LOS ANGELES: The fourth day of violence in Los Angeles prompted the Los Angeles Mayor to impose a rare citywide curfew and call in the National Guard after demonstrators clashed repeatedly with officers, torched police vehicles and pillaged businesses in a popular shopping district.
Mayor Eric Garcetti said, on Saturday, he asked Governor Gavin Newsom for 500 to 700 members of the Guard to assist the 10,000 Los Angeles Police Department officers. The Guard members were expected to arrive early Sunday.
Mayor Eric Garcetti said the soldiers would be deployed “to support our local response to maintain peace and safety on the streets of our city.” Firefighters responded to dozens of fires, and scores of businesses were damaged.
One of the hardest-hit areas was the area around the Grove, a popular high-end outdoor mall west of downtown where hundreds of protesters swarmed the area, showering police with rocks and other objects and vandalising shops.
One officer suffered a fractured skull, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said.
When the curfew took effect at 8 pm, police moved aggressively to get people off the streets and there was no repeat of the late-night rampage that occurred downtown Friday night and led to more than 500 arrests.
Community leaders denounced the violence that has accompanied protests over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who was died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said she lived through two previous seminal LA race riots — Watts in 1965 and 1992 following the acquittal of police officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King — and remembers the pain the city endured.
“We must stand in solidarity against the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of law enforcement,” she said.
“But please don’t destroy our beloved Los Angeles. This is not a protest anymore.”
There were protests in cities throughout California, from San Diego to San Francisco.
San Francisco’s iconic Union Square saw people stealing leather bags from the Coach store and shoes from the Salvatore Ferragamo location, The Mercury News reported. Streets were littered with bras from Victoria’s Secret and cushioned jewellery boxes from Swarovski. Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed said a citywide curfew would go into effect from 8 pm Sunday to 5 am Monday. She also asked the governor to put the National Guard on standby.
“People are hurting right now. They’re angry. I’m angry,” Breed tweeted, “We can’t tolerate violence and vandalism.”
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said he understood why protesters were angry at the police. But he warned that if anyone assaulted officers, “we will not tolerate that.”
In nearby Oakland, which was wracked by violence Friday night that left 13 officers injured, authorities declared an unlawful demonstration near City Hall late Saturday. Protesters lit a dumpster on fire in the middle of an intersection and the police launched tear gas into a crowd.
In Emeryville, just east of San Francisco, Mayor Christian Patz said Target, Best Buy and other box stores were burglarised, with thieves stealing electronics and other items. Stores in the city closed early Saturday as part of a shelter-in-place order following violent protests in nearby Oakland the night before.
“It’s an explosion of the frustration of the people in the community,” Patz said, adding: “If we’re going to ask people to stay within the bounds of the law, we’re going to have to show that the law applies to everyone.”
In Santa Ana, south of Los Angeles, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the police station, throwing objects and setting off firecrackers as police used tear gas to push them back.
The scale of the destruction in Los Angeles was being compared to the 1992 riots, when there was more than $1 billion in property damage. There was no estimate of how many businesses suffered damage since protests began Wednesday, but it was clearly extensive.
Saturday’s clashes occurred in and near the Fairfax District, where the historic centre of LA’s Jewish community mixes with upscale shopping, restaurants and entertainment industry sites that draw locals and tourists from around the world.
CBS Television City, the quaint Original Farmer’s Market and the luxury of the Grove are among sights. Trendy Melrose Avenue, which lent its name to the TV show “Melrose Place,” runs through the neighbourhood.