Los Angeles County Issues 6 p.m. Curfew For Second Straight Night
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Los Angeles County has imposed a countywide curfew for the second night in a row, beginning at 6 p.m. Monday.
The move comes as several cities in the region are cleaning up from a weekend of looting. In Santa Monica, a citywide curfew was initially set for 4 p.m., but then moved up to 1:30 p.m. Beverly Hills initially imposed a 4 p.m. citywide curfew, with a 1 p.m. curfew in the business district, and then moved it up to 1 p.m. citywide.
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The City of Los Angeles imposed its own citywide curfew for 6 p.m. on Monday, marking the third night of curfews there. The countywide order will expire at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, and does not apply to people traveling to work or to seek medical care. The media and the homeless are also exempted.
“We are keeping the curfew in place tonight to protect everyone’s safety and help our first responders keep the peace,” L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement, adding that he did not want peaceful protests to be “hijacked” by a small number of people who are destroying property and endangering lives.
Culver City also set a curfew for 4 p.m.
Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown said that Sunday was one of the “most distressing days” in the city’s history. He noted that the vast majority of protesters were peaceful.
“Yet our solidarity with those honoring George Floyd was betrayed, as was his memory, by opportunistic and organized criminals,” McKeown said. “Taking advantage of the protest as a diversion, they stole not only goods, but jobs, and challenged the resilience of our business community, which is poised for recovery from the ongoing pandemic.”
Long Beach also saw extensive looting on Sunday. A clothing store in the 600 block of Pine Avenue was also set on fire.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Saturday night in Los Angeles County, authorizing the deployment of the California National Guard. On Saturday, there was extensive looting on Melrose Avenue and at the Grove shopping center.
Guard troops were sent to L.A. City Hall to protect buildings from damage.
The weekend of looting came just as county officials allowed retail stores and restaurants to reopen for the first time in nearly two months.
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