Bass enacts curfew in downtown L.A. to stem chaotic protests
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Mayor Karen Bass has announced a curfew will be put into effect for a wide swath of downtown Los Angeles following four nights of sporadically chaotic protests during which law enforcement arrested around 300 people.
The curfew will extend from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. It will apply to the area of downtown from the 5 Freeway to the 110 Freeway and from the 10 Freeway to where the 110 Freeway and the 5 Freeway merge, Bass said.
The mayor made the announcement Tuesday evening. She had suggested earlier in the day that she would consider a curfew if violence broke out again.
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“I wanted to let the city know that I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting,” said Bass at an evening news conference.
She noted that 23 businesses were looted in the downtown area Monday night and that the area had been heavily vandalized and damaged during the protests.
“My message to you is, if you do not live or work in downtown L.A., avoid the area,” said Bass. “Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew, and you will be prosecuted.”
Bass said she expected the curfew to last for several days. The decision on when to end it will be made in consultation with law enforcement and elected leaders, she said.
The curfew does not apply to individuals living within the designated area, individuals experiencing homelessness, credentialed media or public safety and emergency personnel, said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell.
“This is not about silencing voices or suppressing lawful protest,” said McDonnell. “When that expression crosses into unlawful conduct, when lives are put at risk and when our city safety is compromised, we must act and we will act.”
Bass also sought to emphasize the fact that the curfew was limited to just a few square miles of the 502 square mile city.
“Some of the imagery of the protests and the violence gives the appearance as though this is a citywide crisis,” she said, noting that the vast majority of Los Angeles has not been impacted by vandalism and protest-related violence.
The curfew comes as arrests have increased every night since protests began in response to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Southern California.
No one was arrested by Los Angeles police on Friday night, but 27 were arrested Saturday and 40 were arrested Sunday, according to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell.
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, the LAPD and the California Patrol had arrested an additional 205 protesters, police said.
“We’ve seen a concerning escalation in unlawful and dangerous behavior,” McDonnell said.
Bass and other elected officials in Los Angeles have repeatedly asked protesters to remain nonviolent and refrain from spray-painting graffiti or otherwise vandalizing or burglarizing businesses. But each morning, new, often explicit, graffiti has adorned buildings across downtown.
Protests grew again on Tuesday afternoon, with people spilling onto the 101 Freeway downtown, temporarily blocking traffic in both directions on the busy roadway. People squeezed through holes in fences that were blocking the freeway on-ramp near Commercial Street.
The crowd was met with lines of CHP officers who used batons to push them back. Some protesters lobbed water bottles. Sixty-seven protesters were detained by CHP.
At 6 p.m. — two hours out from the start of curfew — the hundreds of protesters who had gathered at the Metropolitan Detention Center, blocked the 101 Freeway and clashed with police and federal agents had shrunk to a few dozen.
About 50 people were waving flags and, at times, yelling profanities at CHP officers who blocked Arcadia and Main streets.
At the federal building on Los Angeles Street, about a dozen National Guard troops stood guard as fewer than a dozen protesters remained. Some took pictures of the troops, who were holding clear shields, and moved on.
The California Highway Patrol maintained a heavy presence in the downtown area, though, with dozens of patrol cars lined up along freeway exits and entrances. Several officers assisted in blocking streets with local police, cutting off access to federal buildings.
A few protesters continued to wander in small groups around the civic area.
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