The Los Angeles mayor said Saturday night that National Guard members were on their way to the second-largest city in the United States, after another day of protests in which protesters clashed with police on several occasions, setting fire to Police cars and looted shops.
Mayor Eric Garcetti said he had asked the governor, Gavin Newsom, to send between 500 and 700 guards to assist the 10,000 police in the city.
“The California National Guard will be deployed to Los Angeles at night to support our local response to maintain peace and security on the streets of our city,” said the mayor on social media after ordering an unusual curfew until Sunday morning.
Firefighters managed dozens of fires, and dozens of businesses suffered damage. One of the hardest hit areas was the aerial around the Grove, a popular outdoor luxury shopping mall west of downtown, where hundreds of people threw stones and other objects at the police and robbed stores.
Community leaders denounced the violence that has accompanied protests over the death of George Floyd when he was detained by police in Minneapolis.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said she has experienced two iconic episodes of violent racial protests in the region, that of Watts in 1965 and 1992 after the acquittal of police officers for the beating of black driver Rodney King, and said remember the pain suffered by the city.
“We must stand up in solidarity against the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of law enforcement officers,” he said. “But please, don’t destroy our beloved Los Angeles. This is no longer a protest. “
Protests were recorded in cities across California, from San Diego to San Francisco. In Emeryville, east of San Francisco, Mayor Christian Patz said Target, Best Buy and other chain stores had been looted. The shops closed Saturday morning under a confinement order imposed following violent protests the previous night in nearby Oakland.
“It is an explosion of frustration from people in the community,” said Patz. “If we are going to ask people to stay within the limits of the law, we have to show them that the law applies to everyone.”
In San Francisco, several Market Street stores were damaged and a fire broke out in the Westfield Mall. Authorities reported increased violence, vandalism, and assaults on officers.
Mayor London Breed declared a curfew between 20:00 on Sunday and 5:00 on Monday. He also asked the governor to keep the National Guard on alert.
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said he understood why the protesters were angry with the police. But he warned that if someone assaulted the agents, “we will not tolerate it.”
In Santa Ana, south of Los Angeles, people threw fireworks and explosives at the police.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore had called for the protests to be peaceful.
“I ask all of Los Angeles to come together and find the ability to peacefully express individual and collective grievances, while maintaining security for all Angelenos,” he said.
Garcetti initially imposed a curfew in the city’s downtown area, where there were altercations for hours on Friday. But it didn’t take long to expand it to the entire city after the violence focused on an area about 9.6 kilometers (6 miles) to the west.
It was prohibited to be on the street between 20:00 and 5:30 in the morning.
Neighboring Beverly Hills and West Hollywood did the same as the protests spread. Other cities in the county began to impose curfews.
The death of Floyd, 46, recorded in a video in which he was heard to implore that he could not breathe while a white police officer from Minneapolis pressed his knee to his neck, has shocked the country and produced violence in many cities. Police chiefs and police unions have described the scene as unjustifiable and abuse of force. The agent has been charged with murder.
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