across the country in recent days, turning violent in various cities. In downtown L.A., the situation deteriorated into vandalism and looting late Friday evening.
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)
Most stores that were vandalized or looted are mom-and-pop stores, “immigrant-owned, run by black and brown folks,” Oliveira said.
The chain stores that were damaged, including Walgreens and Fallas Paredes, provide jobs, sell affordable goods and serve as lifelines for poor and homeless residents in downtown, Oliveira said.
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As Oliveira spoke, an elderly woman wearing a face mask and using a walker approached the Rite Aid at 5th Street and Broadway, which was closed behind metal gates. She asked a security guard standing outside when it would reopen, saying, “I need my prescriptions.”
A Starbucks at 6th and Spring streets saw some of the worst damage, with windows smashed and damage to the inside of the store. The cafe is in the first floor of the Hotel Hayward, a single-resident occupancy hotel for low-income residents, Oliveira said.
“It’s not that I don’t understand the struggle or the anger,” she said. “I’m freaking furious. But who would want to hurt and steal from black- and brown-owned businesses?”
The owner of Sally’s Snack Shop on 6th Street stood on a ladder on the sidewalk on Saturday morning, using a hammer to try to bend his store’s metal security gate back into shape. Crowds had dented it and shattered the glass behind it, he said. He was struggling to get inside to assess the damage.
The store has been in downtown for 65 years, and he’s owned it for 16, said the owner, who would give only his first name, Roger. He said he understood why people were angry, but that the destruction to his business could devastate him financially. His shop was just preparing to reopen after being closed for two months during the coronavirus stay-at-home orders.
“Why me?” he said. “Why here?”
Inside Discount Electronics, owner Bill Nabati rubbed his face and fielded multiple calls from his security alarm company as he surveyed the shattered glass and merchandise strewn across the floor.
“They looted my store,” said Nabati, who has run the small storefront on Broadway since 1983. “After two months of the coronavirus, we don’t need this.”
Some electronics had been taken, and windows were broken and shelves smashed, Nabati said. He said the damage would take three weeks to repair, but that he would need to conduct an inventory to assess how much had been stolen.The last time he saw this kind of damage was in 1992, he said.
As then, Nabati said, he was frustrated that the police had not done more to protect his small business.
“They knew it was going to happen and they told me I needed to prepare,” Nabati said. “There’s only so much I can do. It’s out of my hands. If they want to come destroy my business, they can.”


latimes--2020-05-30--Federal officer killed by gunfire outside U.S. courthouse in Oakland

A Federal Protective Service officer was fatally shot and another officer was critically injured outside a U.S. courthouse in Oakland during a protest Friday night over the killing of George Floyd , a shooting that officials described as an “ act of domestic terrorism.
” The officers were keeping watch over the protest when the shooting occurred , authorities said , but it was not immediately clear if the incident was directly related to the unrest .
Federal officials said Saturday that the shooting was part of “ an outright assault on our law enforcement community ” and suggested that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extremist groups hijacking peaceful protests to commit acts of violence .
“ Let me be clear : When someone targets a police officer or a police station with an intention to do harm and intimidate , that is an act of domestic terrorism , ” Ken Cuccinelli , acting deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security , said at a news conference .
A vehicle pulled up to the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building at 1301 Clay St. at about 9:45 p.m. , and someone inside the vehicle fired gunshots at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a statement .
One officer was killed and another was hospitalized in critical condition , authorities said .
No arrest was reported .
The Federal Protective Service , which falls under the Department of Homeland Security , oversees the protection of buildings owned or leased by the General Services Administration .
The FBI ’ s San Francisco Bureau and the Oakland Police Department were investigating the shooting .
Federal officials described the incident as part of a wave of violence against law enforcement officials that also saw several Secret Service agents injured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Friday night as people threw rocks and urine at them .
“ The protesters committed these acts of violence while hiding behind their 1st Amendment right of lawful protest , ” said Chad Wolf , acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security .
DHS officials said their personnel were taking “ an enhanced posture ” in a number of U.S. cities in response to the demonstrations , including stepping up protective efforts at federal buildings .
“ This department stands ready to protect the American people and our employees during this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our disposal , ” Cuccinelli said .
Earlier Friday night in Oakland , demonstrators blocked the 880 Freeway as they protested Floyd ’ s killing .
The 46-year-old black man died Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck while detaining him on suspicion of trying to use a counterfeit $ 20 bill at a grocery store .
Cellphone video of his arrest outside the business shows Officer Derek Chauvin driving his knee into the Floyd ’ s neck as Floyd pleads that he can ’ t breathe .
Chauvin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Friday .
Three other officers who were at the scene were fired .
The killing has sparked protests across the country , with some incidents of looting and vandalism .
In Minneapolis , thousands of National Guard troops were expected to hit the streets Saturday night to prevent further destruction after crowds on Friday surrounded a police precinct , broke windows and looted businesses amid fires and random gunfire .
In Los Angeles , police arrested more than 500 people after protests led to a night and morning of vandalism and looting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The LAPD spent much of Friday night and Saturday morning trying to clear the streets as people smashed windows , stole items from stores , clashed with police and set items , including at least two LAPD vehicles , on fire .
In Oakland , 22 people were arrested after protesters smashed windows , sprayed buildings with anti-police graffiti and were met with chemical spray from police .
Sixty more people suspected of looting were detained for further investigation , Oakland police said Saturday .
Authorities said officers were injured when projectiles were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to leave the area .
Six Oakland police officers suffered injuries , as did seven members of other agencies who responded to assist , according to preliminary figures released by Oakland police .
The demonstrations started out peacefully but became violent later in the evening , interim Oakland Police Chief Susan Manheimer said in a videotaped statement early Saturday .
“ As we have seen across the country , we saw damage and destruction here in the city , ” Manheimer said .

One Federal Protective Service officer was fatally shot and another injured Friday night near a U.S. courthouse in Oakland, authorities said.
A Federal Protective Service officer was fatally shot and another officer was critically injured outside a U.S. courthouse in Oakland during a protest Friday night over the killing of George Floyd, a shooting that officials described as an “act of domestic terrorism.”
The officers were keeping watch over the protest when the shooting occurred, authorities said, but it was not immediately clear if the incident was directly related to the unrest.
Federal officials said Saturday that the shooting was part of “an outright assault on our law enforcement community” and suggested that it fit into a larger pattern of extremist groups hijacking peaceful protests to commit acts of violence.
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“Let me be clear: When someone targets a police officer or a police station with an intention to do harm and intimidate, that is an act of domestic terrorism,” Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security, said at a news conference.
A vehicle pulled up to the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building at 1301 Clay St. at about 9:45 p.m., and someone inside the vehicle fired gunshots at the contract security officers, the FBI said in a statement.
One officer was killed and another was hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said. No arrest was reported.
The Federal Protective Service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, oversees the protection of buildings owned or leased by the General Services Administration.
The FBI’s San Francisco Bureau and the Oakland Police Department were investigating the shooting.
Federal officials described the incident as part of a wave of violence against law enforcement officials that also saw several Secret Service agents injured during a protest outside the White House on Friday night as people threw rocks and urine at them.
“The protesters committed these acts of violence while hiding behind their 1st Amendment right of lawful protest,” said Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
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DHS officials said their personnel were taking “an enhanced posture” in a number of U.S. cities in response to the demonstrations, including stepping up protective efforts at federal buildings.
“This department stands ready to protect the American people and our employees during this difficult time using every legal means at our disposal,” Cuccinelli said.
Earlier Friday night in Oakland, demonstrators blocked the 880 Freeway as they protested Floyd’s killing. The 46-year-old black man died Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck while detaining him on suspicion of trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store.
Cellphone video of his arrest outside the business shows Officer Derek Chauvin driving his knee into the Floyd’s neck as Floyd pleads that he can’t breathe. Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday. Three other officers who were at the scene were fired.
The killing has sparked protests across the country, with some incidents of looting and vandalism.
In Minneapolis, thousands of National Guard troops were expected to hit the streets Saturday night to prevent further destruction after crowds on Friday surrounded a police precinct, broke windows and looted businesses amid fires and random gunfire.
In Los Angeles, police arrested more than 500 people after protests led to a night and morning of vandalism and looting on the streets of downtown L.A. The LAPD spent much of Friday night and Saturday morning trying to clear the streets as people smashed windows, stole items from stores, clashed with police and set items, including at least two LAPD vehicles, on fire.
In Oakland, 22 people were arrested after protesters smashed windows, sprayed buildings with anti-police graffiti and were met with chemical spray from police. Sixty more people suspected of looting were detained for further investigation, Oakland police said Saturday.
Authorities said officers were injured when projectiles were thrown, and they were asking people to leave the area. Six Oakland police officers suffered injuries, as did seven members of other agencies who responded to assist, according to preliminary figures released by Oakland police.
The demonstrations started out peacefully but became violent later in the evening, interim Oakland Police Chief Susan Manheimer said in a videotaped statement early Saturday.
“As we have seen across the country, we saw damage and destruction here in the city,” Manheimer said.


latimes--2020-05-30--Vandalism, looting, tense moments in Bay Area as George Floyd protests turn ugly

Protesters in the Bay Area blocked freeways and vandalized stores during protests overnight against the killing of George Floyd .
Meanwhile , more than 500 were arrested after looting and vandalism swept downtown L.A. About 1,000 protesters gathered in Oakland .
They smashed windows , sprayed buildings with anti-police graffiti and were met with chemical spray from police .
Authorities said officers were injured when projectiles were thrown and they were asking people to leave the area .
Two Federal Protective Service officers were wounded by gunfire , one of them fatally , outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether the incident was related to protests that erupted several blocks away at police headquarters .
A vehicle pulled up to the U.S. courthouse at 1301 Clay St. about 9:45 p.m. , and someone inside fired gunshots at the contract security officers , the FBI said in a statement .
One officer was killed and another was injured .
There was no word on that officer ’ s condition .
No arrest was reported .
The Federal Protective Service , which falls under the Department of Homeland Security , oversees the protection of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Services Administration .
The FBI ’ s San Francisco field office and the Oakland Police Department were investigating the shooting .
Earlier in the night , the demonstrators blocked the 880 Freeway in Oakland .
In San Jose , protesters temporarily shut down the 101 Freeway .
Hundreds of demonstrators began marching at San Jose City Hall on Friday before running onto the 101 Freeway at Santa Clara Street .
They briefly blocked freeway traffic before returning to downtown San Jose .
“ One of our officers was injured and transported to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ San Jose Police Officer Gina Tepoorten said in an emailed statement .
“ We do not have all the details at this time.
” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said he understood the anger but urged peaceful protests .
“ Anger and peaceful protest will always be appropriate responses to injustice ; violence will never be , ” Liccardo tweeted Friday afternoon .
“ San Jose is united in outrage over the atrocious crime committed in Minneapolis and in sadness over George Floyd ’ s horrible death.
” Floyd ’ s deadly encounter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after Floyd , a black man , was accused of trying to use a counterfeit $ 20 bill at a grocery store .
Cellphone video of Floyd ’ s arrest outside the business shows Officer Derek Chauvin , who is white , driving his knee into the 46-year-old ’ s neck as Floyd , pleads that he can ’ t breathe .
After several minutes , Floyd appears to lose consciousness , and a bystander can be heard yelling that Floyd ’ s nose is bleeding .
Even as paramedics arrive to check @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s knee remains positioned on the man ’ s neck .
Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday .
At one point , protesters captured a video of a vehicle running over several protesters .
The San Jose Mercury News reported police fired on the SUV .
A car was also see driving through a crowd at a rally in Bakersfield .
There were also tense moments during a Sacramento rally .

A protester yells near 2nd and Spring streets in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. Protesters march in cities across the nation after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Protesters in the Bay Area blocked freeways and vandalized stores during protests overnight against the killing of George Floyd.
Meanwhile, more than 500 were arrested after looting and vandalism swept downtown L.A.
About 1,000 protesters gathered in Oakland. They smashed windows, sprayed buildings with anti-police graffiti and were met with chemical spray from police. Authorities said officers were injured when projectiles were thrown and they were asking people to leave the area.
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Two Federal Protective Service officers were wounded by gunfire, one of them fatally, outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the incident was related to protests that erupted several blocks away at police headquarters.
A vehicle pulled up to the U.S. courthouse at 1301 Clay St. about 9:45 p.m., and someone inside fired gunshots at the contract security officers, the FBI said in a statement.
One officer was killed and another was injured. There was no word on that officer’s condition. No arrest was reported.
The Federal Protective Service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, oversees the protection of buildings owned or leased by the General Services Administration.
The FBI’s San Francisco field office and the Oakland Police Department were investigating the shooting.
Earlier in the night, the demonstrators blocked the 880 Freeway in Oakland.
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In San Jose, protesters temporarily shut down the 101 Freeway.
Hundreds of demonstrators began marching at San Jose City Hall on Friday before running onto the 101 Freeway at Santa Clara Street. They briefly blocked freeway traffic before returning to downtown San Jose.
“One of our officers was injured and transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries,” San Jose Police Officer Gina Tepoorten said in an emailed statement. “We do not have all the details at this time.”
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said he understood the anger but urged peaceful protests.
“Anger and peaceful protest will always be appropriate responses to injustice; violence will never be,” Liccardo tweeted Friday afternoon. “San Jose is united in outrage over the atrocious crime committed in Minneapolis and in sadness over George Floyd’s horrible death.”
Floyd’s deadly encounter with police began Monday night in Minneapolis after Floyd, a black man, was accused of trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store.
Cellphone video of Floyd’s arrest outside the business shows Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, driving his knee into the 46-year-old’s neck as Floyd, pleads that he can’t breathe. After several minutes, Floyd appears to lose consciousness, and a bystander can be heard yelling that Floyd’s nose is bleeding. Even as paramedics arrive to check Floyd’s pulse, Chauvin’s knee remains positioned on the man’s neck.
Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday.
At one point, protesters captured a video of a vehicle running over several protesters. The San Jose Mercury News reported police fired on the SUV. A car was also see driving through a crowd at a rally in Bakersfield. There were also tense moments during a Sacramento rally.


latimes--2020-05-30--L.A. imposes downtown curfew as police, protesters in tense standoff near the Grove

Following three days of protests , Los Angeles has imposed a curfew for downtown from 8 p.m. Saturday to 5:30 a.m. Sunday , Mayor Eric Garcetti announced .
The curfew will be in place for the area bordered by the 110 Freeway to the west , Alameda Street to the east , the 10 Freeway to the south and the 101 Freeway to the north , he said .
Garcetti said the measure is necessary to clean up damage from Friday and restore order after days of protests that at times escalated into looting and arson .
He urged protesters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , saying that conditions had become unsafe .
“ My advice to everybody is , please , if you love the city , go home and come back when you can peacefully protest , ” Garcetti said .
The decision comes on another day of vandalism on the streets of Los Angeles .
As Garcetti spoke , police and protesters were in a tense standoff near the Grove shopping center , with police shooting rubber bullets and striking demonstrators with batons while several police cars were set on fire and other vehicles vandalized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bus and climbed on its roof to videotape police .
Hundreds of protesters were marching to decry the death at the hands of police of George Floyd when the standoff occurred at West 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue .
Many in the group held their hands up , silently facing the officers .
Loud bangs could be heard , prompting some in the crowd to run down 3rd Street and into nearby alleys .
Two protesters said they witnessed officers shooting what looked to be rubber bullets and canisters .
The large crowd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 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 fewer public dollars for police departments and for schools and prisons to be overhauled .
“ We ’ re living in the middle of an uprising , ” Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors told the group .
“ Let ’ s be clear : We are in an uprising for black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who described herself as a longtime activist , was among those who came out for the rally .
“ I was here for Rodney [ King ] , ” said Steinberg , who lives in the neighborhood .
“ Nothing has changed.
” “ People have not had an outlet for justice , ” Steinberg said , adding that new district attorneys need to be elected and prosecute cops accused of misconduct .
Isabel Alvardo waved a sign reading “ Latinos for Black Lives Matter.
” Alvardo , 21 , lives in Santa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because she is “ sick and tired of waking up every morning ” to news about police killings .
“ I can ’ t compare myself to what they ’ re going through , ” she said , of being black.
“ But I ’ m here to support them.
” By 2 p.m. , thousands of marchers made their way from Pan Pacific Park and began marching west down 3rd Street toward Beverly Hills .
Police helicopters whirred overhead , while people standing on the sidewalks cheered on the marchers .
Some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no peace !
” Early on , the crowd was peaceful , and there were no acts of violence or vandalism .
Some bystanders even offered bottles of water to the marchers , and motorists honked their support .
But then the crowd and police engaged in a standoff , and matters quickly spiraled out of control .
By 4:30 p.m. , the crowd appeared to be dispersing .
Some protesters could be seen heading away from the mass of people gathered at Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street .
With the crowd thinning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destruction of property in this popular commercial neighborhood .
Protesters spray-painted “ Cops and Klan go hand and hand ” along the side of a Citibank at Fairfax .
Across the street , “ Eat the Rich ” was scrawled on the Writers Guild of America building .
People climbed up on the roof of the Farmers Market ’ s Starbucks , while nearby protesters held signs that read , “ Abolish Cops.
” The Grove appeared to be untouched , and some people walked through the outdoor mall as they headed away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gave her name as Tof came upon the protest after doing some shopping in the neighborhood .
Looking down the street , she said peaceful protests hadn ’ t worked in the past .
“ There ’ s no wrong way to protest , ” she said .
“ We would never do this if they weren ’ t killing us.
” With the afternoon ’ s destruction , she hopes “ they will listen.
” By early afternoon , a smaller group of sign-carrying protesters had gathered in front of police headquarters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ LAPD officers stood by behind metal barricades .
“ We came to let our voices be heard , ” said Monica Lopez of Alhambra .
“ Police brutality is not OK. ” Over her head she held a sign with the message “ Dear Good Cops .
You Have a Choice to Correct Your Partners.
” Lopez brought her 12-year-old daughter Jazlyn , who said she was protesting for the first time .
She was waving a white sign with the message “ Don ’ t Kill My Dad , I Need Him.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ lives in , sadly , ” Lopez said .
“ But she has a voice.
” The demonstrations came after Los Angeles police arrested more than 500 people after protests against police brutality led to a night and morning of vandalism and looting on the streets of downtown Los Angeles .
The LAPD spent much of Friday night and Saturday morning trying to clear the streets as people smashed windows , stole items from stores , clashed with police and set items , including at least two LAPD vehicles , on fire .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on suspicion of charges that included burglary , looting , violation of probation , battery on a police officer , attempted murder and failure to disperse , police said .
All but 18 of those arrested were released on their own recognizance by Saturday afternoon .
Authorities said they had to make so many arrests because those on the street refused repeated orders to leave , including an unlawful-assembly order for all of downtown , issued at 9:30 p.m. Friday .
Six LAPD officers were hurt , some after being hit by debris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police said .
Numerous stores were vandalized and looted , but officials could not give an immediate count .
It marks one of the largest mass arrests by the LAPD in several years .
In 2011 , police arrested about 300 people when officers cleared out the Occupy L.A. camp at City Hall .
At one point early Saturday , officers opened fire after a man drove through an intersection where they were holding skirmish lines , police said .
The suspect , Richard Dodson , 49 , suffered a minor injury and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to investigators .
Dodson sped through a police line at 6th Street and Broadway just before 2 a.m. , narrowly missing officers standing at the intersection and prompting one to fire at Dodson ’ s vehicle , police said .
Dodson then drove through a second skirmish line , and another officer fired rounds from his service weapon , according to investigators .
Dodson continued driving down the street until his car was blocked in by other traffic and he was arrested , police said .
“ I think when we hit daylight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lost at least two police vehicles to fire , ” said LAPD Assistant Chief Robert Arcos .
Arcos said Saturday that teams were continuing to conduct site surveys to assess the damage .
The protesters demonstrating against Floyd ’ s killing are part of a movement that has raged across the country in recent days , turning destructive in various cities .
The 46-year-old black man died Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck while detaining him on suspicion of trying to use a counterfeit $ 20 bill at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one Federal Protective Service officer was fatally shot and another critically wounded outside a U.S. courthouse Friday night in an incident that federal authorities described as an act of domestic terrorism .
The officers were keeping watch over a protest there , but it wasn ’ t immediately clear whether the shooting was believed to be directly related to the unrest .
Earlier in the night , demonstrators blocked the 880 Freeway .
Protesters smashed windows , sprayed buildings with anti-police graffiti and were met with chemical spray from police .
Six Oakland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as seven members of other agencies who responded to assist , Oakland police said Saturday .
Twenty-two people were arrested , and 60 people suspected of looting were detained for further investigation , police said .
In Los Angeles , police said there were numerous burglaries by “ opportunists ” not necessarily connected with the original protest that began Friday afternoon with a march on City Hall and LAPD headquarters .
For a while , the protesters blocked the 110 Freeway .
The situation had deteriorated around midnight as several jewelry stores were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a CVS pharmacy .
A nearby Whole Foods Market was damaged .
One person threw a scooter into a plate-glass window at one business , while another person offered a reporter a handful of jewelry on the street .
Fireworks were set off in the streets , the sparks hitting buildings .
Smoke filled the air as some people broke into shops , making off with tennis shoes , clothing and electronic items such as television screens and speakers .
Looted jewelry lay scattered on the sidewalk and in the road , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it up and others distributing it to bystanders .
Buildings were spray-painted with profanity and anti-police statements as well as Floyd ’ s dying plea as he lay pinned to the ground by the police officer : “ I can ’ t breathe.
” Merchants were slowly picking up the pieces Saturday afternoon .
Along the stretch of shops and tiny restaurants that line Broadway , the sound of pulsating banda music had been replaced by the whirring of power saws and the staccato of hammers pounding plywood as workers hurried to batten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saturday , the street would be bustling with customers , most chattering away in Spanish .
But this was not a normal Saturday , with a pandemic and a riot conspiring to keep people away , leaving the streets — and stores — empty .
“ It ’ s not because of this , ” said a man guarding the door to the Fallas Paredes clothing store at 5th Street and Broadway , pulling on his face mask to show that he was referring to COVID-19 .
“ It ’ s because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either side nodded in agreement .
A couple of blocks to the west , two men sifted through a sacked Verizon store looking for a way to turn off the alarm , which had been blaring for more than 12 hours .
They got a call from the owner at 8:30 p.m. to come board up the shop .
When they arrived 75 minutes later , two of the looters were still inside .
But none of the merchandise was .
“ They were prepared , ” the contractor said over the sound @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crowbars , he said , which they used unsuccessfully on the safe in the back .
They also ripped fixtures off the walls .
A Japanese restaurant next door had one plate-glass panel smashed and its cabinets ransacked , but little was taken .
“ It ’ s a restaurant , ” said Pedro Perez .
“ What are you going to take ?
” Perez , founder of PRC Restoration , was called out to board up a FedEx store .
When he finished with that , he and his six-person crew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offering help .
Some didn ’ t answer ; others weren ’ t aware their properties had been hit .
Claudia Oliveira , a board member of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council , showed up on Broadway with more than a dozen volunteers to sweep up broken glass and swab down walls .
A Brazilian immigrant , Oliveira grew up in Minneapolis .
She said she understood the anger and the outrage that boiled over on Friday night .
Floyd ’ s death at the hands of police in her hometown made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ I ’ m a black Latina undocumented immigrant , ” she said .
“ It hurts me .
I feel distraught and angry and frustrated .
We saw an innocent man ’ s life taken from him.
” But she said she was frustrated that the damage in downtown would disproportionately hurt the working class and people of color .
Most stores that were vandalized or looted are mom-and-pop stores , “ immigrant-owned , run by black and brown folks , ” Oliveira said .
The chain stores that were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , provide jobs , sell affordable goods and serve as lifelines for poor and homeless residents of downtown , Oliveira said .
A Starbucks at 6th and Spring streets saw some of the worst damage , with windows smashed and damage to the inside of the store .
The cafe is on the first floor of the Hotel Hayward , a single resident occupancy hotel for low-income residents , Oliveira said .
“ It ’ s not that I don ’ t understand the struggle or the anger , ” she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ But who would want to hurt and steal from black- and brown-owned businesses ?
” The night before , Jessie Jenie had been near the Starbucks ordering ice cream , when crowds swarmed through the area , breaking every window in the coffee shop .
One looter emerged with a single carton of milk , drinking it as he walked away , Jenie said .
“ That ’ s when I was like , ‘ Time to go home , ’ ” said Jenie , who lives nearby .
Saturday morning she woke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ‘ We ’ re going to go clean up the neighborhood , ’ ” Miko Garcia said .
“ And I listened to her.
” A couple of hundred yards from Pershing Square , two women swept up broken glass that covered the floor of their Subway dining room .
They had shown up expecting to make sandwiches but now weren ’ t sure if they would open .
People carrying brooms and plywood outnumbered people walking dogs around the city center .
Some of the dogs were outfitted with booties on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ broken glass that dotted most sidewalks .
The owner of Sally ’ s Snack Shop on 6th Street stood on a ladder on the sidewalk , using a hammer to try to bend his store ’ s metal security gate back into shape .
Crowds had dented it , he said , and had shattered the glass behind it .
He was struggling to get inside to assess the damage .
The store has been in downtown for 65 years , and he ’ s owned it for 16 , said the owner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ name , Roger .
He said he understood why people were angry but that the destruction to his business could devastate him financially .
His shop was just preparing to reopen after being closed for two months during the coronavirus .
Inside Discount Electronics , owner Bill Nabati rubbed his face and fielded multiple calls from his security alarm company .
“ They looted my store , ” said Nabati , who has run the small storefront on Broadway since 1983 .
“ After two months of the coronavirus , we don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been taken , windows broken and shelves smashed , Nabati said .
He said the damage would take three weeks to repair , but he would need to conduct an inventory to assess how much had been stolen .
The last time he saw this kind of damage was in 1992 , he said .
As then , Nabati said , he was frustrated that the police had not done more to protect his small business .
“ They knew it was going to happen , and they told me I needed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There ’ s only so much I can do .
It ’ s out of my hands .
If they want to come destroy my business , they can.
” “ It ’ s a little bit devastating after everything with COVID , ” said Nancy Nguyen , owner of Polished Nail Bar , as workmen boarded up the glass window at the front of her store .
Her salon wasn ’ t damaged so far , she said , and she was taking precautions to protect her business before more protests on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directly across the street from the looted Starbucks .
Her hope , she said , was that Saturday night ’ s protests would stay peaceful .
“ I love living downtown , and I ’ m a believer in downtown , ” Nguyen said .
“ Protests are a part of our community .
I just never expected violence or looting.
” Authorities said they , too , hoped the demonstrations slated for Saturday would be peaceful .
The LAPD said it would deploy additional resources “ to maintain order and ensure the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exercising their 1st Amendment rights , but also the residents and businesses in our community.
” “ I am asking for all of Los Angeles to come together and find the ability to peacefully express individual and collective grievances while also maintaining the safety of all Angelenos , ” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement .
Moore , Garcetti and many other Los Angeles officials had harshly condemned the killing of Floyd .
Cellphone video of Floyd ’ s arrest shows police officer Derek Chauvin driving his knee into the 46-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he can ’ t breathe .
After several minutes , Floyd appears to lose consciousness , and a bystander can be heard yelling that Floyd ’ s nose is bleeding .
Even as paramedics arrive to check Floyd ’ s pulse , Chauvin ’ s knee remains positioned on the man ’ s neck .
Chauvin was charged Friday with third-degree murder and manslaughter .
Three other officers who were on the scene have been fired .
The unrest , while the worst in L.A. in some time , was far less destructive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killed .
“ We respect every Angeleno ’ s right to protest , but violence and vandalism hurts all , ” he said on Twitter on Friday evening .
“ Let ’ s remember why we march , protect each other and bring a peaceful end to a painful night .
”

Kevin Rector, Alex Wigglesworth, Laura J. Nelson, Dakota Smith, Richard Winton, Kevin Baxter

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


latimes--2020-05-30--He begged looters not to attack his struggling restaurant: 'I'm just ... trying to survive'

It was 10:30 p.m. Friday and 19-year-old Alexa Huizar was working inside D-town Burger Bar Los Angeles when she heard windows being smashed .
Huizar stepped outside and saw a crowd breaking into the Starbucks at the corner of 6th and Spring streets .
She immediately texted her boss a video of the demonstrators breaking into the Starbucks .
At home , in South Gate , Pedro Mojarro , 32 , got it and rushed over .
He would spend the next few hours protecting his struggling business during a night and morning of looting and vandalism .
He pleaded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ damage his restaurant .
“ If you ’ re not standing outside of your businesses , they ’ re going to break into it , ” he said .
Mojarro said he supported the demonstrators but he didn ’ t like that they were targeting businesses .
“ We ’ re with you , I ’ m not against you , ” he said .
“ If you need to protest go do it in front of the police station .
Be angry at them.
” The protests were in response to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ custody in Minneapolis .
His encounter with police began Monday night after Floyd , a black man , was accused of trying to use a counterfeit $ 20 bill at a grocery store .
Cellphone video of Floyd ’ s arrest outside the business shows Officer Derek Chauvin , who is white , driving his knee into the 46-year-old ’ s neck as Floyd pleads that he can ’ t breathe .
After several minutes , Floyd appears to lose consciousness , and a bystander can be heard yelling that Floyd ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrive to check Floyd ’ s pulse , Chauvin ’ s knee remains positioned on the man ’ s neck in the video .
Mojarro said he was mostly upset that the demonstrators didn ’ t take into consideration how difficult it has been for businesses like his .
He said he had to shut down his second business in Boyle Heights because of the coronavirus outbreak .
A month ago , someone broke the window of his burger shop in downtown L.A. , which ended up costing him $ 7,500 .
On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restaurant were down by more than 70 % .
“ Give us a break , ” he said .
“ We got a lot going on already.
” Along 6th Street , between Spring Street and Broadway , residents watched from their lofts and apartments , sometimes egging on demonstrators as they drank beer and recorded video of the chaos .
In the downtown loft district , jewelry stores were hit .
One person offered a reporter a handful of stolen jewelry .
A nearby CVS pharmacy was looted , as were other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pleaded with demonstrators not to damage their cars parked on the street .
Almost every wall on a building was tagged with profanity and anti-police statements Fireworks were set off on the streets , the sparks hitting buildings .
The smoke filled the air and protesters became looters , breaking into stores stealing tennis shoes , clothing and electronic items such as televisions screens and speakers .
Demonstrators broke into jewelry stores , rushing in and smashing display cases and taking anything that may have been left out .
Jewelry lay on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scoop up some of it , others began distributing to other people or telling others where to go loot .
“ You need tennis shoes ?
Just go up the street , you can get whatever you want , ” one man told another .
One business on 6th Street had a signed that read “ Black owned.
” The windows of the salon next to it were broken .
It was 2 a.m. and Mojarro and Huizar were still standing outside of the restaurant , taking video as protesters ran up and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Asked what he wanted demonstrators to know : “ I ’ m just a business owner trying to survive .
”

A Starbucks is looted along Spring St. in Downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
It was 10:30 p.m. Friday and 19-year-old Alexa Huizar was working inside D-town Burger Bar Los Angeles when she heard windows being smashed.
Huizar stepped outside and saw a crowd breaking into the Starbucks at the corner of 6th and Spring streets.
She immediately texted her boss a video of the demonstrators breaking into the Starbucks.
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At home, in South Gate, Pedro Mojarro, 32, got it and rushed over. He would spend the next few hours protecting his struggling business during a night and morning of looting and vandalism.
He pleaded with anyone who came by not to damage his restaurant.
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)
“If you’re not standing outside of your businesses, they’re going to break into it,” he said.
Mojarro said he supported the demonstrators but he didn’t like that they were targeting businesses.
“We’re with you, I’m not against you,” he said. “If you need to protest go do it in front of the police station. Be angry at them.”
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The protests were in response to the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. His encounter with police began Monday night after Floyd, a black man, was accused of trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store.
Cellphone video of Floyd’s arrest outside the business shows Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, driving his knee into the 46-year-old’s neck as Floyd pleads that he can’t breathe. After several minutes, Floyd appears to lose consciousness, and a bystander can be heard yelling that Floyd’s nose is bleeding. Even as paramedics arrive to check Floyd’s pulse, Chauvin’s knee remains positioned on the man’s neck in the video.
Mojarro said he was mostly upset that the demonstrators didn’t take into consideration how difficult it has been for businesses like his.
He said he had to shut down his second business in Boyle Heights because of the coronavirus outbreak. A month ago, someone broke the window of his burger shop in downtown L.A., which ended up costing him $7,500. On top of that, sales at his restaurant were down by more than 70%.
“Give us a break,” he said. “We got a lot going on already.”
Along 6th Street, between Spring Street and Broadway, residents watched from their lofts and apartments, sometimes egging on demonstrators as they drank beer and recorded video of the chaos.
In the downtown loft district, jewelry stores were hit. One person offered a reporter a handful of stolen jewelry. A nearby CVS pharmacy was looted, as were other businesses elsewhere in the city.
Some pleaded with demonstrators not to damage their cars parked on the street. Almost every wall on a building was tagged with profanity and anti-police statements
Fireworks were set off on the streets, the sparks hitting buildings. The smoke filled the air and protesters became looters, breaking into stores stealing tennis shoes, clothing and electronic items such as televisions screens and speakers.
Demonstrators broke into jewelry stores, rushing in and smashing display cases and taking anything that may have been left out. Jewelry lay on the sidewalk and street and people stopped to scoop up some of it, others began distributing to other people or telling others where to go loot.
“You need tennis shoes? Just go up the street, you can get whatever you want,” one man told another.
One business on 6th Street had a signed that read “Black owned.” The windows of the salon next to it were broken.
It was 2 a.m. and Mojarro and Huizar were still standing outside of the restaurant, taking video as protesters ran up and down the street, smashing things.
Asked what he wanted demonstrators to know: “I’m just a business owner trying to survive.”