After four days of protests against ICE raids, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass announced that a one-square-mile area of downtown will be under curfew starting at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
“I have declared a local emergency,” Bass said, “and declared a curfew to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting.”
“Last night, there were 23 businesses that were looted,” she continued. “If you do not live or work in downtown L.A., avoid the area.”
Bass said she expected the curfew, which lasts until 6 a.m., to last several days.
But she emphasized that the vandalism was not widespread. “It is extremely important to know that what is happening in this one square mile is not affecting the city. Some of the imagery of the protests gives the appearance that this is a citywide crisis, and it is not.”
The curfew area covers the central part of the downtown area from the 110 freeway to the 5 freeway, stretching to the 10 freeway to the south.
Last week, immigration agents descended on Los Angeles and began detaining individuals they suspected of being undocumented. A number of mostly peaceful protests were held over the weekend, but directed by President Trump, the National Guard arrived in Los Angeles to maintain order. Mayor Bass, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the LAPD repeatedly emphasized that the Los Angeles Police Department had the situation in hand, but the arrival of the National Guard only inflamed tensions more, and 50 arrests were made over the weekend.
