Newsom calls for new California restrictions on police use of force following death of George Floyd
After a week of protests across the state against police brutality and racial injustice, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday called for new restrictions on crowd control techniques and the use of force by law enforcement, including a ban on so-called “carotid holds,” after George Floyd was killed while in the custody of Minneapolis police.
Newsom said the controversial technique, a restraint that puts pressure to the sides of a person’s neck to restrict blood flow and can render the person unconscious, should be barred from the state police training program, adding that he will work with state lawmakers to ban the practice among law enforcement agencies statewide.
D.C. paints huge Black Lives Matter mural near White House
WASHINGTON — City workers and volunteers painted the words Black Lives Matter in enormous bright yellow letters on the street leading to the White House, a highly visible sign of the District of Columbia’s embrace of a protest movement that has put it at odds with President Donald Trump.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted aerial video of the mural shortly after it was completed Friday. The letters and an image of the city’s flag stretch across 16th Street for two blocks, ending just before the church where Trump staged a photo-op after federal officers forcibly cleared a peaceful demonstration to make way for the president and his entourage.
“The section of 16th street in front of the White House is now officially ‘Black Lives Matter Plaza,’” Bowser tweeted. A sign was put up to mark the change.
Police are banning a controversial neck hold after George Floyd’s death
Police officers applying pressure to a person’s neck during an arrest has been a controversial technique for decades.
The Los Angeles Police Commission severely restricted the use of carotid neck holds in 1982 after the deaths of a dozen black men and then-LAPD Chief Daryl Gates’ notorious comment that African Americans were dying because the “veins or arteries of blacks do not open up as fast as they do in normal people.”
Other law enforcement agencies continued to allow the holds with fewer restrictions.
The carotid hold is markedly different from the method of restraint used by a Minneapolis police officer seen kneeling on George Floyd’s neck in a videotaped recording that has set off mass protests across the country against police excessive force and racism.
But Floyd’s death prompted the city of Minneapolis to agree Friday to ban the use of all choke holds, including neck restraints, as part of a settlement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The move follows a string of announcements this week by law enforcement agencies — including more than a dozen in California — ending the use of carotid neck restraints.
How to be civically or politically active during a pandemic
Recent protests galvanized many to take to the streets championing a cause, but for many others in this election year, activism will happen at home.
And activists for a variety of candidates and issues are urging people — whether they broke quarantine to hit the streets or still haven’t left the house — that now is the time to act.
“Sitting around watching the news all day and people dying and police harming African Americans and COVID-19 killing people, it’s heartbreaking. But if you get involved with other people, you can find a way to at least be a small drop in that bucket that makes a positive difference,” said Gina Fields, chairperson of the Empowerment Congress West Area Neighborhood Development Council, representing the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw area.
“The best way to feel better about the world is to get out and help.”
Pandemic and racial unrest test black religious leaders on dual fronts
For black clergy across the United States, the last 10 days have been a tumultuous test of their stamina and skills.
For weeks, they had been striving to comfort their congregations amid a pandemic taking a disproportionately heavy toll on African Americans. Then came a coast-to-coast upsurge of racial tension and unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck as he pleaded for air.
“We’ve got a coronavirus and a racism virus,” said the Rev. Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas.
Here’s a look at what McKissic and three other black clergymen have been doing and how they’ve been coping.
With curfews lifted, a peaceful night in L.A. as more protests on tap for weekend
With curfews lifted, Los Angeles and other Southern California cities saw largely peaceful protests Thursday night as demonstrations continued with few reports of any problems.
Local protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd continue to grow, spreading from the streets of L.A. into suburbs like Fountain Valley, Irvine and Santa Clarita. At least a dozen new demonstrations are planned for Friday.
Police said they needed a curfew earlier this week in various cities and across Los Angeles County to control crowds and crack down on some looting that occurred in a few spots, including downtown, Van Nuys, Hollywood, Long Beach, Santa Monica and the Fairfax district. But there have not been any major reports of stealing in several days.
Bay Area group raising $1 billion for small businesses hurt by virus, looting, curfews
After a looter hit the Hollywood restaurant Los Balcones del Peru during a wave of protests against police brutality on Saturday night, owner Jorge Rodriguez counted himself lucky enough to laugh about it.
“He grabbed the most expensive wines we had and took off,” Rodriguez said, adding that the man left the restaurant otherwise untouched. “It looks like he had a taste for red wines. He didn’t touch the whites.”
Rodriguez maintains a grim sense of humor even as he struggles to keep his business on life support.
Jacksonville Jaguars players and coaches protest police brutality
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars held their own protest Friday against inequality and police brutality, marching from their stadium to the steps of the local sheriff’s department.
“Today we say no more,” wide receiver Chris Conley said. “Today we see a nation that can’t await change, a city that won’t sit still or be quiet.”
Ibram X. Kendi on how to raise antiracist babies
Ibram X. Kendi, 38, is one the country’s leading proponents of antiracism. He is the founding director of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University in Washington and a contributor for the Atlantic and CBS News. He has written five books, including “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,” which won a 2016 National Book Award, and “How to Be an Antiracist,” which is enjoying renewed popularity in this national moment of antiracist protest.
Kendi’s fifth book, out this month, is a departure only in its target audience — which is, to be sure, radically different. “Antiracist Baby” is a colorful board book for the 0-3 demographic, aimed to educate people about race and racism as early in life as possible. While Kendi himself expresses a measured but inexhaustible hope for social change, he believes it has to be seeded by new generations if we are to truly become a more just country. He spoke to us by phone from his home in Washington, D.C.
‘George Floyd should not be among the deceased’: Rev. Al Sharpton eulogizes Floyd at memorial
While New York City is calmer, Buffalo police draw outrage for protester injury
NEW YORK — The latest night of protests in New York City sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police was markedly calmer, while video of police officers in Buffalo pushing an elderly protester who falls and cracks his head drew widespread condemnation.
Video from WFBO-TV showed Buffalo officers pushing the 75-year-old man who walked up to police who were clearing Niagara Square around the 8 p.m. curfew Thursday. The man falls straight backward and hits his head on the pavement, with blood leaking out as officers walk past.
The video quickly went viral on social media, spurring outrage. Buffalo police initially said in a statement that a person “was injured when he tripped & fell,” WIVB-TV reported, but Capt. Jeff Rinaldo later told the TV station that an internal affairs investigation was opened. The police commissioner subsequently suspended two police officers without pay, Mayor Byron Brown said in a statement.
An L.A. woman is drawing attention to Breonna Taylor’s death
Widespread protests provoked by the death of George Floyd have swept the nation this week, but some activists, like the L.A.-based writer Cate Young, want to use this opportunity to spotlight other cases, too.
On Tuesday, Young launched a campaign to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who was shot in her Louisville, Ky., apartment by a police officer in March.
Frustrated by the lack of media and political attention on black women such as Taylor who have died at the hands of police, Young seeks to bring her story back into the news cycle.
“If I were to be a victim of this kind of crime, I would be quickly forgotten,” said Young, a black woman and self-described feminist. “Someone needed to champion her cause as well.”
Trump heads to rural Maine but won’t escape demonstrators
WASHINGTON — Maine’s Democratic governor is urging President Trump to watch his tone during a visit to the state Friday to showcase a company that makes specialized swabs for coronavirus testing.
And the sheriff in Maine’s most rural county is urging those expected to protest Trump’s visit — and those who support him — to behave themselves as demonstrations continue around the country over the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
Trump has drawn criticism for urging governors to “dominate” protesters and toss perpetrators of violence in prison and for his administration’s move earlier this week to forcibly clear out peaceful protesters near the White House so he could walk to a nearby church to pose for photos holding up a Bible.
Gov. Janet Mills this week urged the president to “check the rhetoric at the door and abandon the divisive words” during his visit.
“I hope he will heed this call and appeal to the best in all people and lead us with courage and compassion through this difficult time,” she said Thursday.
During a call earlier this week with governors, Mills told the president she was concerned about “security problems for our state” if Trump visited because of his harsh remarks about handling demonstrators.
Looters who hit L.A. stores explain what they did: ‘Get my portion!’
The young man flanked the shattered entry of a ransacked CVS in Santa Monica, where people had swept the shelves clean of everything from diapers to detergent. The man, who did not cover his face, admitted he was a looter. He did not apologize.
“We’ve got no other way of showing people how angry we are,” he said.
Out of the store ran another young man, this one holding a carton of eggs. He grabbed a friend and started scanning the street for targets: police cars. “We’re doing it because we can,” he said.
Over in Van Nuys, a teenage boy standing outside a ravaged Skechers store held up a backpack. That was all he took. But it was enough, he said.
“We are just trying to provide and take up the opportunity that we are getting right now. That’s all.”
Editorial: Protesters skipped South L.A. and marched in white neighborhoods. Good for them
The same outrage over racial injustice that ignited rioting in South Los Angeles in 1992 has propelled a week of protests across Los Angeles in the wake of George Floyd’s death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.
In 1991, a black man — Rodney King — was beaten by police; four white officers were acquitted the next year. The anger and frustration left businesses burned and looted in South L.A. as well as in Koreatown, where tensions had already been stoked by the light sentence given to a Korean merchant for fatally shooting a black teenage girl the merchant had accused of shoplifting. Physical and emotional scars of that devastation remain.
The difference in 2020 is that there appear to have been no big demonstrations in South Los Angeles, where the reality of police violence against people of color is all too well known. Instead, protesters have taken their anguished cries into affluent neighborhoods across the city, where residents live at a comfortable detachment from police violence.
Peaceful protesters — and it is crucial to distinguish them and their organizers from the violent opportunists who occasionally traveled in their wake — demonstrated in Hollywood, West Hollywood, and the Fairfax district, and moved west to the ocean for a demonstration in Santa Monica. There have been protests in Westwood and Brentwood, in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley. A thousand people demonstrated at the pier in Manhattan Beach, and hundreds marched in Newport Beach.
They have massed downtown outside the government offices of L.A. city and county power brokers and in Windsor Square at the official residence of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, where they chanted “defund the police.” Ethnically diverse and unflinching at a time when police or a virus could take them down, they have stood on streets, sidewalks and lawns to make the point that racial inequity must stop.
Growing the LAPD was gospel at City Hall. George Floyd changed that
It has been an article of faith in Los Angeles politics for more than a quarter-century: Build the Police Department and its budget, and you will build a stronger, safer city.
Mayors from moderate Republican Richard Riordan to liberal Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa charted that course, with special emphasis on expanding the LAPD to at least 10,000 sworn officers.
But city leaders now appear ready to slow and perhaps reverse that longtime trend, following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody and a wave of rage, sorrow and demands in Los Angeles that the government provide poor and minority communities with more than a police presence.
Mayor Eric Garcetti said he will direct $250 million to youth jobs, health initiatives and “peace centers” to heal trauma, and will allow those who have suffered discrimination to collect damages. The money will have to be cut from other city operations; Garcetti, backed by City Council President Nury Martinez and his new Police Commission president, said as much as $150 million would come from the Los Angeles Police Department.
That is a striking reversal from the budget Garcetti put forward in April, which proposed a 7% spending increase for the LAPD, including a previously agreed-upon package of raises and bonuses for rank-and-file officers.
Minneapolis police chief struggles to change the department’s culture
MINNEAPOLIS — When Medaria Arradondo was tapped to lead the Minneapolis Police Department in 2017, he faced a public that was newly outraged by the fatal police shooting of a woman who had called 911 and that was still carrying deep mistrust from the killing of a black man two years earlier.
Many hoped Arradondo, the city’s first African American police chief, could change the culture of a department that critics said too frequently used excessive force and discriminated against people of color. He spoke of restoring trust during a swearing-in ceremony that became a community celebration featuring song, dance and prayer in a center close to where he grew up.
But George Floyd’s death, which ignited nationwide protests over racial injustice and police brutality, has raised questions about whether Arradondo — or any chief — can fix the department now facing a civil rights investigation.
Steve Belton, president and CEO of the Urban League of the Twin Cities, said Arradondo inherited a department with a history of misconduct “over many, many, many decades” and “it won’t be fixed overnight, maybe not even in this particular moment or with this particular chief. Change takes time.”
Twitter blocks Trump campaign video tribute to George Floyd
Twitter has blocked a Trump campaign video tribute to George Floyd over a copyright claim, in a move that adds to tensions between the social media platform and the president, one of its most widely followed users.
The company put a label on a video posted by the @TeamTrump account that said, “This media has been disabled in response to a claim by the copyright owner.” The video was still up on Trump’s YouTube channel and includes pictures of Floyd, whose death sparked widespread protests, at the start.
“Per our copyright policy, we respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorized representatives,” Twitter said in a statement.
The 3-minute, 45-second clip is a montage of photos and videos of peaceful marches and police officers hugging protesters interspersed with some scenes of burning buildings and vandalism, set to gentle piano music and Trump speaking.
It’s the latest action that Twitter has taken against Trump, who has threatened to retaliate against social media companies.
George Floyd’s death pushes military to face its ‘own demons’ on race
WASHINGTON — The death of George Floyd in police hands has pushed the U.S. military to look hard at itself and to admit that, like the rest of America, it has fallen short on racial fairness.
Although the military historically has prided itself on diversity, leaders acknowledge that African American troops often are disproportionately subject to military legal punishment and are impeded in promotions.
“I struggle with the Air Force’s own demons that include the racial disparities in military justice and discipline among our youngest black male airmen,” Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright, an African American and the service’s top enlisted airman, wrote in a social media post this week.
While tensions simmer between the Pentagon and the White House over the proper limits of military involvement in policing protests prompted by Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, what goes largely unspoken is that many of the troops being called upon to help keep order are African Americans and other minorities.
Kentucky governor says Jefferson Davis statue should be removed
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Statues of Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln tower over visitors to Kentucky’s Capitol, but the state’s governor doesn’t think the Confederate president belongs in the same space as the U.S. president who helped end slavery.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday that he sees the Davis statue as a divisive symbol that should be removed from the Capitol rotunda in Frankfort. His comments came hard on the heels of an announcement by Virginia’s governor that a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee near downtown Richmond would be taken down.
Beshear was asked about the Davis statue during a time of unrest in Louisville, Ky., where crowds have protested over police interactions with black residents. In March, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman, was killed by gunfire when police broke into her apartment on an unsuccessful drug raid.
“Even if there are those who think it’s a part of history, there should be a better place to put it in historic context,” the governor said of the Davis statue. “And right now, seeing so much pain in our state and across our country, can’t we at least realize that in so many of our fellow Kentuckians ... it is in the very least so hurtful to them? And doesn’t that at least justify it not sitting where it does right now?
“I don’t think it should be in the Capitol rotunda,” he added.
Police chokeholds come under scrutiny around the world
LE PECQ, France — Three days after George Floyd died with a Minneapolis police officer choking off his air, another black man writhed on the tarmac of a street in Paris as a police officer pressed a knee to his neck during an arrest.
Immobilization techniques where officers apply pressure with their knees on prone suspects are used in policing around the world and have long drawn criticism. One reason why Floyd’s death is sparking anger and touching nerves globally is that such techniques have been blamed for asphyxiations and other deaths in police custody beyond American shores, often involving non-white suspects.
“We cannot say that the American situation is foreign to us,” said French lawmaker Francois Ruffin, who has pushed for a ban on the police use of face-down holds that are implicated in multiple deaths in France, a parliamentary effort put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic.
The muscular May 28 arrest in Paris of a black man who was momentarily immobilized face-up with an officer’s knee and upper shin pressing down on his jaw, neck and upper chest is among those that have drawn angry comparisons with the death of Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis.
Kansas City announces planned police reforms
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City is reforming police procedures after criticism from black organizations about police conduct during nearly a week of protests as well as long-standing tension between the department and minorities, the mayor announced Thursday.
A coalition of civil rights organizations demanded Wednesday that Police Chief Rick Smith be fired. But Mayor Quinton Lucas said Smith would remain “as we weather our current crisis and also as we continue to address our issues related to violent crime and the high number of homicides in Kansas City.”
Lucas said after a closed meeting of the Kansas City Police Board of Commissioners that the city would ask an outside agency to review all police-involved shootings; create whistleblower protections for officers; end a department policy of not sending probable-cause statements to prosecutors in officer-involved shootings; review officers’ use of tear gas and projectiles; and provide updates to the city council on the department’s community engagement efforts.
Lucas said he hoped a review of tear gas and projectile use would lead to a new policy in the near future.
The city announced Wednesday that $2.5 million in private funding has been donated to buy police body cameras.
Lucas said the changes addressed long-standing issues, not only concerns raised during the protests over the death of George Floyd.
“It also recognizes that this moment is not about individual protests on the plaza or in Kansas City,” Lucas said. “But instead how we can modernize policing, how we can build trust between police and our communities and, frankly, how we can help solve many of the challenges we have in Kansas City’s violent crime.”
The announcement came shortly after Jackson County’s prosecutor, Jean Peters Baker, said she was reaching out to Kansas City protesters claiming to be victims of police misconduct, urging them to report their allegations online.
2 Buffalo police officers suspended after protester injured at a demonstration
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A police commissioner has suspended two officers following video that shows a Buffalo officer appearing to shove a man who walked up to police.
Video from WBFO shows the man appearing to hit his head on the pavement, with blood leaking out as officers walk past to clear Niagara Square on Thursday night.
The station reports two medics treated the unidentified man.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said the man is 75 and hospitalized in serious condition. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo condemned the incident as “wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful.”
WIVB-TV reports that Buffalo police initially said in a statement a person “was injured when he tripped & fell.” But Capt. Jeff Rinaldo later told the TV station that an internal affairs investigation was opened.
Later Thursday, news outlets reported that Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood suspended two officers without pay.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office has tweeted that they’re aware of the video.
For night-shift workers, curfews can be costly
At the end of his shift at a Home Depot warehouse in Joliet, Ill., Elgin Hodges drove home about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, splashes of blue and red light from police cars illuminating his way.
Joliet’s mayor had declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. in response to unrest that broke out over the death of George Floyd.
Hodges checked that he was obeying the speed limit, scanned the street and shadowy parking lots for officers and nervously adjusted the paperwork he keeps on the dashboard detailing his status as an essential worker during the pandemic.
In recent days, many workers in cities with curfews have struggled to make their early-morning shifts or get home late at night. They’ve had to contend with public transportation shutdowns, suspensions of service by ride-hailing companies and police blocking off roads and exits.
Some employees saw their wages cut as businesses shortened hours in response. Others were forced to forego wages as they called off shifts in the face of travel impediments or safety worries, or left early to be able to get home before the start of curfew.
Hodges, who is black, worried the curfew would make him a target for police harassment.
“Growing up I’ve been taught to keep my head on a swivel. But now I’ve been working double time to ensure my safety,” he said.
Many cities and counties have relaxed or lifted their curfews, including Los Angeles, where the Sheriff’s Department said Thursday it would not impose restrictions, although it said individual cities were free to maintain their own.
In Joliet, where Hodges lives, the curfew, pushed back to 10 p.m., remained in place as of Thursday night. Every night since Monday, Hodges has taken backstreets to avoid the main streets crowded with police, adding about 10 minutes to his usual 20-minute commute.
George Floyd memorial marks moment of healing and reckoning for Minneapolis and country
MINNEAPOLIS — Outside the small university chapel, crowds gathered and chanted: “What’s his name? George Floyd!”
Inside, his youngest brother, Rodney Floyd, stepped to a white lectern above a black-and-gold casket.
He had a request for the mourners: “Can y’all please say his name?”
And they answered: “George Floyd.”
The private memorial in downtown Minneapolis was reserved for relatives and friends and the civil rights activists, politicians and celebrities the family had invited.
In the 10 days since George Floyd died with a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on his neck and onlookers recording on their smartphones, his name has become a rallying cry in a nationwide movement against racism and police violence.
“He was powerful man,” Philonise Floyd, another brother, said of his 6-foot-7-inch sibling. “He had a way with words” that motivated people.
“All these people came to see my brother,” he said. “Everybody wants justice. We want justice for George. He’s going to get it.”
Florida State players back off boycott threat over Mike Norvell’s comments
Florida State football players and coaches ironed out their issues Thursday after players threatened a boycott over coach Mike Norvell’s comments in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and the unrest that has followed.
On Tuesday, the Athletic’s Tashan Reed tweeted a quote from Norvell in which the first-year Seminoles coach said there had been “a lot of open communication” between the players and coaches and that he had “back and forth individually with every player this weekend” to discuss the recent events.
“And that was something that was important to me because this is a heartbreaking time in our country,” Norvell said, according to Reed.
L.A. aggressively expanded the police force for 3 decades. Now, a political shift means cuts
Even before the Los Angeles riots in 1992, many at City Hall believed that the Los Angeles Police Department was too small to effectively patrol such a sprawling city. They noted that L.A. had fewer cops per capita than some other cities and that L.A.’s huge geography caused its own unique challenges.
So, for more than two decades, L.A. pushed to expand the department. The magic number was 10,000 officers. And in 2013, L.A. hit that number.
But by then, there were voices at City Hall questioning whether more expansion was needed and whether it might be time to trim the LAPD’s budget to preserve other city programs during tough economic times. Some also noted the huge drop in crime during that period, a dramatic difference from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Drew Brees apologizes for saying Kaepernick and others disrespect the flag by kneeling
Drew Brees apologized Thursday for comments that were “insensitive and completely missed the mark” when he reiterated his opposition to Colin Kaepernick and others kneeling during the national anthem, drawing sharp criticism from fellow high-profile athletes and others in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Los Angeles Lakers great LeBron James, New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins and former NFL player Martellus Bennett were just some of the high-profile athletes to criticize Brees on their Twitter feeds.
San Diego sheriff requests National Guard; 100 troops to deploy in La Mesa
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore has requested the help of the California National Guard to support police in La Mesa and deputies around the county amid continuing protests calling for racial justice and police reform, according to sheriff’s officials.
“San Diego County has requested the National Guard [to] assist with security in the region due to the recent civil unrest,” La Mesa city officials said in a statement Wednesday night. “A portion of them will be responding to La Mesa this evening. You may also see them throughout the county.”
8:46: A number becomes a potent symbol of police brutality
MINNEAPOLIS — All protest movements have slogans. The one sparked by George Floyd’s death has a number: 8:46.
Eight minutes, 46 seconds is the length of time that prosecutors say Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was pinned to the ground, gasping for breath, under a white Minneapolis police officer’s knee before he died last week.
In the days since, outraged protesters, allies and sympathetic companies have seized on the detail as a quiet way to honor Floyd at a time of angry and sometimes violent clashes with police. Even as prosecutors have said little about how they arrived at the precise number, it has fast grown into a potent symbol of the suffering Floyd — and many other black men — have experienced at the hands of police.
In Boston and Tacoma, Wash., demonstrators this week lay down on streets, staging “die-ins” for precisely 8 minutes, 46 seconds. In Houston, where Floyd had lived for part of his life, churchgoers held candles and bowed their heads in silence, experiencing the crawl of time.
ViacomCBS, owner of MTV and Nickelodeon, stopped its programming earlier this week to air a silent, somber video honoring Floyd for 8 minutes, 46 seconds.
They protected barrios against looting. ‘Don’t come here to tag up all these walls, homie’
Dressed in a black tank top and black shorts that stretched down to his shins, Orlando Fuentes stood in front of a boarded-up T-shirt store at the Anaheim Towne Center on Monday night. About 30 other people and a pit bull named Daisy were with him.
Everyone looked like they were ready to throw down.
Earlier that day, over 1,000 people had peacefully marched past the downtown shopping plaza to decry police brutality. Now, it was two hours past curfew.
Nearby, an Orange County Sheriff’s Department SWAT armored vehicle stuffed with deputies warned anyone within hearing distance to leave. Illegal fireworks crackled in the distance. Police raced around town to pursue stragglers; deputies guarded other businesses.
But Fuentes and his homies weren’t going anywhere.
“I’ve been coming to this store since I was a kid,” explained the 30-year-old. “And no way are we going to let outsiders mess with it. We’re going to stay here all night if we have to.”
Commentary: Confederate monuments institutionalize racism. Take them all down — now
A racist civic sculpture celebrating white supremacy was taken down off its pedestal on Tuesday in Alexandria, Va. The action, dramatic and long overdue, represents a sliver of light piercing the current gloom.
The bronze figure of a lone Confederate soldier, positioned to face due south, had stood for 131 years in the city’s historic core, just seven short miles from the White House and eight from the U.S. Capitol dome. Beneath the now-banished statue, an inscription on the base declares: “They died in the consciousness of duty faithfully performed.”
Consciousness. Duty. Faith. This civic salute to a gross perversion of human decency could hardly be more unashamed.
Memorial sculptures like this one have a specific purpose. They cast institutional racism in bronze.
News Analysis: Racism, riots, police brutality. Is America living 1968 all over again? Yes, and no
In the broad sweep of American history, certain years stand like grim mileposts. The year 1968, bathed in blood and drenched in sorrow, is one. The year 2020 may be another.
The nation is convulsed today in a way it has not been in more than half a century: stalked by a mysterious virus, burdened by soaring joblessness, wrestling — once again — with the twin plagues of racism and inequality that have poisoned the country from its outset.
As it happens, 1968 was a presidential election year. So, too, is 2020. It is the time when Americans take stock of what has been and look forward, with varying degrees of hope and resignation, to what may be.
So much has changed in 52 years. So much remains the same.
Editorial: A very abbreviated history of police officers killing black people
George Floyd, Jamar Clark, Philando Castile. Reading the names of African Americans killed by police in or near Minneapolis alone can boggle the mind, and of course these are only the names that made the national news. Like high-profile police killings in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Texas, the Southeast, the Northwest, the East Coast — the manner of killing and the justifications offered vary, as do the consequences for the officers involved. But one common thread running through the many deadly incidents is that the victims are disproportionately black.
Floyd’s life was snuffed out on May 25 as a police officer pinned him on the street for nearly nine minutes, the officer’s knee on the victim’s neck as Floyd protested, “I can’t breathe.”
Clark was pinned to the ground by a knee to his chest in 2015 when a Minneapolis police officer shot him to death.
Castile was shot dead in his car in 2016 by a police officer in a suburban community outside Minneapolis.
Other cities, other police killings. On May 6, Indianapolis police killed Dreasjon “Sean” Reed. On March 13, Louisville, Ky., police killed Breonna Taylor as she lay in her own bed. On Feb. 23, former Glynn County, Ga., Police Officer Gregory McMichael helped corner Ahmaud Arbery in an incident that ended with Arbery shot dead.
Videos capture L.A. police violence, aggression amid demonstrations
In one video, at least eight Los Angeles police officers surround a woman lying in a Hollywood street as the buzz of a Taser fills the air. People scream from apartment balconies for the officers, who appear to be firing the stun gun at the woman, to stop.
In another video, an LAPD vehicle barrels into a crowd of protesters in Pershing Square, nearly driving over one before backing up and speeding away as protesters throw objects at the car.
On Tuesday, footage of a curfew arrest in Hollywood ends with the unarmed arrestee held at gunpoint and pleading for mercy as a police radio squawks with orders for officers to take anyone they see into custody. In L.A. County, sheriff’s deputies in one video appear to shoot pellets out of a moving vehicle at young men on the street, and those in another video punch and knee a young man on the ground in Compton.
With cellphone cameras everywhere and social media providing a livestream of unprecedented protests against police brutality, there has been a steady stream of new videos showing troubling police behavior.
Pride began as a protest. In 2020 in L.A., it will be again
It started with the global pandemic that made in-person gatherings a health risk. Now, with protests against police violence and racial oppression sweeping the world, LGBTQ leaders are urging their communities to express solidarity and support, whether in person or online.
“We don’t make space for the reality that black queer people exist,” said David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, an organization that serves the needs of the African American LGBTQ community in the United States. “Everybody should be really clear about [Pride’s] origins in resistance and rebellion. Pride has more to do with what people are calling protests than [it does] with the parades that ignore all of these realities.”
In recent years, most Pride celebrations have been joyous, with parades, dance music, parties, crowded bars and corporate-sponsored rainbow swag. It’s a stark change from the attitudes at the first Pride marches, said Michael Bronski, author of “A Queer History of the United States” and professor of the practice in media and activism in studies of women, gender and sexuality at Harvard University.
“The first march in 1970, they were anchored in anger,” Bronski said. “This was really a political march. There were no corporate sponsors. Nobody had signs on buses and trains with rainbow flags for Levi or Subaru. … The first gay pride march and Stonewall was a recognition that gay men and lesbians were in fact oppressed by a larger society.”
Stevante Clark raged after cops killed his brother. Now he’s emerged as a leader
SACRAMENTO — With the National Guard carrying live ammunition and two nights of looting leaving the city on edge, no one was sure what would happen here Monday as darkness fell downtown — not police blaring reminders of a curfew from an unmarked car, not the city leaders and business people who had long since cleared out of the area, and not the protesters themselves, many seemingly young and inexperienced with civil disobedience.
Then a slight man, decked out in a tapered black suit, lace up loafers and a wide brim hat, stepped up as mobocracy crept in with the evening.
Stevante Clark, brother of Stephon Clark, gunned down by Sacramento police in 2018, took hold of the only small bullhorn anyone had thought to bring, and with it, took hold of the crowd of about 600.
“If you disrespect the legacy of George Floyd, you are disrespecting the legacy of my brother,” he yelled, his voice strained to a whisper from earlier protests. “And I will not allow that.”
Clark, 27, is emerging as the leader of a particular moment in Sacramento, able to clearly convey and share emotionally the salt-in-the-wound agony of police violence that has defined his life since his unarmed brother was killed in his grandmother’s backyard — a bellwether of grief for a young generation already tired of hurting and desperately in need of hope from someone who feels authentic.
But he is an unlikely guide.
Property damage in Minneapolis is $55 million and rising
MINNEAPOLIS — The city of Minneapolis says the looting and property damage following the death of George Floyd in police custody has caused at least $55 million in damage so far.
Vandals damaged or set fire to at least 220 buildings, but that number is expected to go up, city officials said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey will ask for state and federal aid to help rebuild after the civil unrest. Until that happens, community members are pitching in to support Minneapolis neighborhoods.
The violence follows the death of Floyd, a black man who died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, ignoring Floyd’s cries that he couldn’t breathe.
Prosecutors Wednesday upgraded charges against the officer, Derek Chauvin, to second-degree murder and charged three other officers with aiding and abetting.
Meghan Markle speaks to her L.A. alma mater about George Floyd’s death
Former actress Meghan Markle, the duchess of Sussex, has shared her sadness about racial divisions in the U.S., telling students at her alma mater in Los Angeles that she felt moved to speak out because the life of George Floyd mattered.
The wife of Britain’s Prince Harry told graduates at the Immaculate Heart High School that she wrestled with what to tell them given the days of protests after Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.
“I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing, because George Floyd’s life mattered,” she said in a virtual address.
Floyd, who was black, died after a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck May 25.
Days of protests have shaken L.A. and other cities in the U.S. Charges have been filed against the officers who were present when Floyd lay pinned to the ground for several minutes.
Supreme Court faulted for shielding police officers from excessive-force claims
WASHINGTON — Amid nationwide protests over police killings, the Supreme Court is facing pressure to reconsider the legal immunity that often shields officers from being sued for using excessive force, including brutal arrests and the shooting of innocent people in their homes.
The high court has been sharply criticized from the left and the right for rulings in the last decade that have made it nearly impossible for many victims of police brutality or wrongful shootings to sue the officers for violating their rights. Since police officers are rarely charged with a crime, the court-created doctrine of “qualified immunity” from civil lawsuits has meant no redress for victims and little accountability for those who abuse their authority, according to the critics.
In recent weeks, justices have been considering several appeals from victims urging the court to reverse course and allow these claims to go before a jury.
Lawyers behind the appeals say the images of a Minneapolis police officer pressing his knee onto the neck of unarmed black man who is handcuffed and gasping for breath should weigh on the justices.
“It makes for grim coincidence,” said Jay Schweikert, a lawyer for the Cato Institute, which has waged a campaign against police immunity. “The senseless violence committed by [police officer] Derek Chauvin — and the stunning indifference of the officers standing by as George Floyd begged for his life— is the product of our culture of near-zero accountability for law enforcement. I expect the events of the past week will increase their sense of urgency, because the justices are culpable for this doctrine that they have expounded.”
Protests across the U.S. turn subdued after new charges brought in George Floyd death
MINNEAPOLIS — Demonstrations in cities across the U.S. over the death of George Floyd remained large but turned notably more subdued on the eve of a Thursday memorial service and a series of events mourning the man whose death sparked a national movement.
The calmer protests came on the same day that prosecutors charged three more police officers and filed a new, tougher charge against the officer at the center of the case.
The most serious new charge Wednesday was an accusation of second-degree murder against Derek Chauvin, who was caught on video pressing his knee to Floyd’s neck. The three other officers at the scene were charged for the first time with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to four decades in prison.
The move by prosecutors punctuated an unprecedented week in modern U.S. history, in which largely peaceful protests took place in communities of all sizes but were rocked by bouts of violence, including deadly attacks on officers, rampant thefts and arson in some places.
Pressure builds to end curfew amid more peaceful protests
More huge protests against the death of George Floyd and local police violence spread across Southern California along with growing pressure to end curfews imposed over the weekend.
Police reported few problems Wednesday night, after dealing with scattered looting and vandalism Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Officials pushed back curfews later into the evening amid pressure to lift them all together.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said that while the curfews may have been warranted on Sunday and Monday nights, “now it seems like they are being used to arrest peaceful protesters. I don’t think they are needed anymore.” Mayor Eric Garcetti said the curfew could be lifted if things remain quiet Wednesday night.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against Los Angeles city and county and the city of San Bernardino to end the curfews.
“The curfews’ extraordinary suppression of all political protest in the evening hours plainly violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and their blanket restrictions on movement outside working hours violate the Constitution’s protection of freedom of movement,” the ACLU said in a statement.
Minneapolis woman recalls run-in with ex-officer charged in George Floyd killing
WASHINGTON — In August 2007, Melissa Borton was returning to her Minneapolis home to unpack groceries after a trip to Rainbow Foods with her 2-month-old child and 5-year-old German shepherd.
As the then-30-year-old turned her green minivan left into an intersection, she saw flashing blue and red lights behind her. She was confused. She didn’t think she had disobeyed any laws.
Borton stopped her van and rolled down her window in anticipation of interacting with the two approaching policemen. One was Derek Chauvin, the officer who would be charged this month with manslaughter and second-degree murder for the killing of George Floyd, which sparked national outrage and protests against systemic racism.
Chauvin and an unnamed officer “without a word” reached inside her car, unlocked the door and began pulling her out while she was still strapped in, Borton recalled in an interview with The Times.
3 men charged in killing of Ahmaud Arbery face court hearing
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Three men charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia face a hearing to determine whether authorities have enough evidence to send the case to a trial court.
The hearing Thursday follows a week of angry protests in the U.S. over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Defense attorneys requested the proceeding to make prosecutors show whether they have probable cause to charge the men with murder.
Arbery was killed Feb. 23 after a white father and son armed themselves and gave chase when they spotted the 25-year-old black man running in their neighborhood just outside the port city of Brunswick.
It wasn’t until May 7 that those men — Greg McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34 — were charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. The McMichaels’ arrests came two days after cellphone video of the shooting leaked online and stirred a national outcry.
The neighbor who filmed the video, 50-year-old William “Roddie” Bryan, was also arrested and charged with felony murder and illegally using a vehicle to try to confine and detain Arbery.
Portland, a city used to protests, is reeling from nightly chaos
PORTLAND, Ore. — This liberal city is so well-known — and usually prepared — for messy protests that it was once famously nicknamed “Little Beirut.” But even it is reeling from the nightly unrest splintering off from peaceful demonstrations over police killings of African Americans.
For five nights, these smaller breakaway groups have smashed windows, set fires, broken into a building housing police headquarters and spray-painted walls and sidewalks. The mayhem is not unique to Portland during the national upheaval over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, but the sustained demonstrations have pushed police to the brink — unusual for a city well-versed in civil disobedience.
A visibly frustrated Portland Police Chief Jami Resch pleaded Wednesday for people to help stop those “holding our city with violence.” More than 10,000 people had demonstrated peacefully in the city the day before — one of the largest protests in the U.S. on Tuesday — before violence broke out after nightfall.
“How do we come together to stop the violence and destruction in our city so we can move forward to identify solutions that can work? How long can we, as a city, endure the extreme disregard for human life and property demonstrated by a small group of individuals?” Resch said at an emotional news conference Wednesday. “We have to collectively come together to stop those who are holding our city with violence. ... Every night, we are using all our resources, and it is still not enough.”
Police say they have struggled to balance allowing thousands of peaceful protesters to march while confronting much smaller crowds that seem focused on clashing with officers at any cost.
Arrests at widespread U.S. protests hit 10,000, AP tally shows
More than 10,000 people have been arrested in protests decrying racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death, according to an Associated Press tally of known arrests across the U.S.
The count has grown by the hundreds each day as protesters spilled into the streets and encountered a heavy police presence and curfews that give law enforcement stepped-up arrest powers.
Los Angeles has had more than a quarter of the national arrests, followed by New York, Dallas and Philadelphia. Many of the arrests have been for low-level offenses such as curfew violations and failure to disperse. Hundreds were arrested on burglary and looting charges.
As cities were engulfed in unrest last week, politicians claimed that the majority of the protesters were outside agitators, including a contention by Minnesota’s governor that 80% of the participants in the demonstrations were from out of state.
The arrests in Minneapolis during a frenzied weekend tell a different story. In a nearly 24-hour period from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, 41 of the 52 people cited with protest-related arrests had Minnesota driver’s licenses, according to the Hennepin County sheriff.
In the nation’s capital, 86% of the more than 400 people arrested as of Wednesday afternoon were from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
It is not known how many of the people arrested were locked up — an issue at a time when many of the nation’s jails are dealing with coronavirus outbreaks. The protesters are often placed in zip-ties and hauled away from the scene in buses.
New York police officer stabbed, two others injured in late-night attack
NEW YORK — A New York police officer on an anti-looting patrol was ambushed Wednesday by a man who walked up behind him and stabbed him in the neck, police said, setting off a struggle in which the assailant was shot and two other officers suffered gunshot injuries to their hands.
The bloodshed happened just before midnight in the hours after an 8 p.m. curfew that was intended to quell days of unrest over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.
All three injured officers were expected to recover. The man who attacked them was shot multiple times and was hospitalized in critical condition, said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.
Shea noted that it was one of several attacks on police officers in recent days, including one in which a driver plowed into a police sergeant who was trying to stop looting in the Bronx and a lieutenant who was struck in the helmet by a brick during a brawl with protesters in Manhattan.
The spot in Brooklyn where Wednesday night’s attack took place is just a block away from where demonstrators and police engaged days ago in an hours-long standoff, during which a police car was burned and protesters beaten with batons.
There were peaceful marches and protests throughout the day Wednesday, but police moved in to break them up when the city’s curfew took effect at 8 p.m.
Seattle calls quits on curfew earlier than expected
SEATTLE — Leaders in Seattle seeking to address concerns raised by protesters have abruptly ended a citywide curfew in place for days amid massive demonstrations over the death of George Floyd.
Mayor Jenny Durkan said Wednesday evening on Twitter that she was ending the curfew, which had been scheduled to last until Saturday, after she and Police Chief Carmen Best met with community members.
“Chief Best believes we can balance public safety and ensure peaceful protests can continue without a curfew,” Durkan said. “For those peacefully demonstrating tonight, please know you can continue to demonstrate. We want you to continue making your voice heard.”
Thousands of protesters remained in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood well after the abolished 9 p.m. curfew Wednesday. Demonstrators carried “Black Lives Matter” signs, called for cutting the police department’s budget and shifting the money to social programs, and chanted for officers to remove their riot gear.
Washington Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib tweeted that he was pleased Seattle had listened and reversed course.
“Preemptive curfews were only making things worse. Other cities should do likewise,” he posted.
Peaceful protesters march to U.S. Capitol
WASHINGTON — Demonstrators marched to the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday night, protesting the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and demanding that laws be changed to prevent more like it.
Along their route from near the White House, there were troops in fatigues and officers from federal agencies keeping watch on the crowd. Barricades were put up around the Capitol, and the Capitol Police stood guard behind them.
“We came here because they make laws here and we want the laws to change,” said Mohammed Wagdy, 26, of nearby Prince George’s County.
As an 11 p.m. curfew in Washington neared, community activists urged the demonstrators to head home. Some did, but others said they were returning to the White House.
Protesters take a knee in front of L.A. City Hall after being warned of arrest
Moments after being told to leave the area within 30 minutes or face arrest, protesters held still and took a knee in front of Los Angeles City Hall.
For Sparks’ Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, George Floyd death hits home
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt knows the story too well. A black man is killed by a police officer. Outrage, anguish and sadness follow.
Whether it was Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, whose deaths in 2016 led the current Sparks forward to organize protests when she was with the Washington Mystics, or George Floyd, who died after a police officer pressed a knee to his neck for nearly nine minutes last month, Ruffin-Pratt is reminded of Julian Dawkins.
Her cousin.
San Diego Sheriff’s Department and other agencies ban the use of controversial neck hold
Several law enforcement agencies in San Diego — including the Sheriff’s Department — on Wednesday announced an immediate ban on the use of carotid restraint, a move that comes two days after San Diego police said they would no longer allow officers to use the controversial neck hold.
The county Sheriff’s Department, as well as police departments in Oceanside, Coronado and La Mesa — which was beset by riots sparked by police and racial injustices on Saturday — all announced they were making the policy change.
“In light of community concerns, and after consultation with many elected officials throughout the county, I am stopping the use of the carotid restraint by my deputies effective immediately,” Sheriff Bill Gore said in a written statement. “I have and always will listen to any feedback about the public safety services we provide. Working together, we can ensure San Diego remains the safest urban county in the nation.”
Vallejo police shoot, kill man who officer mistakenly thought had a gun. He had a hammer
Vallejo police revealed Wednesday that a shooting by police a day earlier had resulted in the death of a 22-year-old robbery suspect who had a hammer in his waistband amid a chaotic night of looting.
The man, identified as Sean Monterrosa, was killed outside a Walgreens store by a Vallejo officer, whom Police Chief Shawny Williams declined to name, describing the officer only as a veteran of the force.
The shooting death could further inflame tensions in Vallejo, a city of 121,000 in the northern San Francisco Bay Area where there have been peaceful protests and clashes with authorities.
The many chapters marked by racism in George Floyd’s family history
EAGAN, Minn. — Growing up in a shack surrounded by piney woods and tobacco fields in eastern North Carolina, George Floyd’s aunt Angela Harrelson was taught by her sharecropper parents how to get along in a slowly desegregating America: Sit at the back of the bus, do what white folks tell you, “stay strong and hold on.”
That’s what she did when she boarded the local school bus in the 1970s and white students blocked the seats with their feet, making her stand in the aisle. The bus driver, also white, would swerve and threaten to slap black students if they fell. Some days, he wouldn’t pick her up at all.
“But we held on,” Harrelson said as she sat at her kitchen table this week in a Minneapolis suburb.
The abuse only stopped, she said, when a white girl boarded the bus one day and declared, “My Mama said this is wrong. Stop picking on them.”
Column: Wish things would go ‘back to normal’? Normal isn’t good enough
It’s only June but I think it’s safe to say that 2020 will go down in history as one terrible, horrible, unrelievedly crazy year. A pandemic, more than 100,000 Americans dead in three months, hospitals overrun, businesses closed, record unemployment, massive protests over racist police brutality — in some places turned violent by looters, agitators and “law and order” tactics and forcing curfews in daylight hours — and then a president who scattered peaceful crowds with chemical spray and rubber bullets to get a photo op in front of a church that didn’t want to be used as a photo op.
We keep thinking it can’t get worse, and then it does. (Wait, was that another earthquake?)
I’m not even going to mention things like toilet paper hoarding, demonstrations over beach closures and face-covering requirements, yeast scarcity and the arrival of murder hornets. OK, I just did. But frankly, they all seem kind of quaint — remember when we were trying to make masks out of dish towels and rubber bands?
So it’s not surprising that a lot of people are wondering if things are ever going to go “back to normal.” Can this country ever be the same again?
Confusion abounds over L.A. County curfew; officials, sheriff differ on when curfew begins
If a curfew starts, but law enforcement doesn’t plan to immediately enforce it, is it actually in place?
That question was less philosophical and more practical in Los Angeles County on Wednesday. After government officials announced an overnight curfew would be in place starting at 9 p.m., county Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that his department would begin enforcement at 10 p.m.
The apparent disconnect left many residents scratching their heads, especially after they received a pair of emergency alerts referencing the different times.
In a statement, Villanueva said his decision as to when to start enforcement was “consistent with the 1st Amendment rights of all citizens.”
“While law enforcement has fully mobilized to protect the community, trust is a two-way street,” he said. “In doing so, I am signaling my trust in the public, so we can all work together in partnership during these troubling times.”
County officials, for their part, explained it this way on Twitter: “The curfew for all of Los Angeles County starts at 9 p.m. Law enforcement departments can begin enforcing it at their discretion. Cities may also implement and enforce stricter curfews.”
One thing both the county and the sheriff agreed on, however, was that the curfew ends at 5 a.m. Thursday, and does not apply to law enforcement, first responders, people traveling to and from work and unsheltered individuals.
Driver speeds through peaceful Newport Beach protest, striking bicyclist
A series of peaceful protests over the police killing of George Floyd rolled through Newport Beach on Wednesday.
Though the protests were calm, a television camera captured a scary scene on Balboa Boulevard when a vehicle zipped through a crowd of demonstrators — eventually colliding with a bicyclist.
No one was injured, and the driver stopped and is cooperating with the investigation, Newport Beach Police Department spokeswoman Heather Rangel said. It doesn’t appear to have been a deliberate action, she added.
Two other protests were scheduled in Newport Beach later in the evening, one on the pedestrian bridge over San Miguel Drive at Civic Center Park near City Hall, and another at the Back Bay.
Confusion abounds over L.A. County curfew; officials, sheriff differ on when curfew begins
If a curfew starts but law enforcement doesn’t plan to immediately enforce it, is it actually in place?
That question was less philosophical and more practical in Los Angeles County on Wednesday. After government officials announced an overnight curfew would be in place starting at 9 p.m., county Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that his department would begin enforcement at 10 p.m.
The apparent disconnect left many residents scratching their heads, especially after they received a pair of emergency alerts referencing the different times.
In a statement, Villanueva said his decision as to when to start enforcement was “consistent with the 1st Amendment rights of all citizens.”
“While law enforcement has fully mobilized to protect the community, trust is a two-way street,” he said. “In doing so, I am signaling my trust in the public, so we can all work together in partnership during these troubling times.”
County officials, for their part, explained it this way on Twitter: “The curfew for all of Los Angeles County starts at 9 p.m. Law enforcement departments can begin enforcing it at their discretion. Cities may also implement and enforce stricter curfews.”
Obama calls on mayors for action against systemic racism
WASHINGTON — Former President Obama, weighing in amid the national wave of racial tension and protest against police brutality, urged the nation’s mayors Wednesday to review police use-of-force policies and make other reforms to combat racism.
Citing the “epic changes and events” of the last week, Obama said the protests in dozens of cities following the death of a black man at the hands of Minneapolis police could represent “an incredible opportunity for people to be awakened” to the problems of systemic racism.
“This is a moment — and we’ve had moments like this before — where people are paying attention,” Obama said at a virtual town hall on police reform hosted by My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, a nonprofit group he established to help young black men. “The fact that people are paying attention is an opportunity to educate and mobilize.”
Obama was not the only former president to speak to the nation’s turmoil at a time when President Trump’s response — including incendiary tweets and calls for using military force against protesters — has been criticized as divisive.
George W. Bush issued a statement Tuesday mourning the death of George Floyd and criticizing efforts to silence protesters. Jimmy Carter issued a statement Wednesday that ended, “We need a government as good as its people, and we are better than this.”
3 men with ties to right-wing extremists plotted to terrorize Vegas protests, prosecutors say
LAS VEGAS — Three Nevada men with ties to a loose movement of right-wing extremists advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government have been arrested on terrorism-related charges in what authorities say was a conspiracy to spark violence during recent protests in Las Vegas.
Federal prosecutors say the three white men with U.S. military experience are accused of conspiring to carry out a plan that began in April in conjunction with protests to reopen businesses closed because of the coronavirus.
More recently, they sought to capitalize on protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air, prosecutors said.
The three men were arrested Saturday on the way to a protest in downtown Las Vegas after filling gas cans at a parking lot and making Molotov cocktails in glass bottles, according to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by the Associated Press.
“People have a right to peacefully protest. These men are agitators and instigators. Their point was to hijack the protests into violence,” said Nicholas Trutanich, U.S. attorney in Nevada. He referred to what he called “real and legitimate outrage” over Floyd’s death.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Wednesday said they self-identified as part of the “boogaloo” movement, which U.S. prosecutors said in the document is “a term used by extremists to signify coming civil war and/or fall of civilization.”
UCLA faces continued criticism over LAPD use of stadium for protest arrests
UCLA faced continued faculty outrage Wednesday as it tried to defend its role in the LAPD’s use of the university’s Jackie Robinson Stadium to process protesters and others arrested for curfew violations during the uprising sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.
Dozens of faculty members signed a letter Tuesday complaining about the use of the university property as a detention facility. It was especially galling, they said, to have used a stadium named after Robinson, a UCLA alumnus who is “an icon of the long and unfinished struggle for black freedom.” The university’s response — that it had been unaware of the use of the school property as a “field jail” — did little to satisfy its critics.
“This was a massive operation involving hundreds of arrested protesters, many, many LAPD officers, that went on for 10-12 hours at our university, and our leadership is telling us that they didn’t know?” said Ananya Roy, professor of urban planning and social welfare and director of the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy. She said the faculty was “incredulous” at the university response.
The issue arose after the Los Angeles Police Department crowded protesters arrested in downtown Los Angeles and Westwood into sheriff’s buses and brought them to the stadium, where the university’s baseball team plays under a lease with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Huge protest in downtown L.A. targets DA Jackie Lacey; others demonstrate in Southern California
More peaceful demonstrations occurred across Southern California on Wednesday, with thousands converging at the Los Angeles civic center to protest Dist. Atty Jackie Lacey.
The downtown protest was the biggest of numerous marches to express outrage at police brutality and the killing of George Floyd. There were marches in Hollywood, Whittier, Hancock Park, Long Beach, West Hollywood and Newport Beach.
Lacey has long been a target of some activists, who have criticized her for not prosecuting more police officers for misconduct. She’s locked in a runoff for reelection.
Thousands were standing in Grand Park in front of the criminal courthouse.
In West Hollywood, protester Nick Atkinson said, “I’m so freaking mad.”
He repeatedly yelled at sheriff’s deputies who were present about how they should be wearing masks, taking a knee and be held accountable for their actions.
He said he has lived in Los Angeles for 20 years and wanted to publicly protest to make clear that the killing of black men and women is wrong.
“Where are your masks. Why aren’t you wearing your masks? You’re all paid to serve and protect us,” he yelled. “Where are your masks?“
O.C. deputy under investigation after wearing extremist paramilitary patch at protest
Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes denounced one of his deputies Wednesday for wearing a patch associated with an extremist paramilitary group while policing a Costa Mesa protest over the killing of George Floyd.
After seeing the video of the deputy wearing a Three Percenters patch during a protest this week, Barnes said, “These symbols are not department-approved and are prohibited by policy, and contradict the values of the Sheriff’s Department.”
“This deputy’s decision to wear these patches, and the implication of his association with an extremist group, is unacceptable and deeply concerning to me,” Barnes said. “Any symbol can have multiple meanings and is open to interpretation, which is why [the] wearing of non-approved symbols and patches is strictly prohibited. Instances like this can forge a wedge separating law enforcement from the community we serve, especially during these turbulent times.”
The sheriff launched a probe into the deputy’s conduct and thanked the activists who publicized the behavior.
The unidentified deputy was among a group assigned to monitor a protest Tuesday night. A publicly shared video shows what appears to be a Stars and Stripes flag partially covered by the Three Percenters logo above the word “Oathkeeper.” It is visible in the middle of the deputy’s tactical vest on the video clip and appeared to cover the deputy’s name on the uniform.
Uniformed troops patrolling streets near the White House
Uniformed troops patrolled the streets of Washington near the White House on Wednesday afternoon with no protesters, creating a striking wartime image in the nation’s capital.
Troops and armed officials with “DEA” emblazoned on their vests were spotted patrolling each intersection on Constitution Avenue for more than half a mile in each direction from the White House.
The protests have largely taken place further north of Constitution Avenue, including Lafayette Square and through the downtown business district.
The troops were spotted ahead of what’s expected to be a sixth day of protests in the streets of Washington.
Former Defense Secretary Mattis levels extraordinary criticism of Trump
President Trump’s effort to use a military response to nationwide protests led to an extraordinary rupture with both his current and former secretaries of Defense on Wednesday, with one rejecting use of active-duty troops against protesters and the other accusing Trump of ordering the military to “violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens.”
The statement by former Defense Secretary James N. Mattis was without precedent, and the effects on Trump are likely to be far-reaching. He denounced Trump for his actions on Monday, in which the president walked through Lafayette Park near the White House to pose in front of a church after protesters had been driven from the park by police and military units firing tear gas.
As a young Marine, Mattis wrote, he swore an oath to defend the Constitution.
“Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside,” he wrote in the statement, published by the Atlantic magazine.
61 people charged with looting, other crimes in L.A. as peaceful protests continue
More than 60 people now face criminal charges in Los Angeles County stemming from their alleged roles in the looting and violent clashes that marred protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd this week, authorities said Wednesday.
Many of the charges filed against the 61 defendants are for looting, according to the L.A. County district attorney’s office, but some people also face counts of burglary, robbery, identity theft, receiving stolen property, possession of a destructive device and assault and/or battery upon a peace officer.
“I support the peaceful organized protests that already have brought needed attention to racial inequality throughout our society, including in the criminal justice system,” Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said in a statement. “I also have a constitutional and ethical duty to protect the public and prosecute people who loot and vandalize our community.”
The announcement of the charges came as protests over Floyd’s death stretched into a sixth day across Southern California.
L.A.’s nighttime curfew faces growing criticism as arrests mount
The nighttime curfews imposed in Los Angeles County because of protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd are coming under growing scrutiny.
After several nights of scattered looting, there were very few problems Tuesday night even as thousands protested peacefully across the region. The arrests were mainly of protesters who refused to obey the curfew.
Los Angeles County extended its sweeping curfew for a fourth day — this time with reduced hours.
But Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said that while the curfews may have been warranted on Sunday and Monday nights, “now it seems like they are being used to arrest peaceful protesters.”
L.A. County curfew starts at 9 p.m., but sheriff says it won’t be enforced until 10 p.m.
County officials opted to begin the curfew at 9 p.m., three hours later than previous nights, although Sheriff Alex Villanueva said his deputies would not begin enforcement until 10 p.m. — meaning that residents in cities like Los Angeles could be subject to arrest at 9 p.m., while residents in areas patrolled by sheriff’s deputies could be outside until 10 p.m.
In all areas, however, the curfew ends at 5 a.m. Thursday, and does not apply to law enforcement, first responders, people traveling to and from work and unsheltered individuals.
Newsom says California would ‘reject’ Trump’s attempts to send military into major cities
In his most outspoken public rebuke of President Trump in months, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that California would “reject” any attempts by the White House to deploy the military in major cities to end civil unrest following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
“It won’t happen,” Newsom said during a visit to Hot & Cool Cafe in Leimert Park in South Los Angeles. “It’s not going to happen. We would reject it. We would push back against that.”
Dubbing himself a “president of law and order,” Trump threatened Monday to send “thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers” into U.S. cities.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar speaks with Lakers about George Floyd’s death
The Lakers held a Zoom conference on Tuesday with players, coaches and some executives to discuss the ongoing protests and civil unrest in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, according to people who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Former Lakers great Karem Abdul-Jabbar, who never has shied away from speaking about social injustice, was the guest speaker and he was riveting, according to people familiar with the call.
Participants talked about how the Lakers organization and players can help steer a positive change going forward in Los Angeles and around the country in a racially charged environment.
Virginia governor to announce removal of Lee statue
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to announce plans Thursday for the removal of an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s prominent Monument Avenue, a senior administration official told the Associated Press.
The governor will direct the statue to be moved off its massive pedestal and put into storage while his administration seeks input on a new location, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak before the governor’s announcement.
The move comes amid turmoil across the nation and around the world over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes, even after he stopped moving.
White House deletes tweet with video claiming to depict rioters stockpiling rocks
The White House on Wednesday deleted a video from its Twitter account that claimed to depict rioters stockpiling rocks but actually showed safety barriers outside a Jewish organization in Sherman Oaks.
“Antifa and professional anarchists are invading our communities, staging bricks and weapons to instigate violence,” said the original tweet.
Chabad of Sherman Oaks had already tried to debunk the claim in a Facebook post this week.
“THESE ARE SECURITY BARRIERS and have been here for almost a year!” the post said. Chabad said it tried to alleviate any concerns by removing the rocks from the steel cages.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the tweet.
Obama holds virtual town hall on policing and civil unrest
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Looters drive off with $90,000 worth of cars in San Leandro, police say
As protests over the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd turned violent Sunday night, hundreds of looters targeted a car dealership in San Leandro, Calif.
By the time police arrived, at least 78 cars had filed out of the parking lot: Dodge Chargers, Jeep Wranglers, Jeep Cherokees.
Looters even drove off in high-end Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcats, which sell for about $90,000 each, authorities said.
“Looters [were] vandalizing the store or even burglarizing the store, getting access to the keys, and taking cars,” San Leandro Police Lt. Ted Henderson said.
So far, about 30 of the stolen vehicles have been located, and some are damaged, police said.
Some restaurant owners show solidarity online
Shattered glass and graffiti made up the four-photo slideshow chef Josef Centeno posted online Saturday.
In the first, there’s a hole where a window was, its existence evidenced only by the jagged shards of glass still embedded in the frame. In the last, the windows at his nearby Tex-Mex cantina Bar Amá are tagged in white graffiti.
The photos documented what happened the night before in downtown L.A., when anger, frustration and unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody grew into widespread protests. The torrent that swept through downtown L.A. on Friday flared up, at times, into vandalism and destruction.
On Sunday, Centeno followed up with another Instagram post in which he thanked followers for their offers to help and directed their support to Black Lives Matter, the Bail Project and the African American Policy Forum‘s #SayHerName project.
“We are OK — even if we don’t know what the future will hold,” he wrote. “What we do know is #blacklivesmatter.”
Since dine-in service was shut down in Los Angeles on March 15, many restaurants and chefs have been more active on social media. Collectively, they tell of an industry that’s been decimated by the coronavirus. Their posts document the real-time adjustments and decisions they’ve made during the pandemic. They highlighted new ways they had devised to feed and serve their communities and customers — some turning overnight into grocery suppliers, others sharing the efforts they were participating in to feed their unemployed and imperiled colleagues or the hospital workers putting their lives on the line fighting COVID-19.
Now, they’re using social media platforms to advocate beyond their restaurants, speaking out against racial injustice and encouraging their sizable follower bases to donate to the cause.
Charges announced against former police officers involved in George Floyd’s death
The three other Minneapolis police officers at the scene of George Floyd’s death will face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder, the Minnesota attorney general announced Wednesday.
State Atty. Gen. Keith Ellison also elevated charges against former Officer Derek Chauvin, who was recorded on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he begged for air, to second-degree murder.
Arrest warrants were issued for the three other officers. Aiding and abetting second-degree murder is a felony under Minnesota state law.
Ellison said during a news conference Wednesday that he does not believe “one successful prosecution can rectify” the pain felt by the community.
“He should be here,” Ellison said of Floyd. “But he’s not.”
Peaceful protests in Moreno Valley
A group of protesters galvanized by the death of George Floyd faced police and blocked traffic Tuesday near the 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley.
Keke Palmer challenges National Guard to march with L.A. protesters: ‘Protect us’
Keke Palmer is being hailed as a hero after a recent video of the actress inviting the National Guard to march with protesters in Hollywood went viral.
In the video, tweeted Tuesday by NBC News correspondent Gadi Schwartz, Palmer can be seen passionately urging National Guardsmen to leave their post and join the peaceful protest demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other black victims of police violence.
“Once ‘the looting starts, the shooting starts?’” Palmer says, quoting a controversial tweet from President Trump that has been flagged for “glorifying violence” by Twitter. “You have a president talking about the 2nd Amendment as a use for people to come out here and use firearms against the people that are protesting. This is the messages we’re seeing.
“I don’t know if you on social media, because the news don’t tell you everything, but you have to pay attention to what’s going on. ... We have a president that’s trying to incite a race war. And when the borders are closed, we can’t leave. You have people in here that need your help. This is when you and y’all stand together with the community, with society, to stop ... the governmental oppression. Period. We need you.”
When one Guardsman says he agrees with Palmer, the “Hustlers” star calls for action.
“So then march with us. March beside us,” she says. “Let the revolution be televised. March beside us, and show us that you’re here for us. Make history with us, please. ... Come on. Be the change. Do it. Do it, please. Do it, please. We are good people. March with us.”
As “March with us!” chants echo through the crowd, one Guardsman standing face-to-face with Palmer says, “I’ll make you a deal.”
“I can’t leave this post. I will march through this street with you guys,” he says. “I will march from this intersection to that intersection, but I have to patrol this area.”
“Patrol?” Palmer repeats. “What is there to patrol, man? March with us. It would send a huge message. ... Protect us. Y’all, march with us. March around like we just did. Do that march with us, y’all. Stand beside us.”
New charges expected against former police officers over George Floyd death
The three other Minneapolis police officers at the scene of George Floyd’s death will face charges of aiding and abetting murder, the Minnesota attorney general is set to announce Wednesday, according to reports and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
State Atty. Gen. Keith Ellison is expected to also elevate charges against former Officer Derek Chauvin, who was recorded on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he begged for air, to second-degree murder.
“This is another important step for justice,” Klobuchar said on Twitter.
All four officers, including Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, were fired shortly after Floyd’s death. Chauvin was initially charged last week with third-degree murder and manslaughter before Gov. Tim Walz asked Ellison to take over the prosecution. Chauvin is being held at a state prison.
The expected announcement of additional charges comes as Floyd’s family began arriving in the city for his memorial on Thursday and visited the site where Chauvin was recorded on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he begged for air. The family called for action against the other officers before the memorial takes place.
On Tuesday, Walz announced that the state’s Department of Human Rights will investigate the Minneapolis Police Department and filed a “civil rights charge related to the death of George Floyd.“
The police department that same day released personnel records for Chauvin. The former officer, who had worked with the department since October 2001, had been disciplined for only one incident during his tenure, despite being the subject of of internal affairs investigations by the department at least 17 times.
LAPD chief’s comments on looters create political firestorm
As he commands the Los Angeles Police Department’s response to mass protests over the killing of George Floyd, Chief Michel Moore is also facing a growing political storm over comments he made Monday night — but quickly retracted — about looters.
The chief said looters across Southern California over the weekend were “capitalizing” on the death of Floyd.
“We didn’t have protests last night — we had criminal acts,” Moore said during a news conference with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday night. “We didn’t have people mourning the death of this man, George Floyd — we had people capitalizing. His death is on their hands as much as it is those officers.”
Moore apologized minutes later, saying he “misspoke when I said his blood is on their hands” and that he regretted “that characterization.”
“But I don’t regret, nor will I apologize, to those who are out there today committing violence, destroying lives and livelihoods and creating this destruction,” Moore said. “His memory deserves reform. His memory deserves a better Los Angeles, a better United States and a better world.”
On Tuesday, protesters’ chants rang out outside the LAPD’s glass headquarters: “Fire Michel Moore! Fire Michel Moore!”
And: “Hey, hey, ho, ho! Michel Moore has got to go!”
Garcetti on Tuesday night defended Moore, saying he was glad the chief had apologized.
“I’m glad he quickly corrected it, and I’m glad that he further apologized, as well,” Garcetti said. “I want to be very, very clear about that. If I believed for a moment that the chief believed that in his heart, he would no longer be our chief of police. I can’t say that any stronger.”
Moore’s comments were also the focus of much public comments during a Los Angeles Police Commission meeting Tuesday.
Jocelyn Tucker said she appreciated the apology, but the chief’s words were telling.
“If that was your knee-jerk reaction, you’re not in the right job,” she said.
State Sen. Holly Mitchell also responded to his comments in a statement.
“I want you to know that we have every right to be outraged and that our voices deserve to be heard and not hijacked by outside agitators nor by a police chief who infers that our actions can be compared to the murders we have witnessed and experienced,” she wrote in a statement. “These type of distractions want to turn this discussion away from the main point — which is ending structural racism.”
Active-duty troops deployed to D.C. area start to leave
Active-duty troops brought in to help if needed with the civil unrest in the nation’s capital are beginning to return to their home base, after two days of more peaceful demonstrations in Washington, senior defense officials told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
The officials said that about 200 soldiers with the 82nd Airborne’s immediate response force will be the first to leave Wednesday. The remainder of the active-duty troops, who have all been kept at military bases outside the city in northern Virginia and Maryland, will also get pulled home in the coming days if conditions allow, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss imminent troop movements. The active-duty troops were available but were not used in response to the protests.
The departure of the troops comes as Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters Wednesday that current conditions did not warrant using military forces for law enforcement in containing the protests. Trump has in recent days talked about using the military to quell violent protests in U.S. cities.
About 1,300 active-duty troops were brought in to the capital region this week as protests turned violent in the aftermath of the death in Minnesota of a black man, George Floyd, who died when a white police officer pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for several minutes.
The active-duty unit that will be last to remain on alert is the Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment, which is normally most visible as the soldiers who stand at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The troops, known as the Old Guard, are based at Ft. Myer, Va., and have been on 30-minute alert status. So they would continue to be prepared to respond to any emergency in the region.
Pentagon leaders have consistently said there continues to be no intent to use the active-duty forces in any law enforcement capacity. They would be used to assist the National Guard or other forces.
Only two states have so far sent National Guard troops to D.C. About 300 are from Indiana and 1,000 from Tennessee. Other states turned down requests for forces.
With plywood and paint, businesses seek mercy and express solidarity
The messages differ: “We stand with you!” “Black lives matter.” “Everything already stolen!”
But they’re posted in the same way: written across boarded-up storefronts.
L.A. County business owners have spent recent days putting up plywood and sometimes posting messages on their newly boarded-up windows. Among them are words of solidarity with the protesters, as well as pleas to stave off property damage and theft.
About 70% of the street-level businesses in Hollywood were barricaded by Tuesday, says a business leader who has been helping merchants defend against a wave of break-ins and vandalism that has sprung up alongside the peaceful demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed while in police custody in Minneapolis.
“This morning the district looked like a Southeastern coastal community preparing for a hurricane crossed with a tagged-up NYC subway car,” wrote Kris Larson, president of the Hollywood Partnership, in a letter Tuesday to members of the business improvement district that serves the entertainment-oriented blocks of the neighborhood.
“Though we’re used to seeing amateur photographers taking pictures of our iconic district, today the shutterbugs were busy capturing the remnants of civil unrest and crime,” Larson wrote after appraising the district. “Some storefronts included messages from the proprietors pleading to spared. Graffiti was rampant, and several storefront business owners were out repairing shattered windows and entryways.”
Some shopkeepers in Hollywood put up signs indicating their stores were “black owned” or “Mexican owned.” On plywood covering the front door of of Sheikh clothing store on Hollywood Boulevard, someone wrote with spray paint: “Everything already stolen!”
Nearby vitamin and supplement store Body Energy Club had a printed sign posted above a drawing of a black fist that read: “All lives can’t matter until black lives matter.” Next to it was a bright hand-lettered sign reading, “We are open, please come inside,” punctuated with a heart.
Hand lettering on the windows of Duidough Cafe & Cookie Lab read, “Store empty,” “Stop killing black people” and “Please don’t take our jobs.”
Many of the stores had been dormant during the business shutdown prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic but were preparing to reopen until civil unrest struck, Larson said in an interview. Looting in downtown Los Angeles and other neighborhoods on Friday night shook people up.
“On Saturday, we began to strongly encourage stakeholders to board up and provided recommendations of vendors to assist in getting storefronts protected,” he said. “Real looting and vandalism started” that night.
“The actual march and protest was peaceful and organized. Everything seemed civil,” Larson said. “And then it was like something snapped. At 6 p.m. on the dot, it turned into something else. Rampant destruction of property, looting and vandalism.”
Tuesday’s demonstrations ended much better, he said in another letter written a few hours after curfew took effect at 6 p.m.
“The well-organized, nonviolent protests were peaceful and respectful of the community while voicing a desire for systemic change,” Larson said. “Few incidents were reported, though whenever you’re dealing with thousands of people there’s bound to be a few knuckleheads.”
Activists want the LAPD budget slashed. Protests have intensified the debate
When Los Angeles was plunged into a budget crisis earlier this year, progressive activists demanded that the City Council slash spending at the Police Department, saying it’s wrong to boost funding for officers while cutting other urgently needed services.
The debate over police spending at City Hall has only intensified after several days of protests against police brutality, the LAPD’s response to those demonstrations and the looting that sometimes followed.
Activists with Black Lives Matter, Ground Game LA and other grassroots groups say incidents in recent days where the officers have used rubber bullets and batons only reinforce the need to dramatically defund the LAPD.
L.A. protesters from diverse backgrounds converge on streets
“This is a peaceful protest.”
Their voices rose as about a dozen LAPD cars passed by heading down Vine Street in Hollywood on Tuesday.
Thousands took to the street in Hollywood and later in downtown Los Angeles in what appeared to be the biggest protests in the city since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.
The marches lasted for hours, with hundreds arrested at night for violating curfew orders.
Along with the anger over police brutality, many protesters wanted to make clear they came in peace. Over the last few days, looting had followed some marches, with opportunists taking advantage of the protests to steal. But there was far less looting Tuesday, according to initial reports.
Here are some of the voices from Tuesday.
Breaking with Trump, Defense chief Esper opposes using active-duty military for protests
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday he opposed use of the Insurrection Act, which would allow President Trump to use active-duty military forces for law enforcement duties in containing street protests.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Esper said active-duty troops in a law enforcement role should be used in the United States “only in the most urgent and dire of situations.”
Guard to investigate why its helicopter was used in ‘show of force’ against protesters near White House
WASHINGTON — The Washington, D.C., National Guard said it would investigate the use of one of its helicopters for making an aggressive “show of force” against protesters near the White House on Monday.
The commanding general of the D.C. Guard, Maj. Gen. William Walker, said in a brief written statement Wednesday that he directed the investigation. The helicopter, normally designated for use in medical evacuations, hovered low enough to create a deafening noise and spray protesters with rotor wash from the aircraft.
Williams says the Guard is dedicated to the safety of its fellow citizens and their right to peacefully protest.
He says, “This is our home, and we are dedicated to the safety and security of our fellow citizens of the District and their right to safely and peacefully protest.”
George Floyd’s death becomes a rallying cry for activists worldwide
SINGAPORE — The footage is stomach-churning: a half-dozen uniformed officers holding a man face-down for several minutes as he gulps for air and screams, again and again, “I can’t breathe.” He falls unconscious and is pronounced dead a short time later.
The video is not of George Floyd, the black man who gasped those words as a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground by the neck in a fatal arrest last week, but of an Aboriginal Australian inmate, David Dungay, who died in a similar incident at a Sydney prison in December 2015.
As Floyd’s death ignites fiery protests in U.S. cities, it has refocused attention on cases like Dungay’s — and become a rallying cry around the world for activists battling racism, police brutality and inequalities in criminal justice in their own countries.
Rallies this week in solidarity with American protesters and in pursuit of justice at home have sprung up in such countries as France, Turkey and New Zealand. In multiethnic, liberal democracies that share many of the same ideals and flaws as the U.S., the demonstrations have served as a reminder that oppression looks much the same no matter where you are.
“We don’t need to look to America to see the consequences of systematic discrimination. It’s right here at home,” said Nerita Waight, co-chair of a legal aid group for Aboriginal Australians. “What the U.S. protests do help with is to show that this is not just a problem in one country — it reaches across oceans and continents.”
German soccer federation won’t punish players who protest the killing of George Floyd
FRANKFURT, Germany — The German soccer federation will not punish players who protest against racism and the killing of George Floyd.
Several players in Germany have made statements with gestures or messages on their clothing since Floyd died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer used his knee to pin Floyd to the ground by the neck for eight minutes.
The federation, known as the DFB, said Wednesday it opposed punishing any players because it believed their anti-racism messages matched the federation’s own principles.
“The DFB has made a strong stand against any form of racism, discrimination or violence and stands for tolerance, openness and diversity, values which are also anchored in the DFB’s statutes,” Fritz Keller, the federation president, said in a statement. “Therefore the players’ actions have our respect and our understanding.”
The statement named four players who protested during last weekend’s games — Achraf Hakimi, Jadon Sancho, Weston McKennie and Marcus Thuram — but made clear the same approach would apply to any future protests.
The federation has not revoked a yellow card given to Sancho. The federation said Monday that the Borussia Dortmund forward’s booking was for the act of removing his shirt, rather than for the “Justice for George Floyd” message written on his undershirt during Sunday’s 5-0 win over Paderborn.
Other players protested by kneeling, like Thuram, or by showing messages on an armband, like McKennie, or on boots, like Leipzig midfielder Tyler Adams. Only Sancho received a booking.
Britain’s Boris Johnson calls George Floyd’s death appalling and inexcusable
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that the death of George Floyd was “inexcusable” and that he understood why people were protesting.
In his first public comments on the turmoil roiling the U.S., Johnson told British lawmakers that “what happened in the United States was appalling, it was inexcusable, we all saw it on our screens, and I perfectly understand people’s right to protest what took place.”
He added that “protest should take place in a lawful and reasonable way.”
Johnson, who has sought to nurture close ties with President Trump as he leads Britain out of the European Union, deflected calls from the opposition Labor Party to suspend exports of tear gas and rubber bullets to the U.S.
Johnson said all British arms exports complied with the country’s human rights obligations, “and the U.K. is possibly the most scrupulous country in that respect in the world.”
Most British police officers do not carry guns, though armed units have been involved in several fatal shootings in recent years.
Nation’s streets calmest in days; protests largely peaceful
Protests were largely peaceful and the nation’s streets were calmer than they had been in days since the killing of George Floyd set off sometimes violent demonstrations against police brutality and injustice against African Americans.
An earlier curfew and efforts by protesters to contain the violence prevented more widespread damage to businesses in New York City overnight. As of Wednesday morning, arrests grew to more than 9,000 nationwide since the unrest began in response to Floyd’s death May 25 in Minneapolis.
There was a marked quiet compared with the unrest of the past few nights, which included fires and shootings in some cities. Many cities intensified their curfews, with authorities in Washington also ordering people off streets before sundown.
A block away from the White House, thousands of demonstrators massed following a crackdown a day earlier when officers on foot and horseback aggressively drove peaceful protesters away from Lafayette Park, clearing the way for President Trump to do a photo op at nearby St. John’s Church. Tuesday’s protesters faced law enforcement personnel who stood behind a black chain-link fence put up overnight to block access to the park.
“Last night pushed me way over the edge,” said Jessica DeMaio, 40, of Washington, who attended a Floyd protest Tuesday for the first time. “Being here is better than being at home feeling helpless.”
L.A. Pride announces Black Lives Matter solidarity protest march for June 14
Fifty years ago this month, Los Angeles held its first Pride parade.
This year, plans for the annual festivities were put on hold because of the coronavirus. But Wednesday morning, Christopher Street West — the organization that produces L.A. Pride — announced another change of plans.
“In 1970, we gathered on Hollywood Boulevard to protest police brutality and oppression to our community,” said Estevan Montemayor, the organization’s president. “We will do that again this year, where it began, in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.”
A peaceful protest march in response to racial injustice is planned for June 14. It will begin at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland boulevards and proceed to West Hollywood, where the parade normally takes place, ending at Santa Monica and San Vicente boulevards.
“We encourage all community members who believe that we must root out this racial injustice and stand in solidarity with the black community and fight for real reform and change in this country on all levels of government to join us in this peaceful protest, in this march for justice,” Montemayor said.
South L.A. is largely untouched by unrest. That is by design
In 1992, the last time Angelenos’ rage over police brutality boiled into an uprising, large swaths of South Los Angeles burned to the ground.
Angry mobs took to the street. Some looted shops and torched buildings. Fights broke out in the middle of the chaos. More than 60 people were killed — by police, by other assailants or in accidents related to the unrest.
“It looked like a war zone,” recalled Inglewood resident Yolanda Davidson-Carter. “It was a real riot. People were so angry they couldn’t see straight.”
The violence that occurred after a jury acquitted four white officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King took decades for South L.A. to recover from, and some say the area has never fully healed. Vacant lots still dot the landscape, a painful reminder.
But this time around, South L.A. has largely been spared, as protests have erupted across the city to condemn the killing by Minneapolis police of George Floyd.
Lopez: Tolliver’s barbershop in South Los Angeles is temporarily closed, but the conversation continues
If these were ordinary times, I would have planted myself on a chair at Lawrence Tolliver’s barbershop in South Los Angeles, where everyone who walked in the door would have had something to say about the demonstrations in Los Angeles and across the nation.
But Tolliver was forced by the coronavirus to shutter his town hall clip shop, where his customers have been discussing every major event for decades, from the uprising following the Rodney King verdict of 1992 through to the lawless presidency of Donald Trump. I’ve never walked out of the shop without a deeper understanding and appreciation of Los Angeles.
I thought the next best thing next to being in the shop would be to talk to Tolliver and some of the regulars by phone, and my first call was to the man I’ve known for 20 years.
“I’m as conflicted as I could be, and I’m worried,” said Tolliver, 75.
Can sneaker resellers stop looters from profiting?
High-end sneakers and other luxury goods have been targets of choice for thieves amid the unrest in cities across the nation on recent nights, as small groups of troublemakers took advantage of mostly peaceful demonstrations protesting the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while in Minneapolis police custody.
But those seeking to profit from the sale of stolen goods might struggle, as the businesses responsible for moving most of the merchandise in the $2-billion sneaker resale market said they would be alert to anyone listing suspect goods on their platforms.
“One of our top priorities is to ensure there is trust and safety in the sneaker industry,” said Matt Cohen, vice president of business development and strategy for the GOAT online marketplace and Flight Club sneaker consignment chain, which merged in 2018.
Flight Club’s North Fairfax Avenue location was among the stores picked over by thieves, as was the competing Cool Kicks store on Melrose Avenue.
“Over the years, we have worked tirelessly to prevent fraudulent activity, and we intend to continue our robust practices with increased vigilance, especially in light of recent events and concerns around stolen products,” Cohen said. “We will not allow for these stolen products to be sold on our platforms, and all suspected products will be removed.”
Inland Empire protests fueled by notorious cases of past police violence
When Mark Ocegueda joined a downtown San Bernardino protest Sunday night, he was compelled by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, his neck pinned under the knee of a police officer.
But he was also thinking of 38-year-old Cal State San Bernardino graduate student Bartholomew Williams, a black man who suffered from bipolar disorder and was shot and killed by campus police in 2012. And about Diante Yarber, a 26-year-old black man shot and killed in a fusillade of police bullets in the parking lot of a Barstow Walmart in 2018. And about Tyisha Miller, a 19-year-old black woman killed by police as she sat in her car at a local gas station 22 years ago.
Across the nation, protesters have gathered in an outpouring of anger and demands for justice in the death of George Floyd. Major rallies are unfolding in the nation’s largest cities — such as Los Angeles, where five days of civil unrest in 1992 ravaged the city following the acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King.
But protests are also taking place in smaller suburbs and communities with their own histories of racism and police violence that have led to calls for change and accountability. The memory of those cases continues to motivate many who are taking to the streets and calling for local changes.
LAPD tactics get more aggressive as arrests soar
After days of looting and vandalism and a barrage of criticism for failing to stop it, Los Angeles police have significantly increased their presence in affected neighborhoods and deployed more aggressive tactics to arrest those responsible for burglarizing businesses.
Police also have enforced overnight curfews to sweep streets clear in startling, militaristic shows of force, at times without any apparent effort to distinguish between passive bystanders and those engaged in crime.
“When violence escalates, including assaults on officers, arson, widespread looting ... the department needs to resort to a stronger message,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the civilian Police Commission on Tuesday.
“We are not going to stand for looting,” said Asst. Chief Robert Arcos in a separate interview. “We are doing all we can to make arrests immediately.”
The shift in strategy, as witnessed by those who have broken curfews in recent nights, contrasts with what was seen early in the weekend, when officers allowed looting downtown and in the Fairfax area to go unchecked for hours as they squared off with protesters.
The new approach has been hard to miss, with officers in riot gear chasing down looters whose arms are full of merchandise as protesters and neighborhood residents rush to avoid the fray.
Protests demanding racial justice gain momentum across L.A.
Protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd continued across Southern California on Tuesday, marking the fifth day demonstrators have taken to the streets to demand racial justice.
The protests, which centered in Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles, were largely peaceful in comparison with earlier demonstrations that devolved into the destruction and looting of businesses.
But confrontations with police persisted. And for the third night, L.A. County extended its sweeping curfew in an attempt to quell civil unrest. Several dozens protesters were arrested downtown after refusing to leave after the 6 p.m. curfew.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street late Tuesday morning. The throng marched through the streets, approaching a line of several dozen officers holding batons.
“Let us walk,” the protesters yelled. Chants of “I can’t breathe,” among Floyd’s final choked words, echoed throughout the throng of demonstrators.
South Africa calls on U.S. law enforcement to use ‘maximum restraint’
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The South African government is calling on security forces in the U.S. to use “maximum restraint” in responding to the protests over the killing of George Floyd.
The statement cites Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor as saying that, just as Americans supported South Africa in its struggle against apartheid, “South Africa, too, supports the clarion calls for practical action to address the inadequacies highlighted by protesters.”
The statement also warns that the violence marking some of the protests in the U.S. “seriously detracts from drawing international awareness to the legitimate concerns about violence against defenseless black people and other minorities in America.”
The statement ends by expressing the belief that the U.S., “a beacon of freedom for many worldwide, has the ability to directly focus on healing and peace.”
As America rages, the Middle East watches with surprise — and some schadenfreude
BEIRUT — Police vehicles crashing through crowds. Journalists shot at or arrested. Officers and self-appointed militiamen threatening protesters. As images of America’s rage explode on screen, people across the Middle East — no strangers to discontent, thoughts of revolution or the heavy-handed response of security forces — have been struck by scenes more often associated with their own region than with the world’s superpower.
“It’s the American intifada,” said Rami Khouri, a journalism professor at the American University in Beirut who covered the U.S. civil rights movement and various Middle Eastern uprisings.
“In the Arab world, there’s an inability to address the structural oppression of most citizens by an elite that has become very wealthy but is totally detached from their people. You’re seeing the same thing in the U.S. There’s an inability to address its structural racism.”
The discord blooming across dozens of U.S. cities, which began after the death of George Floyd, an African American who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pinned Floyd’s neck to the ground with his knee, has exposed America’s tortured reckoning with questions of race and privilege.
But it has also resonated here in the Middle East, with many seeing in the U.S. protests — not to mention authorities’ often-aggressive response — echoes of the uprisings that exploded in the region over the last decade.
Sacramento police investigate officer’s use of neck restraint on teenager
The Sacramento Police Department is investigating a use-of-force incident early Monday morning during which an officer placed a teenager in a neck restraint.
A cellphone video, taken by a bystander, shows an officer lying on his back on the sidewalk with his arm firmly around a young man’s neck or chin.
The young man was identified by Sacramento police as Tyzhon Johnson, 18, whom police arrested on suspicion of looting and resisting arrest, police spokesman Officer Karl Chan said. Johnson was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail, but was scheduled for release Tuesday, jail records show.
“The video captures the end of an incident where officers were attempting to effect an arrest for looting,” Chan said in a statement to The Sacramento Bee. “Prior to this, the suspect had fled on foot and officers engaged in a foot pursuit. The suspect then began to fight with officers. The use of force has been documented and will be reviewed per department policy as with any use of force.”
Police break up small George Floyd solidarity protest in Istanbul, Turkey
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Police in Istanbul have dispersed a small group of demonstrators who gathered in the Turkish city to denounce police violence and to stand in solidarity with protesters in the United States. At least 29 demonstrators were detained, Turkey’s state-run agency reported.
Anadolu Agency said riot police broke up the demonstration in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district late Tuesday after the group of about 50 activists ignored calls to disperse.
Some of the anti-police violence activists were seen carrying a poster of George Floyd, who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck while the handcuffed black man called out that he couldn’t breathe.
Turkish authorities frequently impose bans on public demonstrations or gatherings on security grounds. Human rights groups often accuse police of using disproportionate force to break up demonstrations.
Pope Francis decries ‘the sin of racism,’ calls for reconciliation in the U.S.
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis says he has ‘’witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest” in the United States in reaction to the killing of George Floyd, and called for national reconciliation.
“My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life,” the pope said during his weekly Wednesday audience, held in the presence of bishops because of ongoing coronavirus restrictions on gatherings.
At the same time, the pontiff warned that “nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost.”
Francis said he was praying “for the repose of George Floyd and all those who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism” and issued his condolences for all those who grieve their loss. He called for national reconciliation and peace.
Floyd died last week after a police officer pinned him to the ground by the neck for several minutes.
Breakaway protesters face off with police in Portland
PORTLAND — Several hundred people broke away from a massive peaceful protest in Portland, Oregon, late Tuesday and engaged in a confrontation with police officers guarding a public building.
Police Chief Jami Resch said in a video message posted on Twitter that members of the smaller group tried to tear down fencing set up to protect a facility that holds the police headquarters and a county jail and threw bottles, bats and mortars at officers.
Police declared an unlawful assembly and set off flash-bang grenades and tear gas.
It wasn’t clear how many arrests, if any, had been made.
The violence was in stark contrast to a rally and march earlier in the evening. Thousands of people lay down on a major bridge spanning the Willamette River for nine minutes, and their bodies covered almost the entire span of the bridge.
The crowd then proceeded to Pioneer Courthouse Square for a peaceful rally before the much smaller group broke away.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler canceled an 8 p.m. curfew earlier Tuesday after praising protesters for Monday night’s demonstration, which was largely peaceful.
At least 9,300 arrested in protests around the country
At least 9,300 people have been arrested in protests around the country since the killing of George Floyd, according to a tally by the Associated Press.
Los Angeles has recorded 2,700 arrests since the protests, followed by New York with about 1,500. Police in Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia have also arrested several hundred people.
The count reflects how much police activity has surrounded the protests that have engulfed cities from coast to coast.
Floyd was an African American man who was killed by a police officer who pressed a knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes, even as he pleaded that he couldn’t breathe.
‘We may descend into a dangerously failing country’: Police militarization amid protests spreads concern
ATLANTA — Officers swarmed around a sedan driving slowly near a downtown protest and demanded that the two black college students inside get out.
“Open the goddamn door!” an officer shouted.
“No, I don’t know what’s going on,” the young woman pleaded.
As she started to exit the car, an officer, in riot gear, pointed a stun gun at her and fired. A different officer shattered the driver’s-side window and tased the young man behind the wheel. His body shook and went limp.
Atlanta’s mayor swiftly condemned the tactics and fired two of the officers within 24 hours. On Tuesday, three days after the incident, arrest warrants were issued for six officers. But by then, hundreds of thousands of people had watched video of the encounter, further stoking the outrage many protesters feel over the state of policing in America.
During the days since demonstrators began filling the country’s streets, demanding justice for George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody, law enforcement agencies and the protesters they are trying to control have deployed varying tactics in what has turned into a national drama on race and the growing mistrust of public institutions.
In some cities, including Atlanta and Houston, police chiefs spoke directly with protesters. Officers in other cities knelt in solidarity with the crowds. But night after night, as largely peaceful gatherings often devolved into looting and arson, other striking, more militaristic scenes, veered across TV screens and Twitter feeds.
Images told of a nation at conflict with itself: Tanks barreled through city streets. National Guard troops dressed in camo patrolled with assault-style weapons slung over their shoulders. In several cities, protesters and journalists bled after officers fired rubber bullets into the crowds. Protesters in Philadelphia, who had just been tear-gassed by police, screamed out, “I can’t breathe” — the same three words Floyd uttered before he lost consciousness as a white officer’s knee pressed into his neck.
As days passed and rage intensified, protesters in a number of cities lashed back at police. An officer was in critical condition Tuesday after being shot near the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as the police tried to disperse crowds that were pelting them with bottles.
“With these protests, which are leading to riot,” Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said, “one tragedy is only leading to another.”
LAPD will limit use of rubber bullets on protesters, Garcetti says
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he has directed the LAPD to “minimize” its use of rubber bullets when dealing with peaceful protesters.
“I think that we’ve seen less of any of those tactics, and I hope that we can see the most minimal, if not zero, of those tactics,” he said.
He mentioned that an officer suffered a fractured skull and that officers needed to make peaceful protesting possible.
“Those tactics will sometimes be out there, but it is my direction to minimize those and if we can to not use those [tactics] at all, especially if there’s peaceful protesters.”
Garcetti defended LAPD Chief Michel Moore after Moore made comments equating looters to the cops who were there when George Floyd died in Minneapolis.
Those remarks have sparked calls for Moore to step down. A Police Commission meeting, which started at 9:30 a.m., was still going on when the mayor’s news conference started, and Moore was still there, listening to hundreds of speakers call for his resignation.
Garcetti said he was glad that Moore quickly corrected his remarks, which were made Monday, and stated emphatically that he believed it was wrong to compare looting to the killing of an unarmed man.
“I’m glad he quickly corrected it, and I’m glad that he further apologized, as well,” Garcetti said. “I want to be very, very clear about that. If I believed for a moment that the chief believed that in his heart, he would no longer be our chief of police. I can’t say that any stronger.”
Pentagon moves 1,600 active-duty troops to bases outside Washington just in case
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Tuesday night it had moved approximately 1,600 active-duty troops to bases outside Washington in case they were needed against protesters.
Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said the troops had arrived by aircraft in the last 24 hours and were on “heightened alert status,” but had not been authorized to assist police and National Guard troops, as protests continued for the fifth day in Washington.
“Active-duty elements are postured on military bases in the National Capitol Region but are not in Washington, D.C.,” Hoffman said in a statement Tuesday evening.
The troop movements were ordered by Defense Secretary Mark Esper “as a prudent planning measure,” Hoffman added. Using active-duty troops in Washington would require President Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, which he raised as a possibility Monday but has not done.
“They are on heightened alert status but ... are not participating in defense support to civil authority operations,” Hoffman said.
The forces include a 600-soldier infantry battalion from the 82nd Airborne Division, based at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina, as well as military police and engineering units from Bragg and Ft. Drum in upstate New York, Hoffman said.
The troops moved to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, a dozen miles outside Washington, and at another base in Virginia, a defense official said.
Thousands of protesters converge on Mayor Garcetti’s residence, demand change
As police helicopters rumbled overhead, thousands of people gathered outside Mayor Eric Garcetti’s residence and chanted in vigorous opposition to his response so far to citywide protests.
Yet there was still time for a bit of self-care as they demanded justice for George Floyd and the many other black people killed at the hands of police.
In true Los Angeles fashion, the crowd performed some breathing and yoga.
“Inhale fully through your nose,” a person instructed, as the crowd did light stretching. “Exhale fully through your nose.”
Thousands on New York streets after curfew
NEW YORK — Thousands of demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd remained on New York streets on Tuesday after an 8 p.m. curfew put in place by officials struggling to stanch destruction and growing complaints that the nation’s biggest city was reeling out of control night after night.
Mayor Bill de Blasio had doubled down on a citywide curfew, moving it up from 11 p.m. a night earlier, but rejected urging from President Trump and an offer from Gov. Andrew Cuomo to bring in the National Guard.
Protests had resumed Tuesday during the day over the death of Floyd, a black man who died on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on his neck even after he stopped moving.
People marched in groups of thousands in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, as merchants boarded up their businesses. As the curfew time arrived, many were still in the streets and continued marching, with officers initially standing by and allowing them.
But officers started ordering people to move along, and began taking people into custody. Demonstrators who had been on the West Side Highway in lower Manhattan were herded off, with parts of the roadway blocked off behind them.
“Something has to break, and it’s not going to be us,” said Evan Kutcher, one of hundreds of demonstrators who stood outside the Barclays Center chanting Floyd’s name Tuesday evening. “We’re here because something needs to change.”
California’s black lawmakers urge support for bills to address systemic inequality
Assemblywoman Shirley Weber: “This pandemic of hate has spread across the nation to every small city in America.”
SACRAMENTO — As protests over the death of George Floyd continued across the state, black lawmakers gathered Tuesday at the state Capitol to urge the passage of legislation that would address affirmative action, voting rights and begin a process to consider reparations in California for the institution of slavery.
Leaders of the California Legislative Black Caucus described a century-long battle in Sacramento to correct injustice and issued a call for others to join them during an emotional news conference.
“While we fight for the solution, we know that the solution lies in the changing of this nation and for those who don’t look like us to, for once, take the banner up and fight the battle that is so essential,” said Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), who leads the caucus. “We have fought it. We have given our lives. We have given all that we have. We have given the moral conscience to this nation about what is right and what is just, and at the same time as we do all of that, we still find ourselves the last one in the door.”
The lawmakers reflected on the events in Minneapolis that triggered nationwide protests over the last week and warned that without change, the U.S. will soon find itself once again mourning the death of an African American in police custody. Just last year, the caucus helped enact Assembly Bill 392, a landmark law to curb the use of deadly force that was inspired in part by protests in Sacramento over a decision to not charge the police officers who shot and killed Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man, in 2018.
“In the words of Fannie Lou Hamer: We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired,” state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) said. “We have seen, night after night, the protests throughout this state and this nation by people who are sick and tired of the status quo. We’re sick and tired of seeing unarmed black men and women killed by police. We’re sick and tired of seeing these officers not being held accountable for their actions.”
Among legislation the caucus is prioritizing this year is ACA 5, a closely watched proposal that would begin a process to repeal Proposition 209. The 1996 ballot measure prohibited discrimination or preferential treatment by public institutions on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in employment, education or contracting.
Tech companies say they support racial justice. Their actions raise questions
Protesters demanding justice for George Floyd have poured onto the streets of cities across the country in the days since Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police. Among the voices condemning Floyd’s death and supporting the ongoing protests are those of tech behemoths including Facebook, Google and Amazon.
“The pain of the last week reminds us how far our country has to go to give every person the freedom to live with dignity and peace,” Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post Sunday announcing a $10-million donation to “groups working on racial justice.” “We stand with the black community — and all those working towards justice in honor of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and far too many others whose names will not be forgotten.”
But even as Zuckerberg was composing (or at least approving) those words, employees at his company were organizing a work stoppage over the decision not to take down President Trump’s post calling protesters “thugs” and saying “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Zuckerberg attempted to calm the waters with a conference call that included leaders of several civil rights groups such as Color of Change, NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. But participants were reportedly disappointed by his response.
“What was clear coming out of that meeting is Mark has no real understanding of the history or current impact of voter suppression, racism or discrimination. He lives in a bubble, and he defended every decision that he’s made,” Robinson told the Washington Post.
It’s not the first time Facebook has been accused of having what one employee memorably called “a black people problem.” In 2018, Mark Luckie, the former strategic partner manager for global influencers at Facebook, published a post decrying the treatment of black users of the platform, including account suspensions and censorship, and detailing discrimination against black employees, who at the time made up just 4% of the workforce.
Virginia county pulls officers from D.C. after Trump photo-op
ARLINGTON, Va. — A county in northern Virginia pulled its officers out of the District of Columbia on Monday night after they played a supporting role in clearing protesters from a park outside the White House so the president could walk to a church for a photo opportunity.
The Arlington County Board issued a statement Monday night saying its officers were used “for a purpose not worthy of our mutual aid obligations.”
Arlington officers joined a team of federal law enforcers using chemical agents and nonlethal explosive devices to forcibly remove a large group of demonstrators from Lafayette Park, where several thousand were protesting peacefully in response to the police killing of George Floyd.
That cleared a path for President Trump, who had just issued a statement from the Rose Garden vowing to crack down on protesters, to walk from the White House over to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which had been damaged in earlier protests. Trump then posed with a Bible for a few minutes in front of the church.
County Board Chair Libby Garvey said on Twitter she’s “appalled” that the mutual aid agreement was abused “for a photo op.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Tuesday that the District of Columbia would never put out a call for mutual aid.
“I might suggest their officers shouldn’t have been there in the first place,” Bowser added.
L.A. Mayor Garcetti takes a knee amid chants of ‘Defund police!’ at downtown L.A. protest
It was the kind of scene that, it seems, only this tumultuous year of 2020 could produce.
With the National Guard patrolling the streets of Los Angeles after several nights of looting, violence and fires, hundreds of people gathered downtown to protest the death of George Floyd and police brutality against so many other black people. After weeks of calls for strict social distancing amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Eric Garcetti pulled down his blue Los Angeles Dodgers face mask, joined the crowd and took a knee.
As he spoke, chants rang out: “Defund the police!”
Los Angeles County was, yet again, under a sweeping overnight curfew, and the nation was on edge after seven nights of chaotic protests and threats by President Trump to deploy “thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officials” to American cities.
At the protests downtown, many of those gathered Tuesday decried comments made by Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore, who said looters across Southern California over the weekend were “capitalizing” on the death of George Floyd.
“We didn’t have protests last night — we had criminal acts,” Moore said during a news conference with Garcetti on Monday night. “We didn’t have people mourning the death of this man, George Floyd — we had people capitalizing. His death is on their hands as much as it is those officers.”
Moore apologized minutes later, saying he “misspoke when I said his blood is on their hands” and that he regretted “that characterization.”
“But I don’t regret, nor will I apologize, to those who are out there today committing violence, destroying lives and livelihoods and creating this destruction,” Moore said. “His memory deserves reform. His memory deserves a better Los Angeles, a better United States and a better world.”
On Tuesday, the chants rang out outside the LAPD’s glass headquarters: “Fire Michel Moore! Fire Michel Moore!”
And: “Hey, hey, ho, ho! Michel Moore has got to go!”
Striking image from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
Man with assault rifle impersonating National Guard arrested at downtown protest
A man with a sidearm and assault rifle impersonating a National Guard member was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department on suspicion of illegal possession of an assault weapon near a City Hall protest.
Police said he was confronted by real members of the National Guard at 1st and Main streets on Tuesday.
Greg Wong, 31, was taken into custody after Guardsmen confronted him after noticing the decals on his uniform were incorrect.
L.A. Police Commission and Chief Moore hear from outraged residents
The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday got an update on the police response to days of protests — but also faced deep anger from residents about the Los Angeles Police Department’s handling of the situation.
Many people were initially shut out of an L.A. Police Commission meeting because the Zoom meeting had been limited to 500 participants.
After the settings were adjusted to allow more to attend, many speakers called on Police Chief Michel Moore to resign because of his remark that looters were as responsible for George Floyd’s death as the Minneapolis police officers were.
Moore later walked back the remark and apologized for it.
Jocelyn Tucker said she appreciated the apology, but his words were telling.
“If that was your knee-jerk reaction, you’re not in the right job,” she said.
State Sen. Holly Mitchell also responded to his comments.
“I want you to know that we have every right to be outraged and that our voices deserve to be heard and not hijacked by outside agitators nor by a police chief who infers that our actions can be compared to the murders we have witnessed and experienced,” she wrote in a statement. “These type of distractions want to turn this discussion away from the main point — which is ending structural racism.”
Many speakers also said they had witnessed LAPD officers shooting rubber bullets at protesters and blamed the officers for escalating the tensions.
“I’m terrified of the LAPD. You have shown your true colors,” David Spencer said.
After about 80 people spoke, hundreds still were still in line for a turn to address the commission.
ABC will rebroadast landmark ‘black-ish’ episodes ‘to say enough is enough’
ABC will rebroadcast two groundbreaking episodes of “black-ish” tonight in observance of Blackout Tuesday, an initiative urging members of the entertainment industry and beyond to pause and reflect on how to better support the black community.
On Instagram, “black-ish” showrunner Kenya Barris announced Tuesday ABC will air reruns of “Hope,” a second-season episode addressing police brutality, and “Juneteenth,” the fourth-season premiere commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
“It’s been more than 4 years since we made ‘Hope.’ An episode that was inspired by conversations I was having with my own children about the countless examples of systemic oppression happening around them,” Barris wrote in a statement.
“It’s been 1,562 days since we first shared that episode with the world, and it breaks my heart on so many levels that this episode feels just as timely as it did then and eerily prescient to what’s happening to black people in this country today.”
Barris’ announcement comes as the police killing of George Floyd has spurred protests across the country demanding justice for Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other victims of racial violence.
“Hope” airs tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on ABC, followed immediately by “Juneteenth” at 8:30 p.m.
Elizabeth Warren marching in D.C. protest
Floyd family members join 60,000 protesters at Houston rally
The family of George Floyd, the man whose death in Minneapolis police custody triggered nationwide protests, joined a crowd that Houston officials estimated at 60,000 to rally and march Tuesday to protest Floyd’s death.
Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for minutes, even after he stopped moving, grew up in Houston and a public memorial and burial is planned there for next week.
Meanwhile in Dallas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday that Texas would not request military support after President Trump threatened to deploy troops across the U.S. to confront violence that has erupted in the aftermath of Floyd’s death.
Protesters marched from a downtown Houston park to City Hall where, at a rally that lasted a little over an hour, various local and congressional officials, activists and members of Floyd’s family spoke.
Mayor Sylvester Turner told the crowd that the rally and march were about “lifting up the family of George Floyd.”
“Today we want to love on them. We want them to know that George did not die in vain,” he said.
Turner said about 16 members of Floyd’s family participated in the march and rally. Several members of Floyd’s family spoke at the rally, telling protesters of their appreciation for their support and asking them to not be violent in any protests in which they participated.
Before the start of the Houston march, Houston rapper Bun B, who organized the event with fellow Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth, told the crowd the march and rally would be peaceful and he asked the crowd to look out for anybody who could cause trouble.
Bun B then led the crowd of at least several thousand on a chant as he said, “What’s his name?” and the crowd replied, “George Floyd.”
“That’s right and don’t you ever forget it,” Bun B said.
The crowd later got down on one knee and was silent for 30 seconds.
“We’re our here supporting George. We want some peace. We want some change in America. We want some change in the world,” said Anthony Blackmon. He was on horseback along with about 60 other people from a Houston riding club.
Police officers lined the route of the march and large city dump trucks blocked some downtown streets.
In Dallas, a growing number of protesters assembled outside Dallas City Hall to begin another day of protests as Abbott met inside with local officials. One held a sign that read “PROTECT & SERVE US TOO” as the crowd began marching downtown to the chant of “No justice, no peace.”
Abbott said he was not asked to send Texas National Guard members to the District of Columbia after days of violent demonstrations there has led to fires, destroyed businesses and the use tear of gas and flash bangs, including on peaceful protesters. Others states, including Mississippi and Utah, were sending in more guardsmen to the nation’s capital Tuesday.
Abbott raised his voice while condemning Floyd’s death as a “horrific act of police brutality” and called Texas a leader in criminal justice reform and mentioned the Sandra Bland Act passed in 2017. The law mandates police deescalation training and is named after a black woman who died in a Texas jail following a confrontational traffic stop with a white state trooper. Video of the traffic stop and her death stirred national outrage.
Abbott didn’t suggest any changes to Texas policing or laws in the wake of Floyd’s death, and Democrats criticized his words as insufficient.
More than 3,000 state troopers have been assigned across Texas to bolster local law enforcement amid the protests.
“Texas National Guard are here for Texans, and that’s exactly what they’ll be use for,” Abbott said when asked whether guardsman would be sent to Washington.
Since Friday, there have been nearly 880 arrests during protests in Dallas, according to police and the county sheriff’s office. Of those, 674 people were arrested Monday during a largely peaceful protest that police ended after the group marched onto a bridge. The protesters in that mass arrest were charged with obstructing a roadway, but released without being sent to jail, police spokeswoman Tamika Dameron said.
City officials expanded the Dallas curfew zone Tuesday to include the bridge where the Monday night mass arrest happened. The curfew, which covers central Dallas and some adjoining neighborhoods, runs from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. No expiration date has been set.
Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall emphasized Tuesday that most protests were peaceful but warned, “If you break the law, we will arrest you.”
Austin police say a 20-year-old black protester was critically injured after being struck by a beanbag fired by a police officer. Police Chief Brian Manley says the officer had been aiming at another demonstrator but missed.
Thousands gather outside the White House
WASHINGTON — Thousands of protesters are massing across the street from Lafayette Park near the White House on Tuesday, as military and civilian law enforcement personnel stood on the other side of a black chain-link fence that had been put up overnight to block access to the park.
The crowd chanted the name of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. Floyd is the black man who died while in police custody in Minnesota.
The protesters stood in front of the historic church where President Trump went for a photo op Monday night after the area around Lafayette Park was cleared of protesters by law enforcement officials using smoke canisters and pepper balls.
A half-dozen Episcopal priests stood outside St. John’s Church handing out bottled water and praying with protesters.
‘Law & Order: SVU’ spinoff writer fired for threatening to ‘light up’ looters
Dick Wolf has fired writer-producer Craig Gore from the upcoming “Law & Order: SVU” spinoff for threatening in a Facebook post to “light up” people breaking curfew near his West Hollywood home.
“I will not tolerate this conduct, especially during our hour of national grief. I am terminating Craig Gore immediately,” said Wolf in a statement Tuesday.
Gore, whose previous credits include cop shows “S.W.A.T.” and “Chicago P.D.,” posted a geotagged photo of himself posing with a large rifle on Facebook on Monday with the caption “Curfew...” Screenshots and criticism of the now-deleted post, along with the expletive-filled comment he made threatening to shoot those who approach his property, started circulating on Twitter shortly after. Gore noted that stores were being looted two blocks away from his home.
George W. Bush issues statement on the death of George Floyd
National Guardsman kneels after calls from Hollywood protesters, who cheer
It was 1 p.m. and thousands of protesters marching through Hollywood had arrived at Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street, where they came across National Guard troops and police.
Some in the crowd chanted, “Take a knee.”
After several minutes, at least two of the Guardsmen complied, as the crowd cheered and clapped.
Column: ‘White people don’t get treated like that.’ South L.A. kids react to George Floyd’s death
Evan and Noah are brothers who live in Watts with their mom, Angel Clayton, their auntie and their grandmother.
Evan is 12 and just finishing sixth grade. Noah, 9, is about to finish fourth.
In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, I wanted to know whether the brothers had seen the video of Floyd pleading for his life as a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck and how were they thinking about his death and the protests that followed.
Evan did not mince words.
“It wasn’t an accident,” he said. “It’s not like the police officers didn’t know what was going on — they knew exactly. He said he couldn’t breathe. If you are here to help us, you are supposed to give him medical treatment or call the people who give it, and they didn’t do anything. They just let him die.”
Officer in Floyd’s killing once pulled woman from car for going 10 miles over speed limit, records show
The Minneapolis Police Department on Tuesday released personnel records for Derek Chauvin, a now-former officer at the center of the killing of George Floyd, a black man whose death sparked protest nationwide.
The records provide some insight into Chauvin’s background, a man who began his police career as an active military police officer with the U.S. Army from September 1996 to February 1997 and again from September 1999 to May 2000.
The records, however, included little detail about the 17 times in which Chauvin was the subject of an internal affairs investigation by the Minneapolis department.
Chauvain, who had worked with the department since October 2001, had been disciplined for only one incident during his tenure. It occurred in August 2007 in Longfellow, a neighborhood just south of downtown Minneapolis. Chauvin was accused of pulling a woman out of her car after stopping her for going 10 miles over the speed limit. The woman filed the complaint one day after the incident occurred.
What time are the curfews in and around L.A. tonight?
Los Angeles County officials imposed a countywide curfew for the third consecutive day Tuesday, citing a desire to protect public safety amid ongoing protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd. Some cities implemented even stricter limits.
The curfew does not apply to poll workers and individuals voting in Tuesday’s special election in Commerce and in El Rancho Unified School District in Pico Rivera. Mobile voting centers in the jurisdictions will remain open until 8 p.m.
Also exempt from the curfew, according to the L.A. County website: peace officers; firefighters; National Guard or other military personnel deployed to the area; emergency medical services personnel; individuals traveling to and from work; individuals working on a public work of improvement construction project; credentialed media representatives involved in news gathering; people experiencing homelessness and without access to a viable shelter; and individuals seeking medical treatment.
Over 1,000 protesters converge on Hollywood for new demonstrations
More than 1,000 demonstrators, many holding signs, gathered at Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street late Tuesday morning to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.
After a few minutes, the group began walking through the streets of Hollywood, where they approached a line of several dozen police officers holding batons. The officers appeared to be blocking the crowd’s advance.
“Let us walk,” the crowd yelled. Chants of “I can’t breathe” and “No justice, no peace” echoed throughout.
L.A. County extends curfew for another day
Los Angeles County extended its curfew for a third day as protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd continue across Southern California.
The curfew will be in effect from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. Wednesday, officials said.
Arrests amid protests and looting total 2,700 in L.A. County
Almost 2,700 people have been arrested in Southern California since Friday after protesters took to the streets to condemn the death of George Floyd and the use of excessive force by police.
Booking records reviewed by The Times show the vast majority of those arrested in L.A. County are from here, contradicting claims of “outside agitators” coming in to fuel unrest.
Police say video shows man killed in Kentucky fired a gun
Video shows that a man fatally shot while police and National Guard soldiers were enforcing a curfew in Louisville, Ky., fired a gun as officers approached his business during protests, the city’s acting police chief said Tuesday.
The video showing David McAtee opening fire was obtained from security cameras at McAtee’s business and an adjoining business, acting police Chief Robert Schroeder said. It shows McAtee shooting while officers are trying to clear protesters from a parking lot, he said.
“This video appears to show Mr. McAtee firing a gun outside of his business door as officers, who are using pepper balls to clear the Dino’s [Food Mart] lot, were approaching his business,” Schroeder said. “This video does not provide all the answers. But we are releasing it to provide transparency. It does not answer every question, including why did he fire and where were police at the time he fired.”
McAtee, the owner of a barbecue spot at the location, was shot early Monday amid waves of protests in the Kentucky city set off by the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, put his knee on the handcuffed man’s neck for several minutes, even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.
Virginia governor rejects Defense secretary’s request to send National Guard to Washington
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam rejected a request from Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to send 3,000 to 5,000 of the state’s National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., as part of a massive show of force organized by the Trump administration in response to violent protests, according to Northam’s chief of staff, Clark Mercer.
Mercer said Trump’s comments to governors in a phone call Monday, in which the president said most governors were “weak” and needed to “dominate” the streets, played a role in the decision.
“The president’s remarks to the governors heightened our concerns about how the guard would be used,” he said.
6 Atlanta officers are charged after pulling people from car during protest
Six Atlanta police officers were charged after dramatic video showed authorities pulling two young people from a car during protests over the death of George Floyd, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Fulton County Dist. Atty. Paul Howard announced the charges during a news conference.
“I feel a little safer now that these monsters are off the street and no longer able to terrorize anyone else,” said Messiah Young, who was dragged from the vehicle along with his girlfriend, Taniyah Pilgrim.
The Saturday night incident first gained attention from video online and on local news. Throughout, the couple can be heard screaming and asking officers what is happening.
Five of the officers are charged with aggravated assault, in addition to other charges.
Two of the officers, Investigator Ivory Streeter and Investigator Mark Gardner, were fired earlier this week.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Pilgrim was released without charges. She said Young was released, too, and she’s ordering the charges against him dropped. She didn’t specify what charges he faced. A police report said Young was charged with attempting to elude police and driving with a suspended license.
Dramatic body camera video that police released Sunday night showed police taking another young man into custody in a downtown street alongside a line of stopped cars. The man is pleading with police to let him go, saying he didn’t do anything.
Young, sitting in the driver’s seat of a car stopped in the street holds up his phone, appearing to shoot video as an officer approaches and pulls the driver’s side door open. Young pulls the door shut and says repeatedly, “I’m not dying today.” He urges the officers to release the other man and let him get in the car as the dark sedan advances a bit.
The car gets stuck in traffic, and officers run up to both sides of the car shouting orders. An officer uses a stun gun on Pilgrim as she’s trying to get out of the car, and then officers pull her from the vehicle.
Another officer yells at Young to put the car in park and open the window. An officer repeatedly hits the driver’s side window with a baton, and another officer finally manages to break it.
As the glass shatters, an officer uses a stun gun on Young, and officers pull him from the car as officers shout, “Get your hand out of your pockets,” and, “He got a gun. He got a gun. He got a gun.” Once he’s out of the car and on the ground, officers zip tie Young’s hands behind his back and lead him away.
Police reports do not list a gun as having been recovered.
“I’m so happy that they’re being held accountable for their actions,” Pilgrim said at a news conference.
Protests around the U.S. continue for a seventh day
U.S. cities erupted in violence and destruction in a seventh straight night of unrest, with several police officers shot or run over, amid boasts and threats from President Trump to send in troops to “dominate the streets.”
In New York, nonviolent protests Monday night were punctuated by people smashing shop windows near Rockefeller Center and breaching the doors of Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street, littering the pavement with broken glass. An SUV plowed into a group of officers at a demonstration in Buffalo, injuring three, including a state trooper who suffered a broken leg and a shattered pelvis.
Demonstrations also broke out in such places as Philadelphia, where hundreds of protesters spilled onto a highway in the heart of the city; Atlanta, where police fired tear gas at demonstrators; and Nashville, where more than 60 National Guard members put down their riot shields at the request of peaceful protesters who had gathered in front of Tennessee’s Capitol to honor George Floyd.
Bystander Sean Jones, who watched as people ransacked luxury stores in New York over the weekend, said: “People are doing this so next time, before they think about trying to kill another black person, they’re going to be like, ’Damn, we don’t want them out here doing this ... again.’”
In speech on protests, Biden criticizes Trump’s response
Joe Biden delivered a blunt attack Tuesday on President Trump for being “more interested in serving the passions of his base than the needs of the people in his care.”
Biden likened Trump to Southern segregationists of the 1960s, accusing him of exploiting national divisions for political gain, and he criticized him for staging a “photo op” in front of a church across the street from the White House on Monday evening after police and National Guard units cleared the way by using force against peaceful protesters.
When police disperse “peaceful protesters ... from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House — using tear gas and flash grenades — in order to stage a photo op at one of the most historic churches in the country, or at least in Washington, D.C. , we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle,” Biden said.
Noting that Trump carried a Bible before cameras, Biden said, “I just wish he opened it once in a while instead of brandishing it.”
Minnesota prosecutors are still working on the case against officers in George Floyd’s death
Minnesota’s attorney general says prosecutors are working as fast as they can to determine whether more charges will be filed against officers involved in the death of George Floyd but that they have to work carefully and methodically.
Minnesota Atty. Gen. Keith Ellison was appointed lead prosecutor in the case Sunday. He told “Good Morning America” on Tuesday that those who had culpability would be held accountable.
Floyd, who was black, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck as the officer pinned him to the ground. Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and became motionless. Derek Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. But members of Floyd’s family and many others are calling for more serious charges, as well as charges against the three other officers who were there.
Ellison says, despite the widely viewed bystander video of Floyd’s final moments, cases against police are hard. He pointed to the deaths of Freddie Gray and Philando Castile, and the beating of Rodney King, as examples of cases where striking video of an incident did not lead to convictions of officers.
Ellison did not give a timeline for any new charges. All four officers have been fired.
Retailers step up security and close stores
U.S. retailers are stepping up patrols by armed security guards and transferring merchandise to secure locations as widespread civil unrest sets back the economic recovery from the coronavirus shutdown.
Businesses that were just beginning to reopen had to pull shutters back down after looters smashed storefronts across the country and stole mobile phones, jewelry, clothing, computers and even furniture. Some stores, including a Target in Minneapolis, are so badly damaged they will need to be rebuilt.
High-end shopping districts in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles as well as suburban malls from Arizona to Florida have been targeted by a small minority of troublemakers during the largely peaceful protests.
Matthew Shay, chief executive of the National Retail Federation, said communities were right to express their anger at the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while in police custody.
But he added: “Defacing, looting and plundering businesses, whether viewed as a direct outgrowth of fury or an opportunistic act of vandalism and theft, impedes progress and healing.”
Several of the country’s largest retail chains have closed stores in response. They include Adidas, which shut all 230 of its U.S. stores until further notice, CVS Pharmacy, which closed about 60, and Target, which closed or reduced hours at more than 200.
Biden to speak on civil unrest, criticize Trump for forcefully clearing peaceful protesters
Joe Biden, set to deliver a major speech on civil unrest and protests across the country, plans to deliver a blunt attack Tuesday on President Trump for being “more interested in serving the passions of his base than the needs of the people in his care.”
The speech, to be delivered in Philadelphia, will criticize Trump for staging a “photo op” in front of a church across the street from the White House on Monday evening after police and National Guard units cleared the way by using force to clear peaceful protesters.
“When peaceful protesters are dispersed by the order of the president from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House — using tear gas and flash grenades — in order to stage a photo op at a noble church, we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle,” Biden will say, according to advance excerpts released by his campaign.
Watch it here:
The LAPD and FBI are collecting video as evidence for future arrests
Police officers have watched from skirmish lines as protesters and others stole from businesses, threw rocks, ignited fires and bashed in streetlights with skateboards.
More than 1,000 were arrested in Los Angeles alone over the weekend, but officials said they have not given up on tracking down others.
The Los Angeles Police Department has been collecting evidence throughout the protests in recent days over the death of George Floyd, mostly in the form of video that could be used to identify individuals and bring charges against them in the future.
The FBI on Monday put out a nationwide call for pictures and videos that could help identify people “actively instigating violence” at protests across the country decrying Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
This strategy has been used in the past, including during melees that followed Lakers victories in downtown Los Angeles, as well as in other cities that have experienced unrest, such as Baltimore.
But it is also generating concern.
Nikhil Ramnaney, head of the union that represents Los Angeles County public defenders, expressed concern that funneling footage to local law enforcement agencies or the FBI in the hope of catching looters could allow law enforcement to use facial recognition technology to identify peaceful protesters in the area.
“If government agencies are stockpiling large repositories of film, in light of what’s going on with widely available facial recognition technology, I wouldn’t be surprised if those technologies were used on those crowd-sourced contributions,” he said. “If you’re sourcing footage from people, you could pull metadata from that footage that could also tell you who was present at that scene.”
Santa Cruz police chief took a knee during a George Floyd protest. Other police soon followed
Santa Cruz Police Chief Andrew Mills knew he wanted to stand alongside his community on Saturday.
So when the moment came to recognize the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer, Mills, who has served as chief for three years, had every intention of joining the protesters on Pacific Avenue.
“I had already determined in my mind that it was the right thing to do,” Mills said in an interview Monday. He wanted to send a message not only to the community but also to his department “that people understand, in a very visual way, that we are with the community and part of the community.”
In a photo captured by a local photojournalist, Mayor Justin Cummings, the first black man to serve in the position, and Mills are side by side, down on their right knees, surrounded by protesters carrying signs and nearly all wearing face coverings or masks. Mills wears his police uniform, no riot gear in sight.
Plaschke: Black athletes are adored — when they are in uniform
You can’t say we weren’t warned.
Some of the most influential figures in the history of this country have foreshadowed both the peaceful protesting and violent destruction that have enveloped the nation in the wake of last week’s police killing of George Floyd.
But those figures were black athletes, and white America regarded their words as little more than the ramblings of a dumb jock. The sports world could have perhaps effected the change that might have prevented the burning of America, if only America had deemed it worthy to listen.
“So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years,” said Muhammad Ali.
For that, he was exiled.
Voices from the protests: ‘People of all races out risking their lives to march’
Sean Welch’s homemade T-shirt said it all: “Dying breed” was scrawled across his chest in red and black, just above the name of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis a week earlier, after a white police officer pinned a knee on his neck.
That’s what brought the 40-year-old West Hollywood apartment manager to the protest at Laurel Avenue and Sunset Boulevard late Monday afternoon. Anger and mortality. His own and that of millions of others like him. Black men in America in the 21st century.
“We a dying breed out here,” said Welch, who was 12 and living in South Central Los Angeles the last time National Guard Humvees rolled through the streets. That was 1992, when the city burned after four L.A. police officers were acquitted in the savage beating of Rodney King.
“Cops have been killing us for years,” he said as a crew of disaster recovery workers boarded up a furniture store behind him. “What makes them believe it’s OK? People don’t even realize it until it has some massive effect like this.”
“This” being thousands of Americans drawn to the streets from coast to coast, day after day since May 25, protests that tend to start out peacefully and often devolve into tear gas and riot gear, vandalism and looting, fear, injury and arrest.
Black female mayors take the spotlight amid protests and pandemic
DETROIT — Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms captured the nation’s attention when she addressed the civil unrest occurring in her city after George Floyd’s death.
“I am a mother to four black children in America, one of whom is 18 years old,” Bottoms said Friday in a rousing speech watched and praised across the country. “When I saw the murder of George Floyd, I hurt like a mother.”
Bottoms and other black female mayors, including San Francisco’s London Breed and Chicago’s Lori Lightfoot, are leading some of the nation’s largest cities during an unprecedented moment of challenge as protests against police brutality overlap with the ongoing coronavirus crisis and the attendant economic collapse. They’re being praised as thoughtful leaders at a time of political tumult and as high-profile examples of black women holding political office across the country.
Higher Heights for America PAC, a political action committee dedicated to electing more progressive black women, says there are seven black women serving as mayors in the nation’s 100 most populous U.S. cities, compared with just one in 2014.
Top EU official calls George Floyd’s death an ‘abuse of power’
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top diplomat said Tuesday that the death of George Floyd was the result of an abuse of power.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters that, “like the people of the United States, we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd.”
Floyd died last week after he was pinned to the pavement by a white police officer in Minneapolis who put his knee on the handcuffed black man’s neck until he stopped breathing. His death set off protests that have spread across America.
Borrell says law and order officials must not be “using their capacities in the way that has been used in this very, very unhappy death of George Floyd. This is an abuse of power, and this has to be denounced.”
He underlined that Europeans “support the right to peaceful protest, and also we condemn violence and racism of any kind, and for sure, we call for a de-escalation of tensions.”
Borrell said that “we trust in the ability of the Americans to come together, to heal as a nation and to address these important issues during these difficult times.”
Mayor sends in workers to take down Confederate monument in Birmingham, Ala.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Workers in Alabama’s largest city began removing a Confederate monument after demonstrators failed to knock down the obelisk.
Such monuments in various cities across the South have become the target of protesters angry over the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who died after a white police officer pinned him to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin sent workers with heavy equipment to take down the more than 50-foot-tall Confederate monument made of stone. Late Monday, after a 7 p.m. curfew took effect and streets were mostly clear, crews began their work.
Live video showed workers attaching straps to the peak of the obelisk so it could be lifted away with a crane. Within a few hours they had removed the top of the monument.
Woodfin said the city would see if the memorial could be given to a museum or another group.
Woodfin said the fine the city may face for violating a state law banning the removal of Confederate and other long-standing monuments is more affordable than the cost of continued unrest in the city.
Alabama Atty. Gen. Steve Marshall, in a statement, said the city would face an assessment of $25,000 if it removed the monument, which has been the subject of a court fight between the mostly black city and Republican-controlled state.
Thousands march in Sydney in solidarity
SYDNEY, Australia — Thousands of protesters marched through downtown Sydney on Tuesday, voicing their solidarity with Americans demonstrating against the death of George Floyd.
The protesters in Australia’s largest city chanted, “I can’t breathe” — some of the final words of both Floyd and David Dungay, a 26-year-old Aboriginal man who died in a Sydney prison in 2015 while being restrained by five guards.
The demonstrators carried placards reading, “Black Lives Matter,” “Aboriginal Lives Matter,” “White Silence Is Violence” and, referring to those protesting in cities across the U.S., “We See You, We Hear You, We Stand With You.” Other placards read, “We’re here because they aren’t,” with depictions of Floyd and Dungay.
They marched from Hyde Park to the New South Wales state Parliament, with plans to continue to the U.S. Consulate.
Around 2,000 demonstrators had also gathered in Australia’s west coast city of Perth on Monday night to peacefully protest Floyd’s death, and rallies are planned for other Australian cities this week.
An indigenous Australian lawmaker called on governments to use Floyd’s death as an opportunity to reduce deaths of indigenous people in custody.
“I think we should be using it as an opportunity,” Linda Burney told Australian Broadcasting Corp., referring to Floyd’s death. “Whether we like it or not, it doesn’t take much for racism to come out of the underbelly of this country.”
U.S. death toll grows as George Floyd protests continue
One man was the beloved owner of a Louisville barbecue restaurant who made sure to provide free meals to officers. Another was a man known as “Mr. Indianapolis,” a former star football player. Yet another was a federal officer working security during a protest.
They are among the people who have been killed as protests have roiled American cities in the past week since 46-year-old George Floyd died when a white officer jammed his knee into the back of the black man’s neck.
The deaths have at times been overshadowed by the shocking images of chaos engulfing cities across America, from heavy-handed riot police tactics to violence, vandalism and arson. Tens of thousands have marched peacefully in demonstrations against police brutality and racism.
Many of the people killed were African Americans, compounding the tragedy for black families to lose more members of their community amid the unrest.
Man seen brandishing a rifle at protesters in Upland is arrested
A man was detained by police after pulling a gun on protesters.
Police in Upland have arrested a man who was caught on video brandishing a rifle and shouting expletives at demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd.
In the video, viewed hundreds of thousands of times on social media, the man can be seen grabbing what witnesses said was an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle from a truck in a driveway, then striding toward the street and shouting: “All right, everybody, back the f— off! Back the f— off!”
The Upland Police Department later identified the man as 39-year-old Jacob Bracken of Rancho Cucamonga. Bracken was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and booked at West Valley Detention Center, police Capt. Cliff Mathews said in a statement.
Another man near Bracken in the video can be seen wielding a golf club as some protesters appear to face off with detractors. “Keep the peace, keep the peace,” other demonstrators chant.
The confrontation occurred during a gathering of hundreds of people Monday afternoon in Upland at the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Euclid Avenue. Mathews said that at about 6 p.m. some demonstrators blocked the intersection and were ordered to disperse. Some refused while others pushed officers or threw rocks and water bottles at them.
Mathews said the officers fired “pepper balls and two sting balls to push the crowd back.” The protest eventually broke up entirely, and there were no arrests.
Las Vegas officer shot amid Floyd protests
An officer has been shot in Las Vegas and authorities are responding to another shooting as people protest the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, authorities said.
The officer was shot in the area of the Las Vegas Strip, and another officer was involved in a shooting in the downtown area, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported early Tuesday.
The department said both shootings were on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Protesters have been rallying for days across the country over the death of George Floyd, who was seen on video pleading that he couldn’t breathe as a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes.
Four police officers injured in St. Louis after peaceful protests turn ugly
ST. LOUIS — Police say four officers were hit by gunfire after protests in St. Louis that started peacefully Monday became violent overnight, with demonstrators smashing windows and stealing items from businesses and fires burning in the downtown area.
The police department tweeted early Tuesday that the officers were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. It was unclear who had fired the shots.
The chaos in St. Louis followed continued protests Monday in Missouri over the death of George Floyd and police treatment of African Americans, with gatherings also held in Kansas City and Jefferson City.
On Monday afternoon, several hundred people rallied peacefully outside the justice center in downtown St. Louis, including Mayor Lyda Krewson and St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards. Protesters later walked to the Gateway Arch National Park and then onto nearby Interstate 64.
But later Monday, protesters gathered in front of police headquarters, where officers fired tear gas. Some people smashed windows at a downtown 7-11 store and stole items from inside before the building was set on fire.
Hong Kong leader criticizes ‘double standards’ over protests
Hong Kong’s leader on Tuesday criticized the “double standards” of foreign governments over national security, pointing to the current unrest in the United States as an example of how attitudes differed between issues at home and abroad.
“We have recently seen these kind of double standards most clearly, with the riots in the United States,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam said. “We can see how local authorities have reacted. But then last year when we had similar riots in Hong Kong, what was their position?”
She pointed to international criticism over an imminent national security law that many foreign politicians have criticized as Beijing eroding freedoms promised to Hong Kong.
“They take their own country’s national security very seriously, but for the security of our country, especially the situation in Hong Kong, they are looking at it through tinted glasses,” she said.
Protesters tell San Francisco mayor and police chief they want ‘consequences and repercussions’
Hundreds of protesters gathered Monday on the front steps of San Francisco City Hall, demanding “consequences and repercussions” for the police who killed George Floyd.
The protest, organized by a group that fights for local victims of police shootings called Wealth and Disparities in the Black Community, was unlike the grass-roots marches that took over the city’s streets on Saturday and Sunday, during which residents joined together to demand justice for Floyd.
Flanked by images of Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin and Floyd, along with signs that read “Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Police Chief William Scott joined organizers to address protesters and pledged to change the way black people are treated by the police in the city.
“I’m the mayor but I’m a black woman first,” Breed said. “I am angry. I am hurt. I am frustrated. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I don’t want one more black man to die at the hands of law enforcement. That’s what this movement is about. Not one more.”
Low-flying military helicopters hover over protesters in Washington
Military helicopters hover over protesters in Washington, D.C.
Law enforcement officers used tear gas, pellets and low-flying helicopters to turn back demonstrators in Washington protesting the death of George Floyd.
Protesters remained on the streets well past the 7 p.m. curfew that had been imposed by District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser. They had spent hours marching peacefully around the nation’s capital before they were buzzed by the helicopters, which kicked up debris.
A standoff developed within sight of the Capitol.
Protesters smashed windows at the Teamsters building as they dispersed.
Demonstrators fill downtown Riverside: ‘I don’t know if I’m next’
Thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Riverside on Monday afternoon to call for justice in the death of George Floyd and others killed by police. Mothers stood side by side with their daughters, young people danced and students passed out water bottles and masks.
Fazein Kennon, 16, came to the march with 10 members of his family — his father, uncle, aunt and cousins.
“My family and I are tired of this and this is one way to stand up, by peacefully protesting,” he said.
Christiana Ellis, 15, and her mother, Sherry Morton, 51, came to the protest together. Morton carried a sign that said: “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”
Her daughter said she constantly worries about her safety and that of her family.
“I don’t want to see another black face on the news. I don’t know if I’m next,” Ellis said.
“I wonder what if my dad is out driving to get groceries and he gets pulled over for a speeding ticket and ends up in a casket.”
When curfew hit at 6 p.m. the vast majority of protesters left. A couple hundred remained past when police declared an unlawful assembly and began to disperse them using tear gas and rubber bullets.
Speaker Pelosi issues statement after Trump’s speech
“Across our country, Americans are protesting for an end to the pattern of racial injustice and brutality we saw most recently in the murder of George Floyd.
“Yet, at a time when our country cries out for unification, this president is ripping it apart. Tear-gassing peaceful protesters without provocation just so that the president could pose for photos outside a church dishonors every value that faith teaches us.
“We call upon the president, law enforcement and all entrusted with responsibility to respect the dignity and rights of all Americans. Together, we must insist on the truth that America must do much more to live up to its promise: the promise of liberty and justice for all, which so many have sacrificed for — from Dr. King to John Lewis to peaceful protesters on the streets today.
“At this challenging time, our nation needs real leadership. The president’s continued fanning of the flames of discord, bigotry and violence is cowardly, weak and dangerous.”
Times photographer recounts being hit with pepper spray and rubber bullets in Minneapolis
Times photographer Carolyn Cole is struck with pepper spray by Minneapolis authorities Saturday while covering protests over George Floyd’s death.
MINNEAPOLIS — A peaceful protest had been going on all day at the 5th Precinct, with speakers addressing a crowd of about 300 to 400 people. I was standing with a group of about 20 journalists, including Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske, clearly separate from the protesters on the opposite side of the street from the precinct.
We saw the Minneapolis police come out of their compound and confront one young woman, using pepper spray to get her to back up. A few minutes later, just after curfew around 8:30 p.m., the Minnesota State Patrol formed a line about half a block down the road. The patrol told the crowd they were in violation of the local curfew and must disperse, and soon after started firing tear gas.
Police take people into custody in downtown L.A.
Louisville police chief fired after officer body cameras found to be off in fatal shooting
The police chief of Louisville, Ky., was fired Monday after the mayor learned that officers involved in a shooting that killed the popular owner of a barbecue spot failed to activate body cameras during the chaotic scene. A huge group marched hours later to the spot in a peaceful protest.
David McAtee, known for offering meals to police officers, died early Monday while police officers and National Guard soldiers were enforcing a curfew amid ongoing protests over a previous police shooting in Kentucky’s largest city. Police said they were responding to gunfire from a crowd.
The U.S. attorney said federal authorities will join state police in investigating the shooting.
On Monday evening, a massive group stretching several blocks marched from downtown to where McAtee was killed. As protesters passed by, some motorists raised fists in the air and honked in solidarity.
Earlier, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer revealed authorities lacked body camera video for the investigation just hours after Kentucky’s governor demanded the release of police video.
“This type of institutional failure will not be tolerated,” Fischer said. “Accordingly, I have relieved Steve Conrad of his duties as chief of Louisville Metro Police Department.”
Gov. Andy Beshear later said the lack of body camera footage was unacceptable.
“This is the entire reason that we have those cameras,” the Democratic governor said at the state Capitol in Frankfort.
Beshear authorized state police to independently investigate, promising the probe will be conducted in an “honest and transparent way” and “not take months.”
U.S. Atty. Russell Coleman announced that federal authorities will take part.
LAPD Chief Moore says Floyd’s death on looters’ hands as much as officers
Los Angeles police officers arrested nearly 700 people on Sunday, 70 of them for looting, Chief Michel Moore said. Moore characterized in sharply critical terms the lawbreaking that broke out alongside largely peaceful demonstrations on Sunday.
“We didn’t have protests last night; we had criminal acts,” Moore said Monday. “We didn’t have people mourning the death of this man, George Floyd; we had people capitalizing.”
Floyd, who was black, died last week when a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground by his neck.
“His death is on their hands,” Moore said of the looters, “as much as it is those officers.”
“That is a strong statement,” Moore said, “but I must say that this civil unrest that we’re in the midst of, we must turn a corner from people who are involved in violence, people who are involved in preying on others.”
The chief later walked back those comments, which were delivered during a news conference alongside Mayor Eric Garcetti, and said he regretted suggesting looters had “blood on their hands.”
But Moore insisted that some people were exploiting Floyd’s death as a “catalyst for violence.” On Monday, as demonstrators gathered in Van Nuys, an apparently separate group of people burglarized three stores, Moore said.
Police apprehended several of them. Moore said a demonstration on the Westside had been deemed unlawful when protesters walked onto the 405 Freeway on Monday afternoon.
“When you go onto the freeway, you jeopardize not just your lives but others,” he said.
A young LAPD officer’s skull was fractured Saturday, Moore said, when law enforcement clashed with demonstrators in the Fairfax district. After undergoing surgery and having metal plates installed in his skull, the officer was discharged from the hospital and is now resting at home.
“I am thankful for his survival and grateful for his service,” Moore said.
Just before 11 p.m. Monday, Moore issued his second public apology of the night. Moore said he recognized it was “terribly offensive” to have implied that looters somehow shared responsibility for Floyd’s death.
“Looting is wrong,” he wrote on Twitter, “but it is not the equivalent of murder and I did not mean to equate the two.” The chief’s mea culpa came after a terse tweet that Garcetti had posted two hours earlier.
“The responsibility for George Floyd’s death rests solely with the police officers involved,” Garcetti wrote. “Chief Moore regrets the words he chose this evening and has clarified them.”
So many people replied to the mayor’s tweet with “Fire him” that the two words were briefly trending on Twitter.
Looting in Van Nuys hits multiple stores
Eva Bandikian, the manager at Kovac’s Care Pharmacy, said looters broke the lock on the door and stole “everything,” including cash, the register, medicine and vitamins.
Bandikian watched from the store’s surveillance camera on a feed on her phone as about 10 young people stormed into the pharmacy. “It doesn’t have anything to do with us,” she said.
“They’re angry with the police and with the government.”
About two hours after the break-in, one of the looters walked back by the pharmacy, turned around and laughed, carrying a bag of stolen goods.
Rector of church for Trump’s appearance ‘outraged’
The Rev. Mariann Budde, whose diocese St. John’s belongs to, said she was “outraged” by President Trump’s visit and noted that he didn’t pray while stopping by the church, a landmark known for its regular visits from sitting presidents since the early 19th century.
The president also did not “acknowledge the agony and sacred worth of people of color in our nation who rightfully demand an end to 400 years of systemic racism and white supremacy in our country,” Budde said in a statement posted to the diocese’s Twitter account after Trump’s televised visit.
LAPD commander addresses crowd at Sunset and Laurel
After the LAPD commander took a knee with protesters Abel Rivera, 56, of Hollywood said it was a welcome gesture. Rivera was standing next to Palka, wearing a purple face mask with a Lakers logo.
“I told him, ‘this is the first step to moving forward,’” Rivera recalled.“That’s the first step any cop took to show the people and these kids that they are willing to come and talk,” Rivera said.
“These kids come out here to protest — they have no leader, they are frustrated.”“Who do they talk to? Who do they turn to?
”He lamented a lack of affordable housing, and jobs, structural inequities that have been compounded by the pandemic.As protesters began to slowly leave the gathering at Sunset and Laurel, Rivera said he hoped the police took note that the rally was peaceful.“I hope we set an example with these protests,” Rivera said.
Police hit cameraman in front of White House before Trump’s speech
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee blasts Trump’s speech
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Protesters dispersed with tear gas for photo op with a Bible
Trump calls for ‘law and order,’ threatens to deploy troops to major cities
WASHINGTON — President Trump, declaring himself a “president of law and order,” threatened Monday to deploy the military to cities where, he said, governors and local officials had “failed to take necessary action” to end civil unrest.
“These are not acts of peaceful protest,” Trump declared during a brief speech in the White House Rose Garden, referring to the demonstrations and sometimes violent acts that have broken out in dozens of major cities. “These are acts of domestic terror.”
Trump said he was dispatching “thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers” to end civil unrest.
Even as he declared himself an ally of legitimate protesters, police fired tear gas into peaceful crowds near the White House and advanced on horseback. Reporters in the Rose Garden could hear booms in the background.
George Floyd’s death officially deemed a homicide
On Monday night, one week after George Floyd’s death, the Hennepin County medical examiner released a report deeming it a homicide.
“Cause of death: Cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression,” the report reads. “Manner of death: Homicide.”
The report says Floyd experienced cardiopulmonary arrest “while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s).” He did have other “significant” medical conditions, according to the report: “Arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use.”
Under Minnesota law, the medical examiner is an office independent of any prosecutorial or law enforcement authority, required to classify the manner of death as part of its certification process.
The report notes, “Manner of death is not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process.”
Situation around the White House escalates after Trump’s speech
George Floyd’s brother tells the nation to stop rioting: ‘That’s not going to bring my brother back’
Against the backdrop of a nation in turmoil and a city in the throes of protest, George Floyd’s younger brother Monday knelt at the street corner where Floyd died at the hands of police one week ago.
Terrence Floyd arrived from Brooklyn, N.Y., wearing a mask bearing the image of his older brother and a reference to his last words, a rallying cry for demonstrators across the country against police brutality: “We can’t breathe.”
Floyd made his way through the crowd of several hundred supporters shortly after noon, shielded by a security detail wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts. In a scene fitting to the times, he was flanked by a lawyer who has handled police brutality cases, a pastor and a local activist.
Column: Cities are being destroyed. California clearly isn’t as enlightened about race as we think
When I opened the windows of my Westside L.A. apartment on Sunday afternoon, the last thing I expected was to get socked by the smell of whatever chemical agent had been deployed and drifted over from Santa Monica.
It seems as if all of California — long ago scarred by race riots and populated by people who pride themselves on having an evolved attitude toward race and justice — is raging or protesting.
Only a few blocks from the beach, people were busy shattering windows and looting stores in the idyllic downtown, lined with palm trees and green bike lanes. Meanwhile, a few blocks away on Ocean Avenue, the angry protesters who arrived after the peaceful protesters left were challenging police, throwing eggs and water bottles at them in the name of George Floyd, prompting the firing of rubber bullets and smoke grenades.
Bangs can be heard at Rose Garden while Trump speaks
The scene happening at the White House
‘It is heartening’: Long Beach overwhelmed by volunteers helping clean up after looting
People wearing masks flocked to Long Beach’s Harvey Milk Promenade Park on Monday with brooms, buckets and dustpans in hand to clean up after looting in downtown Long Beach during an otherwise peaceful protest against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
More than a hundred volunteers gathered beneath a Milk mural with the quote: “Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard. Hope will never be silent.”
“Everybody feel good? Let’s get out there!” said Broc Coward of Downtown Long Beach Alliance.
Volunteers cheered and dispersed to parking garages, storefronts and sidewalks.
Downtown Long Beach Alliance, a group representing property owners and businesses downtown, manned a table surrounded by cases of water and paint cans.
What time are the curfews in and around L.A. tonight?
Los Angeles and surrounding cities in Southern California have issued curfews for Monday.
The L.A. County website offered this reasoning: “The effects of public calamity caused disaster and extreme peril to the safety of people and property. Because of the dangers which often occur under cover of darkness and the difficulty to preserve public safety during these hours, a curfew was ordered, as allowed by Government Code Section 8634.”
Under curfew, residents should remain in their homes and stay off public streets and areas. L.A. County listed the following exemptions from the curfew: “Peace officers, firefighters and National Guard or other military personnel deployed to the area, individuals traveling to and from work, people experiencing homelessness and without access to a viable shelter and individuals seeking medical treatment.”
Here are the times for the curfews.
Los Angeles County: 6 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday
Watch live: President Trump delivers remarks at the White House
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Derek Chauvin should be charged with first-degree murder, attorney for George Floyd’s family says
An independent autopsy commissioned by George Floyd’s family found he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression, the family’s attorneys said Monday.
The autopsy found Floyd had been healthy but that the officer’s compression cut off the blood supply to his brain; the pressure of other officers’ knees on his back made it impossible for him to breathe, attorney Ben Crump said.
Those findings contradict a local autopsy, which noted the effects of being restrained but also Floyd’s underlying health issues and potential intoxicants in his system and found nothing “to support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”
Given the new findings, Crump called for the charge against Officer Derek Chauvin to be upgraded from third to first-degree murder and for the three other officers involved to be charged.
The family’s autopsy was conducted by Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner of New York City, who was hired to conduct an autopsy of Eric Garner, a black man who died in 2014 after New York police placed him in a chokehold. Baden also conducted an independent autopsy of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old shot by police in Ferguson, Mo.
Floyd’s uncle, Selwyn Jones, said the autopsy should be enough to charge the other three officers.
“I don’t see why they’re waiting. They always say evidence is the key to a conviction,” said Jones, 54 of Gettysburg, S.D.
Jones said that after he led a rally and march of thousands in Sioux Falls on Sunday night, looting ensued and police urged him to return home swiftly for his own safety, afraid he might be targeted by white supremacists.
“If those other guys don’t get arrested, this destruction is going to continue,” he said.
Floyd’s aunt Angela Harrelson is a nurse in suburban St. Paul who said she’s been traumatized by the rioting.
“There’s no trust of Minneapolis police and district attorney. They lied about him resisting,” she said, and the independent autopsy results reinforced her distrust of local officials.
She recalled how when Floyd moved to Minneapolis from Houston a couple years ago, she warned him, “If you ever get stopped by the police, don’t do anything to resist – a black man at 6-foot-7, we get stereotyped.”
“They keep trying to make excuses for what they did wrong,” she said. “They keep lying – they lied about the autopsy, then the truth comes out.”
Three memorials are planned for Floyd: In Minneapolis on Thursday; in Fayetteville, N.C., where he was born, on Saturday; and a funeral in Houston on Sunday, according to relatives. Jones expects to attend all three.
Pasadena protest last night largely peaceful
The Pasadena protest that took place last night was largely peaceful.
It was led by more than a dozen diverse faith groups, and at the heart of the protest there was a call for eight minutes of noise to represent the eight minutes that Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck. The protest was allowed to take place at 7 p.m., an hour after the county curfew.
There was an incident earlier in the afternoon in Pasadena when protesters marched through Old Town. There’s video of a truck going through an intersection between protesters.
USC cuts ties with prominent booster who tweeted protesters and looters ‘should be shot’
USC took swift action in distancing itself from a prominent booster and season-ticket holder, revoking her season tickets and Trojan Athletic Fund membership on Monday after a string of “abhorrent and blatantly racist tweets” were brought to light in the wake of the weekend’s mass protests over the death of George Floyd.
Marla Brown, an attorney and alum whose since-deleted Twitter account previously claimed she worked with the Los Angeles Police Department union, suggested in several tweets sent on Saturday that protesters and looters “should be shot,” in addition to several other racially charged sentiments.
By Monday morning, USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn announced the university would be disassociating from Brown. USC sent a letter to Brown on Monday officially alerting her of its decision.
Not all protests were violent: Downtown L.A. march peaceful on Sunday
L.A. Times columnist LZ Granderson spoke with protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday and found an unexpected readiness toward goodwill and solidarity, as well as a diversity of representation in the streets.
L.A. Times columnist LZ Granderson speaks with protesters in downtown Los Angeles and finds goodwill and solidarity.
Newsom urges peace as George Floyd’s death ignites protests by day, violence by night
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom met with faith leaders Monday and urged peace as the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis continued to ignite protests by day and violence and looting by night in many cities across California and the nation.
Newsom implored Californians to show empathy to one another in his first news conference since before he deployed the California National Guard to Los Angeles early Sunday, marking the third time in more than half a century that troops have responded to unrest in the city over violence against a black man in police custody.
“You’ve lost patience. So have I. You are right to feel wronged. You are right to feel the way you are feeling,” Newsom said to protesters, adding that “society has a responsibility to you to be better, and to do better.”
Santa Monica restaurants clean up day after unrest, face 1 p.m. curfew
Santa Monica restaurants and other businesses were ordered to close by 1 p.m. Monday the day after looting and vandalism in the city.
Restaurants along the Third Street Promenade, 4th Street and Main Street were hit Sunday during protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. In chaotic scenes broadcast live on television and over social media, protesters were shot with rubber bullets and tear gas by police as businesses were broken into by looters nearby.
To protect the community, Santa Monica issued a 1 p.m. curfew for business districts as well as a citywide 4 p.m. curfew.
After George Floyd’s death, California schools chief vows to address bias
California Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said Monday that he is “haunted by the sound” of George Floyd’s voice “begging to breathe, begging for life” and vowed to initiate a greater focus on teaching about implicit bias in California classrooms.
“We want to create opportunities to support and to address the trauma that so many of us feel,” said Thurmond. “We want to make sure that our children can be supported in the trauma that they will feel when they think about what has happened to George Floyd,” a black Minneapolis man who died after a white police officer used his knee to pin him to the ground by the neck.
He said the state Department of Education will begin conversations about implicit bias education with superintendents and education leaders as well as elected officials and police chiefs, and will assemble online resources and training.
George Floyd died of asphyxia, family-ordered autopsy shows
An autopsy commissioned for George Floyd’s family found that Floyd died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression when a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes and ignored his cries of distress, the Floyd family’s attorneys said Monday.
The autopsy by a doctor who also examined Eric Garner’s body found the compression cut off blood to Floyd’s brain, and weight on his back made it hard to breathe.
The family’s autopsy differs from the official autopsy as described in a criminal complaint against the officer.
That autopsy included the effects of being restrained, along with underlying health issues and potential intoxicants in Floyd’s system, but also said it found nothing “to support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”
Floyd, a black man who was in handcuffs at the time, died after the white officer ignored bystander shouts to get off him and Floyd’s cries that he couldn’t breathe.
His death, captured on citizen video, sparked days of protests in Minneapolis that have spread to cities across America.
Joe Biden vows to address ‘institutional racism,’ meets with black leaders amid unrest
Joe Biden vowed to address “institutional racism” in his first 100 days in office as he met with community leaders at a predominantly African American church in Delaware on Monday morning, leaving home for a second consecutive day to address exploding racial tensions that have begun to reshape the upcoming presidential election.
Biden, the former vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has struggled in recent weeks to be heard from his basement television studio over the noise of dueling national crises. But after another night of violent protests, the Democrat gathered with roughly a dozen local black leaders during an intimate meeting in his hometown ahead of a virtual meeting with mayors from Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and St. Paul, Minn.
South Coast Plaza postpones reopening
South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa has postponed its planned reopening following the significant protests, violent clashes between demonstrators and police and looting that have rocked Southern California in recent days.
The upscale mall had planned to throw open its doors for customers Monday following a lengthy coronavirus-related closure but, in an online message, officials said the reopening would be delayed to an unannounced date.
“We are saddened by the recent events in our country and care deeply for the safety and well-being of our entire community,” the message states.
A representative for South Coast Plaza declined to comment beyond the website message or to specify what events the statement was referencing.
Violence, thefts spread across Bay Area and Northern California amid peaceful protests
The high notes of broken glass being shoveled into metal dumpsters reverberated through downtown Sacramento on Monday morning as shopkeepers and volunteers cleaned up after another lawless night.
It was a scene repeated across much of Northern California, after thousands of demonstrators took to streets Sunday for a third day of protests after the death in Minnesota of a black man, George Floyd, at the hands of a white police officer sparked national outrage last week.
‘We lost everything in 10 minutes’: Santa Monica merchants survey what’s left after looting
The owner of Cisco Home on Lincoln Boulevard, a designer furniture store, said he rushed to his shop after his neighbor texted him Sunday that “people were doing crazy things.”
Inside, a couch was flipped over and water from the sprinklers had damaged some of the furniture.
“We lost everything in 10 minutes,” said the owner, Roman, who declined to give his last name. He estimated that the damage would cost up to $6 million.
Merchants across Santa Monica were surveying the damage after looters hit scores of stores Sunday, using the opportunity of largely peaceful protests to steal merchandise and set several fires.
Trump slams governors as ‘weak,’ urges crackdown on protests
President Trump on Monday derided the nation’s governors as “weak” and demanded tougher crackdowns on protesters in the aftermath of another night of violent protests in dozens of American cities.
Trump spoke to governors on a video teleconference with law enforcement and national security officials, telling the local leaders they “have to get much tougher” amid nationwide protests and criticizing their responses.
“Most of you are weak,” Trump said. “You have to arrest people.”
The days of protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer. They turned violent in several cities, with looting and mayhem, and fires ignited in the historic park across from the White House.
The president urged the governors to deploy the National Guard, which he credited for helping calm the situation Sunday night in Minneapolis. He demanded that similarly tough measures be taken in cities that also experienced a spasm of violence, like Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia.
“You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again,” said Trump. “We’re doing it in Washington, D.C. We’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before.”
The president told the governors they were making themselves “look like fools” for not calling up more of the National Guard as a show for force on city streets.
Atty. Gen. William Barr, who was also on the call, told governors that a joint terrorist task force would be used to track the agitators and urged local officials to “dominate” the streets and control, not react to crowds, and urged them to “go after troublemakers.”
Fort Lauderdale police officer suspended after pushing woman to the ground
A Fort Lauderdale police officer has been suspended after video showed him pushing a kneeling woman to the ground Sunday. Others on the force quickly pushed the officer away from the woman and then down the street as bottles were thrown. Mayor Dean Trantalis told reporters that the officer, who has not been named, is suspended pending an investigation.
“If it’s turned out that he acted inappropriately, then we will have swift discipline in response to what he did,” Trantalis said. “We do not appreciate that kind of conduct, nobody in the department wants to be disrespected, and we feel this should never have happened.”
San Francisco officers arrest at least 80 people
San Francisco police officers seized firearms and explosives and arrested at least 80 people Sunday night on curfew violation and looting charges.
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said demonstrations that drew about 1,000 people carrying signs and chanting “George Floyd” and “Black lives matter” were overwhelmingly peaceful Sunday and the vast majority of demonstrators dispersed without incident before the 8 p.m. curfew.
But a relatively small number of “defiant individuals” who had gathered in the Civic Center area refused to disperse, threw bottles at officers and started trash fires, Scott said.
In response, officers and deputies with the sheriff’s office began making arrests, he said.
Floyd was an unarmed black Minneapolis man who died in custody after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes despite Floyd’s pleas that he couldn’t breathe.
Results of independent autopsy into George Floyd’s death expected today
The attorney for George Floyd’s family was set to announce findings Monday of an independent autopsy into his death a week ago after a Minneapolis officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes.
Floyd, a black man who was in handcuffs at the time, died after the white officer ignored bystander shouts to get off him and Floyd’s cries that he couldn’t breathe. His death, captured on citizen video, sparked days of protests in Minneapolis that have spread to cities around America.
An official autopsy last week said the combined effects of being restrained, potential intoxicants in Floyd’s system and his underlying health issues, including heart disease, likely contributed to his death. There were no other details about intoxicants, and toxicology results can take weeks. In the 911 call that drew police, the caller described the man suspected of paying with counterfeit money as “awfully drunk and he’s not in control of himself.”
The criminal complaint noted that the medical examiner’s report was preliminary, but said the autopsy “revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”
Ben Crump, the attorney representing Floyd’s family, said last week that he was commissioning the family’s own autopsy.
Long Beach police overwhelmed by looting on Sunday
The protest in downtown Long Beach started peacefully Sunday on Ocean Boulevard.
But while hundreds demonstrated against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a separate, growing group began robbing stores in the Pike Outlets a block away.
Soon, more than 100 people were robbing stores. Some protesters went to the mall and begged looters to stop.
‘Where are the cops?’ Uncontrolled looting stretches police to limit
Aaron Landy watched for hours on Saturday night as people on foot and then in cars moved up and down Melrose Avenue looting stores and setting them on fire, doing wheelies in the street and tagging walls with graffiti.
All the while, not a single police cruiser rolled by, Landy said, even though officers were staged in huge numbers not far away, squaring off with protesters.
Landy’s longtime Fairfax neighborhood, it seemed to him, had been completely abandoned to lawlessness.
Protesting in a pandemic: For many in L.A., the cause outweighs the health risks
For months, Hasani Sinclair said he has been painstakingly cautious about avoiding the threat of the coronavirus. He wears a mask. He follows health guidelines. He has repeatedly gotten tested, even without knowing of any direct exposure.
But the drumbeat of black deaths in the news propelled him to the Fairfax District on Saturday, joining the crowds that protested police brutality and bore signs with the names that rang in his brain: George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery.
“I cannot in good conscience let this moment pass me by,” said Sinclair, a 38-year-old high school history teacher. For black men like him, police brutality “has been a silent cause of death for years and years and years.”
The collision of long-standing anger over such killings and the newer threat of the COVID-19 pandemic have become a joint crisis in Los Angeles and across the country. The coronavirus has been especially devastating to black communities, with black people making up a disproportionate share of COVID-19 deaths.
Now people outraged by deaths at the hands of police have been faced with a dilemma: How to weigh the risks of protesting during the pandemic.
Column: We are all horrified, but only white people have the luxury of being shocked
Last night while my city burned and curfew fell, I sat and watched “Black Panther” and thought about what smug hypocrites white people can be.
Myself included, of course.
I have spent a lifetime watching cities burn and always over the same damn thing: racism. I am just old enough to remember the 1968 Baltimore riot, one of several violent protests that followed the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. I remember it mainly because the curfew extended to my family’s suburban neighborhood, which meant I could not play in the yard as long as I wanted to do, something I found extremely unfair.
A reasonable reaction for a 4-year old; not so much for a grown person, though that is the response from far too many white people whenever a city burns for the same damn reason. Including this weekend. It’s so much easier to judge a relatively few looters — my God, not the Grove! — than deal with the fact that the country you live in would rather regularly set itself on fire than address its obvious racism.
Even during a global pandemic. Think about that for a second. How furious do people have to be to gather in the streets at a time when a highly infectious disease is killing thousands daily, especially black and brown people, who are dying at a disproportionately high rate?
Pretty damn furious.
Unrest in Minneapolis devastates a landmark street of diversity
Down the miles-long Minneapolis street where more than a century of migrants have found their American footholds — Germans, Swedes, Vietnamese, Somalis, Mexicans — a new history can now be traced.
There’s the smoldering police station torched early Thursday by protesters enraged by the death of George Floyd while in custody. There’s the Wells Fargo bank branch a couple of blocks away that mobs stormed through the next night, leaving behind a carpet of shattered glass and strewn paperwork. “Kill Bankers,” reads the graffiti now spray-painted on an outside wall.
Go farther up Lake Street and there’s more fresh history: the Somali restaurant with the broken windows, the empty hulk of a burned sneaker store, the boarded-up party supply store owned by a Mexican immigrant who had been praying for the coronavirus lockdown to end so he could reopen.
The protests that have roiled Minneapolis night after night didn’t inflame just a single neighborhood: Much of the violence raged up Lake Street, an artery of commerce and culture that cuts across a broad swath of the city.
For residents, for businesspeople, for artists, the Lake Street corridor has long been a symbol of the city’s complex history, a block-by-block study in immigration, economic revitalization and persistent inequality.
California recommends closure of all state buildings in city downtowns Monday
The California Department of Human Resources sent a directive to close all state buildings “with offices in downtown city areas” on Monday, a sweeping mandate that covers everything from DMV offices to those that license workers and provide healthcare.
“After consultation with the California Highway Patrol and Office of Emergency Services, the decision was made this evening to advise all state departments with offices in downtown city areas to close tomorrow, and to notify staff of the decision,” said Amy Palmer, a spokeswoman for the state Government Operations Agency.
The directive was sent Sunday evening and it was left up to officials at individual agencies to determine which buildings should be closed.
A state Department of Justice memo sent to employees said the attorney general’s offices in Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego would be closed, though employees who can work from home should do so.
“Staff assigned to these offices should not report to work for any reason. Staff who are able to telework should continue to do so despite the office closures,” the memo said.
Scuffles, fires break out in Albuquerque during George Floyd protest
ALBUQUERQUE — A protest along historic Route 66 into downtown Albuquerque turned violent early Monday after police reported demonstrators setting small fires and officers say they were fired upon.
Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said officers reported shots fired at them in front of the historic Kimo Theater early Monday after a mostly peaceful demonstration disbanded. Gallegos said there was damage to several properties in the area, including broken windows and some looting.
No injuries were reported.
Before the chaos, hundreds of people on Sunday marched down historic Route 66, protesting the death of George Floyd. Protesters in New Mexico’s largest city held signs, wore masks and chanted, “Say his name: George Floyd” and “Hands up, don’t shoot.”
Activist Arthur Bell, 35, told demonstrators the march was peaceful, but he was “tired of being peaceful.”
Bell said his black skin makes him a target for police, and he is fed up with that situation.
Death of Breonna Taylor fuels call to end ‘no knock’ warrants
It’s the stuff of nightmares: Breonna Taylor and her boyfriend were in bed when a trio of armed men smashed through the front door. Gunfire erupted, killing Taylor, 26.
The three men turned out to be plainclothes police detectives, one of whom was wounded in the chaos and violence that March night. The death of Taylor, who was black, led to protests and a review of how Louisville police use “no knock” search warrants, which allow officers to enter a home without announcing their presence, often in drug cases to prevent suspects from getting rid of a stash.
Taylor’s name is one of those being chanted during nationwide protests decrying police killings of black people. The unrest began after the death of George Floyd, a black man who pleaded that he couldn’t breathe as a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with his knee.
More than two months after Taylor’s death, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced last week that the police department’s use of no-knock warrants has been suspended indefinitely. Civil rights advocates are calling for a permanent ban, though Oregon and Florida are the only states that have outlawed such warrants.
Organizers call off protest in Sydney, Australia, fearing violence
SYDNEY, Australia — Fearful of conflict, organizers have canceled a peaceful protest planned for Sydney over the death of George Floyd in the United States.
A rally planned at Sydney’s downtown Hyde Park for Tuesday was canceled Monday after people threatened to create “havoc and protest against the event,” an organizer said on social media.
The rally was presented as a peaceful protest against the over-representation of indigenous Australians in Australia’s criminal justice system as well as in solidarity for Floyd.
Organizers said in a post that, even though Australia is far away from where Floyd died, “we have a voice.”
Thousands of protesters are expected at similar rallies planned for the Australian cities of Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide on Saturday.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Sydney Radio 2GB on Monday “there’s no need to import things ... happening in other countries here to Australia,” referring to the scenes of violence in U.S. cities.
‘Who approved this?’ Riders, officials criticize Metro’s systemwide shutdown
As protests swept Los Angeles County on Saturday night, and officials in multiple cities imposed curfews, an unprecedented shutdown of the region’s bus and rail network left essential workers stranded on sidewalks and in bus shelters.
Hours later, the Los Angeles Police Department was seen ushering lines of protesters, their hands restrained with zip ties, onto orange Metro buses.
The juxtaposition enraged riders and advocates, who said it was inappropriate for a transit agency that primarily serves black and Latino riders to cooperate with law enforcement while thousands of people were marching to protest the death of George Floyd and police brutality against black people.
“You can’t tell me you’re cutting service to protect your drivers, and then turn around and put the drivers in the middle of all of it by transporting protesters,” said Brian Bowens, 47, a transit rider in Leimert Park and the chair of Metro’s citizen advisory council. “Where is the logic here? Who approved this?”
He continued: “This is going to have a lasting effect. Riders are going to remember.”
Several thousand people march in New Zealand’s biggest city to protest George Floyd’s death
Several thousand people marched in New Zealand’s largest city Monday to protest the death of George Floyd in the U.S. as well as to stand up against police violence and racism in their own country.
Many people around the world have watched with growing unease at the civil unrest in the U.S. after the latest in a series of police killings of black men and women. Floyd, a black man, died May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck until he stopped breathing. The officer was fired and charged with murder.
The protesters in Auckland, New Zealand, marched to the U.S. Consulate, where they knelt. They held banners with slogans such as “I can’t breathe” and “The real virus is racism.”
Hundreds more joined the peaceful protests and vigils elsewhere in New Zealand, where Monday was a public holiday.
Crowds storm through and loot stores in New York’s SoHo district; one person shot
NEW YORK — Mobs of people rampaged early Monday down the sidewalks in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, smashing into numerous luxury shops to steal merchandise. Hundreds of people marauded through the area, breaking into Rolex, Chanel and Prada boutiques as well as clothing and electronics stores.
One person was shot amid the chaos and was being treated in an ambulance.
Small fires burned in the streets, which were covered with glass and garbage. Police appeared overwhelmed and incapable of stopping the destruction.
Demonstrators in downtown Brooklyn and parts of Manhattan pelted officers with objects and set fires. Officers charged into crowds to clear streets, sending people sprawling and battering bystanders who couldn’t get out of the way.
A fourth day of protests kept New York on edge Sunday, as thousands of people marched and many protesters and officers tried to keep the peace after days of unrest that left police cars burned and hundreds of people under arrest.
Demonstrators paraded through multiple neighborhoods, chanting, kneeling in the street, and falling silent for a minute in front of the neon-adorned police station in Times Square in honor of people killed by police.
Through most of the day, in most of the city, a tense truce held, with officers keeping their distance and occasionally dropping to a knee in a gesture of respect.
But after dark, there were ugly confrontations.
Earlier in the day, Mayor Bill de Blasio had rejected the idea of a curfew, like those adopted in other major U.S. cities.
Washington governor orders statewide call up of National Guard
SEATTLE — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee late Sunday ordered a statewide activation of the National Guard following vandalism and thefts in stores and shopping malls in multiple cities following protests over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
Inslee had previously authorized 400 troops for Seattle and 200 troops for Bellevue. On Saturday night, people smashed downtown Seattle storefronts and stole items from many businesses, tossing mannequins into the street. On Sunday, there were thefts from stores and shopping malls in Bellevue, Spokane, Tukwila and Renton.
Inslee’s activation means more troops will be used to help control unrest.
“We must not let these illegal and dangerous actions detract from the anger so many feel at the deep injustice laid so ugly and bare by the death of George Floyd,” Inslee said in a statement. “But we also will not turn away from our responsibility to protect the residents of our state.”
Interstate 5 through downtown Seattle was closed Sunday afternoon because of protest activity, the second day in a row the main north-south freeway on the West Coast was shut down.
Several officers injured in Boston after peaceful George Floyd protests turn violent after dark
BOSTON — A Sunday afternoon of mostly peaceful protests in Boston broke at nightfall when protesters clashed with officers, throwing rocks, breaking into several stores and lighting a police vehicle on fire.
Thousands of mostly mask-wearing demonstrators marched peacefully through Boston in several protests during the day, lending their voices to the nationwide anger over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
The largest protest of several thousand started Sunday night in the historically black neighborhood of Roxbury. Protesters carrying “Black Lives Matter” signs and chanting, “The people united will never be defeated” made their way slowly for several miles to the Massachusetts State House. The diverse and peaceful crowd was flanked by police officers on bikes.
But as the march ended around 9 p.m., protesters clashed with police in downtown Boston. A police cruiser’s rear window was smashed by a skateboarder. Police also tweeted that their officers were pelted with bricks, rocks and glass bottles.
As of 3 a.m. Monday, seven police officers had been hospitalized, 21 police cruisers were damaged and around 40 people were arrested, the department tweeted, calling the situation active.
Protesters stole items from several stores including a Walgreens and a shoe store and damaged other several storefronts including a bank.
A National Guard unit was called in to help quell the violence around 11 p.m.
“Tonight’s protests were motivated by a righteous desire for equality, justice, and accountability in our country. I see you. I hear you. I will use my voice for you,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement.
“I am angered, however, by the people who came into our city and chose to engage in acts of destruction and violence, undermining their message,” he said. “If we are to achieve change and if we are to lead the change, our efforts must be rooted in peace and regard for our community.”
Earlier in the day, hundreds of people, including several families, marched through downtown Boston carrying signs reading “Justice for George” and “Silence is betrayal,” among others, and chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Orderly but energized and angry at times, the crowd took over one side of a city street as they passed City Hall, the State House and the Public Garden.
Man shot to death in downtown Los Angeles amid protests Sunday
A man was shot to death Sunday evening, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, a killing committed in an area of downtown Los Angeles that was flooded with protesters decrying police brutality.
At 7:20 p.m., a Latino man in his 20s was fatally shot on Olympic Boulevard between Hill Street and Broadway, Officer Mike Lopez said. The gunman fled in a white vehicle.
Trump took shelter in White House bunker as George Floyd protests raged
Secret Service agents rushed President Trump to a White House bunker Friday night as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the executive mansion, some of them throwing rocks and tugging at police barricades.
Trump spent nearly an hour in the bunker, which was designed for use in emergencies like terrorist attacks, according to a Republican close to the White House who was not authorized to publicly discuss private matters and spoke on condition of anonymity. The account was confirmed by an administration official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
The abrupt decision by the agents underscored the rattled mood inside the White House, where the chants from protesters in Lafayette Park could be heard all weekend and Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers struggled to contain the crowds.
Thousands protest in car caravan through Oakland
Protesters in the Bay Area demanded justice for the killing of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody for the third day Sunday, when a caravan of thousands of vehicles drove through downtown Oakland for more than three hours.
The procession was organized by the Anti Police-Terror Project, a group co-founded by former Oakland mayoral candidate Cat Brooks, as a safe means to demonstrate against the deaths of Floyd and other victims of police brutality without violating social-distancing guidelines.
“We’re in the middle of a pandemic that is inequitably and disproportionately impacting black and brown bodies, so it’s important for us to have different ways to protest,” Brooks said. “Not everybody wants to get out there and get tear-gassed or get out there and risk getting [COVID-19]. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not just as enraged as everybody else. They just need a way to protect themselves.”
To organize the thousands of vehicles driving slowly from the port through downtown Oakland and around Lake Merritt, the group broadcasted commentary and directions on its Facebook page and over the radio. People on bikes rode through the lines of vehicles and asked drivers to tune their radios to 88.1 FM.
13 arrested in attempt to loot Lakewood mall, sheriff says
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arrested 13 people who attempted to loot the Lakewood mall Sunday.
Sheriff’s deputies were out in force at the shopping center, and Sheriff Alex Villanueva said they were able to quickly control the situation.
Three buildings suffered damage, but more details were not available, he added.
The incident came amid widespread looting to the south in downtown Long Beach.
Melrose Avenue, one of L.A.’s hippest streets, hit hard by looters
Eli Ventov stood outside his blackened store on Melrose Avenue on Sunday morning. The roof appeared on the verge of collapse, and patches of overcast sky were visible through the ceiling.
The night before, Ventov had stood across the street and watched Reloaded L.A., his business of nearly 12 years, go up in flames. A protester threw a gasoline-filled bottle into the Dr. Martens store a few doors down, and before he knew it, his jewelry and apparel shop had caught fire as well.
Ventov grew teary-eyed Sunday as a friend embraced him and told him he would be OK.
“I can’t believe it,” he said.
Ventov and other business owners on Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax District were forced to take stock Sunday after a night of civil unrest gave way to mayhem.
Is looting covered by insurance? Depends on the business
Sean Wotherspoon spent Saturday night in his Los Angeles home, watching live as his businesses were destroyed.
He watched as security-camera feeds showed people shattering the plate glass windows of his Round Two store on North Fairfax Avenue and walking out with more than $250,000 worth of high-end streetwear. He saw them make off with about as much inventory from his vintage store next door. He watched as the Round Two location on the other side of the country in Richmond, Va., was hollowed out by fire.
“I’ve been robbed before, but nothing like this,” Wotherspoon said.
Protests over the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd while in police custody continued in cities across the country Sunday night, and thousands of Angelenos took to the streets to voice their outrage at the apparent impunity of police who kill or brutalize black Americans.
Looting has accompanied some of the protests.
LAPD officer is shot in the leg at Whole Foods parking lot in Venice
An LAPD officer suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound Sunday near the Venice-Santa Monica city limits, an official said.
The incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. in the area of the Whole Foods parking lot near Lincoln Boulevard and Rose Avenue.
LAPD Assistant Chief Horace Frank said the officer suffered a graze wound to her leg. He added that the incident is being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Division.
Frank said the motive and where the shot came from are unknown.
State to close offices in downtowns; L.A. County courthouses also closed Monday
The Governor’s Office and the California Highway Patrol have asked all California state departments and agencies to close their offices, in all cities’ downtown areas across the state Monday in preparation for possible protests.
In Los Angeles County, Presiding Judge Kevin C. Brazile also ordered all 38 courthouses closed Monday, citing public safety concerns.
“Out of an abundance of caution, I am taking the extraordinary step of closing our courthouses tomorrow to protect the safety of the public, judicial officers and employees,” Brazile said in a press release. “This is not a decision I make lightly. But public safety is always our paramount concern.”
In Long Beach, protesters confront looters targeting a shopping center
As protesters demonstrated against police abuse on Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach on Sunday, some looters hit a nearby shopping center and ran away with merchandise.
Police and demonstrators were in a standoff near the Pike Outlets. Patrol cars were hit with eggs and water bottles as people began rushing police officers.
By 5 p.m. some had started looting shops at the outlet, carrying armfuls of clothing out of a Forever 21 clothing store. A T-Mobile store was also hit.
The crowd used hammers and threw trash can lids to smash windows.
Peaceful march through Santa Ana to protest the death of George Floyd
Santa Ana council member Jose Solorio marched alongside his wife, two sons, and about 2,000 other protesters who peacefully marched around the city Sunday afternoon.
“We’re very concerned with the police brutality across the country,” he said, as the group marched up Main Street to the honks and cheers of cars. “There’s too many deaths, and too much inequality.”
The march to protest the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, which began in the Old Orange County Courthouse at 3 p.m., split off into two groups early. One went down all the way to Warner Avenue — about a two-mile walk — through the city’s industrial areas. The other wound its way from the Orange County district attorney’s office to the Orange County Jail and then through Floral Park, the city’s ritziest neighborhood. There, bewildered residents either ignored the marchers or held up signs proclaiming “Black Lives Matter.”
“This is an important time in Orange County,” said Klangour McGunter. From his driveway, he explained to his 4-year-old son what a protest was, and how it didn’t exist in all countries. “Seeing so many people in peace, against hate, is beautiful.”
The marchers were lively but calm. Different parts of the chain had different soundtracks: Aztec dancers, a trombone player, a Honda Civic that slowly cruised and played Zapp & Roger.
Residents who looked on offered snacks and cold water bottles as people made their way through narrow neighborhood streets. “You don’t see this come through our ‘hood that much,” said Angel Escamilla, 42, as he and his children stood on their porch. A bounce house stood on their lawn, inflated but unused. “As long as they’re respectful, it’s all good.”
National Guard monitors L.A. City Hall as downtown shops clean up
In a stark symbol of tensions rippling through parts of Los Angeles, National Guard troops stood with Los Angeles Police Department officers on the steps of City Hall on Sunday to protect the landmark.
About 100 demonstrators had gathered in Grand Park, after a demonstration earlier in the day at Pershing Square.
Downtown was hit by protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis at the hands of a white police officer, as well as looting Friday night and Saturday morning. On Saturday night, some businesses saw more looting.
On Sunday, many merchants were still cleaning up.
Arizona announces statewide curfew lasting one week
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L.A. County announces curfew from 6 p.m Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday
Protesters occupy park across from White House, are met with police in riot gear
WASHINGTON — After a violent night of looting and fires, about 1,000 protesters occupied part of Lafayette Park across from the White House on Sunday evening to condemn the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota.
Police in riot gear lined up behind a set of barricades.
The mood was defiant. Protesters called the police murderers and traitors. They chanted “No justice, no peace, no racist police.”
The crowd focused on one black police officer, asking him to show support for the protest. “Please black man, take a knee,” protesters told him. “The whole world would see it.”
The protesters had marched to the White House from Howard University. After arriving at the park, they pushed through the original barricades that had been set up. But at least at the start, the demonstration was peaceful.
The protest Saturday night turned violent as darkness set in. Protesters set fires, smashed windows and sprayed graffiti.
Two Atlanta police officers fired over excessive use of force after Saturday protests
Atlanta’s mayor says two police officers have been fired and three placed on desk duty pending review over excessive use of force during a protest incident Saturday night.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a news conference Sunday that she and Police Chief Erika Shields made the decision after reviewing body-camera video. Shields called it “really shocking to watch.”
Officials say the incident came to light via video that circulated online.
It shows a group of police officers in riot gear and gas masks surround a car being driven by a man with a woman in the passenger seat. The officers pull the woman out and appear to use a stun gun on the man. They use zip-tie handcuffs on the woman on the ground. The couple did not appear to be fighting police on the video.
Bottoms said charges have been dropped against the woman, and the man has been released.
Local reporters, who captured video of the incident, said the police had earlier broken the glass on the car. A reporter said police also flattened the tires.
The city is under curfew again Sunday night.
In the heart of Santa Ana, residents clean up and debate after protest
As a protest against police brutality Saturday night in Santa Ana turned from a rally into a free-for-all, a debate well-known to Orange County raged on social media:
What’s up with Santa Ana?
The county seat has long loomed large in the region’s imagination. A dying, dangerous brown super barrio that tarnishes the rest of O.C. A proud town worth defending. A place wasted on its residents. One with potential.
Scenes of looting in Santa Monica
Large crowds start gathering outside the White House
In Santa Monica, protesters march and looters hit stores
Santa Monica was the scene Sunday of mostly peaceful protests, as well as some looting at the Santa Monica Place mall and nearby stores.
Protesters made their way down a busy Ocean Avenue holding signs that read, “protect black lives at all costs” and, “who are they really here to protect and serve?” Picnickers, street vendors and a Falun Dafa group enjoying the sunny day and ocean view turned their heads as fireworks exploded in the middle of the intersection of Broadway and Ocean, briefly stopping traffic.
The protesters marched to City Hall and the police station, where armed police and members of the National Guard stood protecting the building. The demonstrators made their way down Ocean Avenue and past the Santa Monica Pier.
Shortly before 2 p.m., a KTLA news helicopter captured video of several dozen looters running from the nearby Santa Monica Place shopping center with armloads of clothing.
Looters in the mall smashed windows of stores including Hugo Boss and 7 for All Mankind and grabbed merchandise, then ran as they heard sirens approach. Shortly after 2:30, more than two dozen police officers entered the mall and began to search it. Looters moved on to other stores in the immediate area, shouting and running when they suspected police were near. Some bystanders held their hands in the air as officers arrived.
Meanwhile, the peaceful march continued, making its way to 5th Street.
The city has extended its curfew. It will now take effect at 4 p.m. and last until 5:30 a.m. Monday.
Trump threatens to designate anti-fascist ‘antifa’ as terrorist group
Blaming far-left protesters for the flare-up of street violence amid nationwide demonstrations against police brutality, President Trump tweeted that his administration would designate a loose movement of self-described fighters against fascism, known as “antifa,” as a “terrorist organization.”
The label, typically used for foreign militants such as Islamic State, would make it illegal for U.S. citizens to support the organization.
Trump’s authority to do that is unclear.
“The United States of America has no legal authority to designate any domestic entities as ‘terrorist organizations,’” said Steve Vladeck, a national security law expert at University of Texas.
And the groups he is targeting lack a formal structure and centralized leadership, raising doubts about enforcement.
Meanwhile, top Trump aides have been consistent in avoiding any characterization of police misconduct as a recurring pattern.
LeBron James reacts to death of George Floyd: ‘Why doesn’t America love us?’
LeBron James has added his voice to those of prominent athletes around the world expressing outrage over the death of George Floyd.
In a Twitter post Sunday morning, the Lakers star wrote, “Why Doesn’t America Love US!!!!!???? TOO.
This isn’t the first time James has spoken out on social media since Floyd, a black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis last week. A video of the incident shows white police officer Derek Chauvin holding Floyd down by putting his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. At one point, Floyd says, “I can’t breathe,” before losing consciousness. Chauvin, fired by the Minneapolis Police Department, has been charged with third-degree murder.
San Francisco curfew to be extended indefinitely
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco’s mayor and police chief said Sunday the city’s 8 p.m. curfew would be extended indefinitely and that people who were out after that time would be stopped by officers.
There were 10 felony arrests on suspicion of looting in San Francisco, city Police Chief Bill Scott said Sunday morning.
California authorities have agreed to send around 200 additional law enforcement personnel to San Francisco, Scott said, to assist city police. It wasn’t immediately clear which agencies would be providing those resources.
Firefighters responded to dozens of fires that were intentionally set across San Francisco on Saturday night, on the street, in businesses and in vehicles, said Jeanine Nicholson, city fire chief. Firefighters also responded to 250 medical calls, many a result of violence, she said.
Target, CVS temporarily close stores due to protest dangers
Target and CVS said Sunday that some of the chains’ stories would temporarily be closed, including some that were damaged during protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.
Target said it had closed six stores for an extended period. It hopes to reopen its Lake Street store in Minneapolis by the end of this year. The store was near the place where Floyd was killed and was heavily damaged during last week’s protests. Another store in Minneapolis remains closed, along with stores in Oakland, Calif., Atlanta, Philadelphia and Chicago.
Target said it temporarily closed or adjusted hours at more than 200 stores over the weekend, but most were scheduled to reopen Sunday or Monday.
CVS didn’t say how many stores it closed, but it said the shuttered locations were in more than 20 states and the District of Columbia. A spokeswoman for the company said pharmacies at closed stores would reroute customers to a nearby CVS so they could get prescriptions filled.
U.S. cities assess protest damage, await another day of unrest
MINNEAPOLIS —America’s cities boarded up windows, swept up glass and covered graffiti Sunday as the country’s most significant night of protests in a half-century promised to spill into another day of unrest fueled by killings of black people at the hands of police.
The turbulence sparked by the death of George Floyd — the unarmed, handcuffed black man who died after his neck was pinned under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer for several minutes — shook not only the streets of New York and Los Angeles, but dozens of smaller communities such as Fargo, N.D., and Lincoln, Neb. The damage extended even to buildings near the White House.
Peaceful protests involving tens of thousands of people Saturday gave way, in some places, to rioting, looting and violence, with police vehicles torched, stores emptied and objects hurled at officers. The police response varied from restrained to aggressive, with officers at times firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
L.A. imposes 8 p.m. curfew for second night
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Sunday imposed a curfew for the second night in a row in the wake of the worst unrest in the city in decades, warning millions of residents and would-be protesters that they could be arrested if they ventured outside after 8 p.m.
The curfew, in effect until 5:30 a.m. Monday, was necessary to maintain order after two nights of looting, arson and tense clashes between police and protesters in the street, Garcetti said.
“When times demand it,” Garcetti said, “strong steps are required to bring peace back to our city.”
She watched livestream of her Melrose shop being looted: ‘Please don’t light it on fire’
What Lindsay Pierce saw on her security cameras Saturday night made her ill.
After hours of being glued to the TV news, she’d turned her focus to her computer, where she could monitor her Melrose Avenue business, Wax, through security cameras.
She wanted to keep an eye on her store as protesters continued to move through the Fairfax District. The 33-year-old has owned the store for a year, but the business has been around for more than a decade.
About 11 p.m., she said, three young men darted inside after windows of the glass storefront were shattered. They immediately moved to the business’ internet router and disconnected it, cutting off Pierce’s connection.
“I started sweating. I got sick to my stomach. I was just thinking, ‘Please don’t light it on fire,’” Pierce said Sunday morning as friends and workers cleaned up the vandalized business and cleared the sidewalk of broken glass.
Texas governor declares a statewide disaster
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a statewide disaster Sunday following weekend protests that turned violent and destructive.
In Texas, much of the demonstrating was peaceful, but the protests became violent Saturday, with fires being lighted, stores broken into and robbed, and people hurt.
Police used tear gas to disperse some of the crowds and said they arrested a total of more than 200 people in Dallas, Houston and Austin.
“Every Texan and every American has the right to protest, and I encourage all Texans to exercise their 1st Amendment rights,” Abbott, a Republican, said in a statement.
“However, violence against others and the destruction of property is unacceptable and counterproductive. As protests have turned violent in various areas across the state, it is crucial that we maintain order, uphold public safety, and protect against property damage or loss.
The order allows Abbott to designate federal agents to do the work of local police. It comes as some Texas organizers are calling off demonstrations and others are planning to proceed.
Saturday protests in Northern California marked by frustration, pockets of violence
Thousands of demonstrators in cities across Northern California once again took to the streets Saturday night, even as the National Guard was called in to quell unrest in Los Angeles. Although those troops were not deployed in other California cities, violence escalated late into the night in many communities, prompting curfews and pleas from local leaders that largely went unheeded.
- In Oakland, fires burned for a second night, and video showed looters inside a 7-11 and other retail stores, many in the downtown area where only hours earlier shopkeepers had begun cleaning up from the night before.
- In San Francisco, protesters gathered late in the night in front of Mayor London Breed’s home, shooting fireworks and chanting her name.
- In Sacramento, more than 1,000 people gathered at the state Capitol early in the day, where some lobbed water bottles and other items at law enforcement. Later, they moved to the nearby county jail and smashed windows on a set of doors into the lobby. After the sun set, protesters returned to the jail and confronted police, who fired “flash bang” noise-making devices and non-lethal weapons at the crowd, injuring at least one protester, according to video posted of the incident. Protesters also broke into a nearby Macy’s department store and other retail outlets and looted them.
Hundreds march in downtown San Diego
Ferguson sees seven officers injured by rocks, bottles and fireworks
Missouri business owners in Kansas City and Ferguson were assessing damage and cleaning up Sunday after protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the general treatment of blacks by police devolved into violence.
Gov. Mike Parson activated the Missouri National Guard on Saturday, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol was brought in to assist local law enforcement agencies. Protests were expected to resume later Sunday at least in Kansas City.
Police blocked access to trendy Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo., early Sunday to allow businesses to check out the damage from the protest that started Saturday. About 85 people were arrested and 10 people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in Kansas City.
In Ferguson, seven officers were injured by rocks, bottles and fireworks, and several businesses and the Ferguson police headquarters were damaged. Police in both cities used tear gas to disperse crowds.
Melrose Avenue shop manager grabs nail gun as looters try to break in
Rodney Beckwith, who goes by his artist name Flewnt, spent the night inside Resist 323, the store he manages on Melrose Avenue.
A garage door security gate was pulled down in front to protect the shop, which sells custom clothing and art. But one of the windows at the top of the store was still smashed.
Flewnt was inside when he heard people trying to break in through the back door Saturday night. He shoved a table saw against the security door to block their access.
“All I could do was try to get to the rooftop,” he said. “My survival mode: Get high and get out the door. I’m not going to sit down there. They’re breaking through a door, they’re not knocking.
No one managed to breach the security door and get inside, but Flewnt kept a nail gun and an ax with him. He climbed atop a ladder and kept watch.
“It’s a black dude store. Leave it alone,” protesters said when they spotted him perched above.
World alarmed by violence in U.S.; thousands march in London
Thousands gathered in central London on Sunday to offer support for American demonstrators. Chanting “No justice! No peace!” and waving placards with the words “How many more?” at Trafalgar Square, the protesters ignored U.K. government rules banning crowds because of the pandemic. Police didn’t stop them.
Demonstrators then marched to the U.S. Embassy, where a long line of officers surrounded the building. Several hundred milled around in the street and waved placards.
Protesters in Denmark also converged on the U.S. Embassy on Sunday. Participants carried placards with messages such as “Stop killing black people.”
The U.S. Embassy in Berlin was the scene of protests on Saturday under the motto: “Justice for George Floyd.” Several hundred more people took to the streets Sunday in the capital’s Kreuzberg area, carrying signs with slogans like “Silence is violence,” “Hold cops accountable,” and “Who do you call when police murder?” No incidents were reported.
Tell us why you’re protesting on L.A.’s streets
In the wake of another controversial police killing, thousands of Americans have done what was, mere days ago, unthinkable. They have gathered close in large masses, in public, to protest.
The Los Angeles Times would like to hear from those who have rushed to the front lines. Tell us why you’ve taken to the streets, so we can share your story.
Mozza, Petit Trois among popular L.A. restaurants hit by vandalism
On Saturday night, the windows of Pizzeria Mozza were tagged with red spray paint and the doors to Mozza2Go and Chi Spacca broken down; looters stole computers and wine from the Nancy Silverton restaurants, according to her partner, Michael Krikorian, who drove to the restaurant complex around 10 p.m. “expecting some graffiti.”
“I yelled at them; I got them out of there,” he said in a phone interview from inside Osteria Mozza at 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Krikorian said MelroseMac next door had also been broken into and was in the process of being looted when he arrived, with drivers in luxury cars pulling up to the store and peeling off with electronics.
At least two separate fires broke out at the multi-unit complex at the corner of Melrose and Highland avenues: a small one inside Mozza2Go, which Krikorian said left a table and some books charred, and another one at MelroseMac. It was not immediately clear what the extent of the damage was to the retailer, but television footage that aired shortly after midnight showed smoke billowing out of the building and a row of fire trucks on Melrose Avenue as Krikorian paced on the sidewalk, a red bandanna covering the bottom half of his face.
Across the street at the same intersection, chef Ludo Lefebvre’s restaurants were also vandalized.
“Ludo going there now,” wife and business partner Krissy Lefebvre said Sunday morning via text. “Trois Mec glass shot up. They were able to get into Petit Trois.”
Other Los Angeles restaurants including Baco Mercat, Bar Ama, Terroni, Petite Peso and Ronan were also vandalized or looted. Still, the overwhelming response from owners — on signs plastered on storefronts or messages posted to social media — was sympathetic to the spirit of the protests.
GOP senator says he advised Trump to avoid inflammatory tweets and focus on George Floyd’s death
A Republican U.S. senator Sunday criticized President Trump’s inflammatory tweets in the initial days after protests erupted in cities across the U.S. over the death of George Floyd, but the lawmaker said the president had since adopted a more appropriate tone.
“Those are not constructive tweets, without any question,” Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina told “Fox News Sunday,” saying he spoke with Trump on Saturday about the tone of his public messaging.
Criticism of Trump by elected Republicans has been rare, whether over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak or his response to the protests that broke out in Minneapolis, the scene of Floyd’s death after a police officer used his knee to pin Floyd to the ground, and quickly spread elsewhere in recent days.
A tweet by Trump on Friday saying that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” — a quote dating back to police crackdowns on civil rights marchers in the 1960s — was flagged by Twitter as violating the social media site’s rules prohibiting the glorifying of violence. The president also tweeted Saturday that if protesters outside the White House had breached its fence, they would have been met by “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons.”
Scott, who is African American, said he told Trump that “it helps us when you focus on the death — the unjustified, in my opinion, the criminal death — of George Floyd.”
“The president will listen if you engage him with the facts of the issue,” he said.
Trump used more conciliatory language on Saturday in Florida, where he traveled to hail the successful launch of U.S. astronauts into space. In remarks, he declared himself “a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace.”
But by late Saturday, he appeared to be making veiled threats of use of force when he wrote on Twitter that the National Guard had been “released in Minneapolis to do the job.” Without elaborating, Trump added: “No games!”
Biden calls protests ‘right and necessary’ but says ‘needless destruction’ must end
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, called Sunday for an end to street violence even as he voiced support for those seeking to express pain and anger over the death of George Floyd, the African American man who died last week after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
“Protesting such brutality is right and necessary,” Biden said in an overnight statement distributed by his campaign. “It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not.”
In earlier comments, on Friday, the former vice president did not address the looting, vandalism and street battles that had erupted during some of the protests that flared in dozens of U.S. cities beginning last week.
“The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest,” Biden said. “It should not drive people away from the just cause that protest is meant to advance.”
Police tactics have toughened, with bystanders and journalists repeatedly targeted by tear gas and rubber bullets amid the continuing unrest.
“Please stay safe,” the former vice president urged, addressing protesters directly. “Please take care of each other.”
Metro Los Angeles apologizes for shutting down service
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority apologized Sunday morning to passengers who were left stranded across Los Angeles County when the agency suspended bus and rail service with little warning Saturday night.
The unprecedented closure of the Metro system drew immediate criticism from advocates and elected officials who said essential workers were left stranded on sidewalks, at stations and in bus shelters in the hours after 8 p.m. curfews were imposed in Los Angeles and other cities.
Metro’s Chief Executive Phil Washington told KNX 1070 News Radio on Saturday night that the agency chose to shut down service because he had seen “a lot of damage,” and was concerned for the safety of Metro employees.
Protesters in the Fairfax area Saturday afternoon surrounded a Metro bus on 3rd Street, covered it in anti-police graffiti and clambered on top.
Washington said Metro supervisors were driving around the city Saturday night to look for people at bus stops, then calling nearby bus yards and asking them to dispatch vehicles to pick them up.
On Sunday morning, a Metro spokesperson said the agency would reimburse trips taken in a taxi, Uber or Lyft after the system shut down. Anyone seeking a refund should call Metro customer service at (323) 466-3876.
During the 1992 riots, Metro’s predecessor agency, the Southern California Rapid Transit District, suspended service in areas affected by looting and fires, but continued to run buses in some outlying areas.
Military vehicles in downtown Los Angeles
Military Humvees were parked at the corner of 3rd and Hill streets in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday morning, marking the arrival of the National Guard in the wake of Saturday night’s violent protests.
White House officials insist left-wing anarchists, not right-wing extremists, to blame in riots
The White House on Sunday accused far-left “antifa” factions of being behind violent incidents amid civil unrest rocking dozens of U.S. cities in response to George Floyd’s death six days ago in Minneapolis, brushing aside the possibility of other groups seeking to exploit the chaos.
Robert O’Brien, President Trump’s national security advisor, also blamed “bad apples” in law enforcement, not systemic racism, for repeated episodes in recent years of lethal force used by officers against African American men and boys.
As protests have spread to cities across the United States, the Trump administration has insisted that outsiders using them as cover for acts of looting, destruction and attacks on law enforcement are left-wing anarchists, not right-wing extremists. Atty. Gen. William Barr, at a news conference on Saturday, blamed “anarchic and left extremist groups” who traveled across state lines to take part. The administration has not explained how it came to the conclusion that the antifa movement, rather than other groups, bore the blame.
Mayors and other state and local officials have generally painted a more nuanced picture, saying it is not entirely clear who the violent outside actors are.
“We’re working to get to the bottom of that right now,” said Melvin Carter, the mayor of St. Paul, Minn., interviewed on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said community organizers had “shared that these were people from the outside” committing acts of violence, but “they did not know them, and had no idea where they came from.”
O’Brien said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he was not aware of reports that white nationalists and other far-right groups might have infiltrated the protests. “This is being driven by antifa,” he said.
In a separate appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” he echoed that, saying “everything I’m seeing is that this is antifa.”
On CNN, O’Brien was also asked whether systemic racism in American law enforcement agencies was a problem, as illustrated by the Minneapolis episode. Floyd, an unarmed black man in police custody, died Monday after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes, according to court documents, while other white officers present failed to intervene.
“No. I don’t think there’s systemic racism,” O’Brien said. “There are some bad apples in there, and there are some bad cops that are racist.”
In his ABC interview, O’Brien used similar language. “There are a few bad apples out there, whether they’re racist or ill-trained or just vicious,” he said.
Former U.S. diplomat Patrick Gaspard, also interviewed on ABC, sharply disputed O’Brien’s characterization. Gaspard, who is president of the Open Society Foundation, funded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros, said Floyd’s death spotlighted longstanding fundamental problems within U.S. institutions including law enforcement.
“This is not about bad apples,” he said. “This is about systemic rot.”
National Guard soldiers patrol streets of downtown L.A.
Despite a citywide curfew, groups of people, mostly men, wandered the streets of downtown Los Angeles late Saturday night, smashing windows and spray-painting anti-police graffiti on plywood boards that business and property owners had hastily affixed to their buildings earlier that day.
As the sun rose over downtown L.A. on Sunday morning, crews went to work sweeping up shattered glass and, using paint rollers, covering up graffiti.
Scores of National Guard soldiers was on patrol between skid row and Bunker Hill, while Humvees rumbled through the financial district.
The soldiers on foot patrol carried M-4 rifles and wore full combat gear, wotj gas masks strapped to their thighs. Some soldiers appeared to be a little uncomfortable as passersby stopped to photograph them, while others nodded and said, “Good morning.”
L.A. reels from looting and arrests not seen in decades
Los Angeles has seen this before.
A black man is brutalized by police, prompting furious protests. The demonstrations turn violent; the city writhes to the sounds of sirens and breaking glass, the smell of smoke, the sight of faces contorted in rage.
There was a sense of weariness this weekend as demonstrators replayed the sorts of scenes that have scarred Los Angeles more, perhaps, than any other American city. This time the catalyst was the killing, at the knee of a police officer, of George Floyd, some 1,800 miles away in Minneapolis.
“I was here for Rodney [King],” said Marsha Steinberg, 76, a self-described activist in the Fairfax District. “Nothing has changed.”
L.A. turns to National Guard and curfew as violence and looting escalate
National Guard troops deployed onto the streets of Los Angeles early Sunday morning as looting, vandalism and violence intensified and the Police Department struggled to restore order after two days of discord.
The dramatic move came after a day of deteriorating conditions, as protests marking the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police began peacefully but turned violent. Demonstrators burned Los Angeles Police Department cruisers, threw objects at officers and looted retail businesses, including the Apple Store and Nordstrom at the Grove shopping mall. Some protesters even made it to Beverly Hills’ famed Rodeo Drive, where they were met by a line of officers.
Since the protests started, Mayor Eric Garcetti and other city leaders had encouraged peaceful expression and voiced support for the marches. But on Saturday, the mayor said the conditions on the streets were getting worse by the hour. First, he ordered a night curfew for downtown L.A. Then, about an hour later, he extended it to the entire city. Less than an hour after that, he requested the National Guard.
Thousands gather in central London in support of George Floyd protesters in the U.S.
LONDON — Thousands gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square to express their outrage over the death of a black American while in police custody in Minnesota.
Demonstrators clapped and waved placards as they offered support to and solidarity with U.S. demonstrators.
The crowd gathered on a warm and sunny day in the British capital despite government rules barring crowds because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After congregating in Trafalgar Square, the crowds began making their way to nearby Downing Street, where the official residence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson is.
George Floyd was an unarmed black Minneapolis man who died while handcuffed after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes despite Floyd’s pleas that he couldn’t breathe.
Three people shot, one fatally, in Indianapolis after a day of peaceful protests
INDIANAPOLIS — Authorities said three people in Indianapolis were shot Saturday night, including one fatally, after peaceful daytime protests over the death of George Floyd gave way to unrest and destruction later.
No details about the shootings were immediately released, but the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said no officers were involved.
“There were several people down here who had no intention to protest. Their intention was to riot,” Deputy Police Chief Joshua Barker said.
Protests became dangerous for a second straight night in Indiana’s capital as buildings were damaged, officers deployed tear gas and at least one business was briefly on fire. The Indianapolis Star reported that at least six people were arrested after protesters made their way into the City County Building. Police said those arrests occurred shortly before officers deployed gas canisters in the area.
Barker said one officer had minor injuries.
Fire officials also confirmed a small fire occurred at a bank building, but the Star reported that some protesters tried to extinguish the flames.
Much like Friday, Saturday’s demonstration began peacefully but turned violent as the sun began to set. Police Chief Randal Taylor said that Friday, at least 30 businesses were damaged and 27 people were arrested during demonstrations that continued through at least 4 a.m.
Floyd was an unarmed black Minneapolis man who died while handcuffed after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes despite Floyd’s pleas that he couldn’t breathe.
Peaceful protests take violent turn in Ferguson, Mo., where Michael Brown Jr. was killed in 2014
FERGUSON, Mo. — Mostly peaceful protests took a violent turn late Saturday in Ferguson, Mo., where police said at least six officers were injured after they were hit with rocks and fireworks.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that police used tear gas to disperse a large group of protesters who had set off fireworks inside Ferguson police headquarters.
Gov. Mike Parson activated the Missouri National Guard late Saturday.
Ferguson was the center of protest six years ago when 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr., who was black, was shot and killed by a white police officer, which, like George Floyd’s death, sparked a wave of demonstrations throughout the country.
Floyd was an unarmed black Minneapolis man who died in custody after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes despite Floyd’s pleas that he couldn’t breathe.
Earlier Saturday, Ferguson Police Chief Jason Armstrong spoke to a group of about 500 peaceful protesters about how Brown’s death had been a “wake-up call to law enforcement.”
Phoenix police disperse protest outside their headquarters
PHOENIX — Police in Phoenix were forced to defend the department’s headquarters late Saturday and declared that a large group of protesters downtown had become an unlawful assembly, the Arizona Republic reported.
Demonstrators had marched through the streets of downtown Phoenix and Tucson earlier in the day after the cities’ leaders implored them to refrain from violence. The gatherings appeared to be largely peaceful, according to local media reports.
After nightfall, protesters were seen kneeling with their hands up in the streets outside Phoenix police and municipal buildings, the Republic reported.
They chanted, “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “Black lives matter.”
Shortly after 10 p.m., the Phoenix police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and told the protesters they needed to disperse immediately.
Confederate monuments defaced in Virginia capital as fires burn overnight
RICHMOND, Va. — Photos on social media show several fires throughout downtown Richmond overnight as protests in the Virginia capital continued.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the headquarters of the nearby United Daughters of the Confederacy burned early Sunday and was marked with graffiti. Several Confederate statues along the city’s Monument Avenue were defaced with graffiti.
Confederate statues and monuments were also defaced in Mississippi and in the Carolinas.
The Richmond newspaper said an apartment building on a downtown street in the Virginia capital caught fire, but protesters initially wouldn’t let fire crews through until police cleared the area with tear gas.
Police headquarters was the target of protesters for the second night in a row as officers formed a barricade around the building late Saturday night.
A dumpster was set afire near the police headquarters, which had its front windows broken out Friday night. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the police fired tear gas to move crowds away from the building.
Several blocks away, near Virginia Commonwealth University, hundreds of protesters blocked streets chanting “George Floyd,” referring to the black man who died Monday after a white arresting officer in Minneapolis pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck while he was on the ground handcuffed.
San Francisco orders curfews, wants National Guard on standby after looting
SAN FRANCISCO — Mayor London Breed ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew in San Francisco that begins Sunday night and has asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to place the National Guard on standby to assist.
The call for help from the state came after peaceful protests lasted in San Francisco’s Civic Center through Saturday afternoon. But as night fell, there were increased levels of violence, police cars were vandalized and police officers were assaulted, Police Chief Bill Scott said. Storefront windows have been smashed on the city’s main commercial thoroughfare, Market Street.
“We cannot, and we will not tolerate that,” Scott said in a briefing just after 10 p.m. “Right now, as I speak, we have officers at Union Square dealing with looting, dealing with people breaking windows. Really, tearing down businesses that people have spent their lives to build.”
Actor John Cusack live-tweets protests in Chicago and run-in with police
Actor John Cusack posted a series of photos and videos on Twitter on Saturday night, documenting looting and unrest in Chicago.
At one point, while filming a burning car, he said police hit his bike with batons.
“It’s nasty as ... out there,” Cusack tweeted, “everyone is on edge things burning - open looting - magnificent mile- and all over.”
Councilman who represents South L.A. says National Guard is ‘not what we need’
Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents part of South Los Angeles, criticized the decision to call in the National Guard, saying it will only make things worse.
“In this moment of extreme anguish and uncertainty in our community, soliciting the national guard to join forces with LAPD is not what we need,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“It’s clear that our fear is real that additional law enforcement will only further violence against people of color. Anarchists are taking advantage of our pain with looting and violence — this is not Black Lives Matter or members of our community who have suffered from systematic racism and oppression — these are domestic terrorists.”
He continued: “Our voices must be heard: we need more state resources and funding for COVID-19 relief in our community. “
Two of L.A.’s hippest shopping streets — Melrose and Fairfax — become targets for looters
As darkness fell on Los Angeles on Saturday night, two of the city’s most famous retail strips — Melrose and Fairfax avenues — became a focus for looting and vandalism.
Several businesses on Melrose Avenue, a trendy row of design and clothing stores, were looted. One building was set on fire and burned for hours.
Dozens of looters ran into an Adidas store on Melrose and Edinburgh avenues at 9:45 p.m., leaving with boxes of shoes. Empty shoe boxes and glass littered the sidewalk outside the store.
Cars honked as the looting continued.
Adidas store on Melrose Avenue hit by looters
Dozens of looters ran into an Adidas store on Melrose and Edinburgh avenues at 9:45 pm, running out carrying blue boxes of shoes.
Empty shoe boxes and glass littered the sidewalk outside the store. Cars honked as the looting continued. Two men stood across the street watching the scene unfold.
“It’s horrible, they need any excuse just to take something,” said one of them, Mel, a 39-year-old Compton resident who would provide only his first name.
Mel said that he came to the area to be able to witness this part of the country’s history.
“It’s going to be in the news,” he said. “It’s going to be like the Watts riots. I wasn’t really alive for it but I was alive for this one. I’ll tell my kids and family members what happened.”
Lakers release statement on protests and the death of George Floyd
All Metro bus and rail service stopped because of L.A. curfew
California’s largest transit agency suspended service Saturday night amid protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, officials said.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has halted all bus and rail service until Sunday at 5:30 a.m., to “ensure the safety of both the public and LA Metro employees,” said the agency’s chief executive Phil Washington.
Washington said the decision was made in consultation with James Butts, the mayor of Inglewood and the director of the Metro board, and “in response to L.A. Mayor Garcetti’s directive today to implement a citywide curfew to help ensure public safety during the George Floyd protests.”
Nordstrom and police cars set on fire in Seattle
George Floyd’s body will return to his hometown of Houston, mayor says
HOUSTON — The mayor of Houston said Saturday that the body of George Floyd, whose death after a Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on his neck during an arrest has sparked protests across the U.S, will be returning to the city where he grew up.
Floyd was a Houston native before moving to Minnesota. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a news conference that Floyd’s body would be coming back to Houston but provided no additional details. His family has not announced funeral plans.
“This is the same city that George Floyd grew up in. And his body will be returning to this city,” Turner said. “And so the focus needs to be on supporting and uplifting this family.”
Turner spoke alongside Houston Police Chief Art Acevdeo, who said his department had arrested more than 130 people since protests began Friday in the nation’s fourth-largest city.
Floyd, 46, grew up in Houston’s Third Ward, one of the city’s predominantly black neighborhoods. At 6 feet, 6 inches, Floyd emerged as a star tight end for Jack Yates High School and played in the 1992 state championship game in the Houston Astrodome. Yates lost to Temple, 38-20.
Floyd’s death Monday and other police killings of black men have fueled tense demonstrations nationwide.
The white police officer who held his knee to Floyd’s neck as he begged for air was arrested Friday and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. But many protesters are demanding the arrests of the three other officers involved.
Chicago’s mayor calls for overnight curfew
CHICAGO — Chicago’s mayor has announced an overnight curfew in the city running from 9 p.m. Saturday until 6 a.m. Sunday, and she says police will crack down on any violence.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot says that peaceful protesting over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has “devolved into criminal conduct.”
She says police will be aggressive with arrests for anyone caught damaging property.
In the mayor’s words: “We can have zero tolerance for people who came prepared for a fight and tried to initiate and provoke our police department.”
National Guard called out to Washington, D.C., as pockets of violence erupt
WASHINGTON — The National Guard has been called out in Washington, D.C., as pockets of violence erupted during a second straight night of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and President Donald Trump’s reaction to it.
Hundreds of protesters converged on the White House during the day Saturday and marched on the National Mall, chanting “Black Lives Matter,” “I can’t breathe” and “No justice, no peace.”
Police used pepper spray to try to disperse the crowd but the standoff continued. Protesters dragged away barricades and some broke up concrete to use as projectiles. At one point, a trash bin was set on fire.
National Guard troops took up position around the White House on Saturday night.
Arrests top 1,400 people in 17 cities as protests rage across U.S.
Police have arrested nearly 1,400 people in 17 U.S. cities as protests continue over the death of George Floyd.
Floyd died Monday in Minnesota after a police officer put his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes. The officer was arrested Friday and charged with third-degree murder.
But the arrest has done little to quell protests across the country. Most have been peaceful. But a few have erupted in violence.
An Associated Press tally of arrests found at least 1,383 people have been arrested since Thursday. The actual number is likely higher as protests continued Saturday night.
Rage in Minneapolis spreads across the country as protesters seek justice for George Floyd
MINNEAPOLIS — This city has become the center of a nation’s anger and frustration as the National Guard rumbles through its streets, protesters threaten more upheaval and many across Minnesota blame officials here for a bungled response to George Floyd’s death that over the last week has left the skyline in flames.
The rage emanating from Minneapolis has spread to Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and dozens of other cities in a torrent of demands — many made peacefully, some not — for justice over the death of another black man at the hands of police. But that rancor is particularly deep here, where residents complain authorities stood down for too long while looters and rioters ran wild.
“They dropped the ball. The moment the police officer did that, they should have called the National Guard in,” said Glen Walton as he grilled hot dogs for hundreds of fellow protesters near the intersection where Floyd, 46, was fatally restrained Monday. “We are in it for the long haul.”
Officer Derek Chauvin, 42, was fired a day after Floyd‘s death, but he wasn’t charged with murder until Thursday. That night, crowds overran his 3rd Precinct police station, setting it on fire. On Friday, the largest crowds yet swept through the city, ignoring an 8 p.m. curfew, surrounding another precinct, rioting, looting and burning businesses as a few police and National Guard troops stood watching.
That momentum spread across the country, drawing in President Trump, who derisively tweeted that Minneapolis had to get tougher against demonstrators and anarchists, and from civil rights activists who complained that violence and vandalism were threatening to overshadow the wider intent of most protesters to advocate for civil rights and non-racist policing.
Garcetti asks Newsom to send National Guard to L.A.
Mayor Eric Garcetti has asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to mobilize the National Guard to help Los Angeles deal with worsening looting, vandalism and violence on the streets.
The move came less than an hour after the mayor expandeda curfew, first set for downtown, to the entire city from 8 p.m. Saturday to 5:30 a.m. Sunday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he is also seeking help from the National Guard.
The decision came as the situation in the Fairfax District deteriorated, with shops, including Nordstrom and the Apple store, vandalized and looted. A small police kiosk in the mall was set on fire.
At 7 p.m., the LAPD declared an unlawful assembly in an area between Melrose Avenue and 6th Street and between La Brea Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard. “Residents should stay inside. Business should close. Those on the street are to leave the area immediately,” the LAPD said.
At Minneapolis protests, ‘We identified ourselves as press and they fired tear gas canisters on us’
L.A. Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske and photographer Carolyn Cole reported being fired on with tear gas canisters by Minnesota State Patrol while they were at the 5th precinct with a group of media.
Hennessy-Fiske posted the following account on Twitter:
“There was at least a dozen of us there -- TV, still photo and print. I had my notebook in my hand when the Minnesota State Patrol was advancing on protesters and us,” she said.
“We identified ourselves as press and they fired tear gas canisters on us at point blank range. I got hit in the leg. I was saying, ‘Where do we go? Where do we go?’ They did not tell us where to go. They didn’t direct us. They just fired on us. “
She and Cole scaled a small brick wall and took cover in a nearby building.
Texas governor activates National Guard amid protests
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott activated the Texas National Guard on Saturday evening in response to protests across the state.
“Texans have every right to exercise their first amendment rights, but violence and looting will not be tolerated,” Abbott said in a statement.
In Dallas, protesters shut down both directions of Interstate 35 E, police tweeted. The Dallas Morning News reported that more than 1,000 protesters had gathered. As the mood shifted, police resorted to tear gas. The protests were against police brutality and the killing of black people in the U.S.
Looters rush stores at the Grove
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Beverly Hills residents urged to stay inside as thousands of protesters converge on the city
Beverly Hills officials have urged residents to stay indoors in preparation for protests, and West Hollywood’s mayor said that the city plans to issue a curfew for 8 p.m. through 5:30 a.m. Sunday. Beverly Hills is also ordering a curfew.
The moves come as violent protests hit the Fairfax District around the Grove, Farmers Market and CBS Television City.
Beverly Hills officials urged motorists to avoid the city. Councilwoman Lili Bosse said on her Instagram page that Beverly Hills would also impose an 8 p.m. curfew. Bosse also said the City Council discussed the protests Saturday.
“The protests are a result of the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis earlier this week,” she wrote. “I want to remind the Beverly Hills community that we are prepared and here for you during these difficult times. Our police department is prepared and remains committed to providing exceptional service and demonstrating respect to all.”
Protest hot spots
Police cars damaged, protesters struck with batons in Chicago
CHICAGO — Several police cars were damaged, including at least one set on fire, as protests continued Saturday over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes.
Officers struck multiple demonstrators with batons amid the protest near the Trump Tower on the city’s Near North Side, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Video sent out by another local reporter also showed police in tactical gear walking on a downtown street.
The crowd of thousands converged on Chicago’s Loop for Saturday’s protest march. The demonstration began at 2 p.m. and protesters began marching north about 90 minutes later, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Saturday’s demonstration came after Chicago officials, following overnight clashes with protesters, asked that additional protests remain peaceful. Demonstrations are expected throughout the weekend over Floyd’s death.
Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said peaceful protests that began Friday afternoon turned more confrontational as the night wore on, resulting in 108 arrests. Protesters blocked traffic along major streets, threw bottles and other objects at police vehicles and shattered the windows of downtown businesses.
About a dozen squad cars were damaged and some officers suffered minor injuries, including a broken wrist.
Former Minnesota county patrol officer now finds herself aiding protesters
Brittney Tyner, a former patrol officer in Hennepin County, remembers the moment she wished she could leave the building she was guarding —after demonstrations erupted in 2016 over the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark in north Minneapolis — and join the protesters.
“I wanted to walk off the line and stand with my people. ... These are my people; our community was hurting from unnecessary acts from law enforcement,” she said. “A lot of my duties were to protect government centers and buildings. And so I was standing there while being yelled at, but at the same time my heart was with them, but I knew I had to stand there because I had a job to do.”
Tyner entered law enforcement in 2011 with the hopes of one day becoming a police officer. She served as a patrol officer for Hennepin County for seven years and then in March 2018 became a correctional facility officer.
“I had switched over to working in a correctional facility because I thought I could make a difference there. I treated every human with respect. I was in charge of training new officers, and I remember pulling them aside and telling them people were here because they made a mistake and were paying their debt to society,” she said. “A lot of newer officers, they get it. But being in law enforcement, if you are not grounded in something you can turn very jaded because you are dealing with people at their worst.”
Still, Tyner couldn’t shrug off a feeling that kept nagging at her. Something didn’t feel right, she recalled.
“When I got to the Department of Corrections and realized this is how things work, I felt it was a complete failure of the system,” Tyner said.
When she witnessed her city erupt in protests over the deaths of Clark and Philando Castile, who was shot by a police officer in Falcon Heights, Minn., and yet nothing changed, to her it was a reflection of a system that favored white Americans over blacks and one in which institutionalized racism prevailed.
Police brutality against black people was continuing, she thought to herself.
“It was frustrating. It’s probably why I’m not a police officer today. I have always been one to care about my people and our community,” she recalled.
So six months ago, she left her job and started working in the home appliance industry.
“Since I’ve left, I have slept better and have been much happier,” she said.
Now, in light of George Floyd’s killing by a white police officer this week, the 33-year-old finds herself on what was once considered the opposing side: helping and aiding protesters.
But it hasn’t been easy, and Tyner has had difficulty processing Floyd’s death and subsequent protests that have erupted once again in her city.
It’s an all-too familiar feeling.
She tries to keep herself busy by focusing on the task at hand: collecting supplies, such as water, ear plugs and protective gear, for protesters and distributing them to protesters on the front lines.
“I personally haven’t had the chance to process everything yet. But still I’ve always been for my people and been the person to serve my community. My heart is with them,” she said.
“People are fed up, that’s what I want officers to understand. I think that there is racism in every industry and there is for sure racism within law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Whether that is an actual innate thing within individuals or a byproduct of having to deal with people at their worst, that I don’t know. But it’s definitely a thing and definitely there.”
La Mesa protesters break past police line, march onto Interstate 8
A defiant crowd of an estimated 1,000 protesters broke through a police line Saturday and marched onto Interstate 8 near San Diego in a loud and united call for police reform and racial justice.
The protesters had started in front of La Mesa Police Department, then took over traffic lanes of University Avenue before being stopped by California Highway Patrol officers on the freeway entrance at Baltimore Drive.
After a tense 15-minute standoff on a bridge, the protesters broke through the line about 3:30 p.m. Video footage from a news helicopter showed a brief shoving match between a few front-line protesters and officers before the crowd pushed past the police line.
The marchers continued eastbound on the freeway as the CHP tried to quickly stop traffic. Some marchers also stepped into oncoming westbound traffic, dodging slow-moving cars.
By 4 p.m., many protesters were walking back to their vehicles while some held their positions on the interstate, which was shut down in both directions.
The protest joins several others around the nation over the last few days as outrage continues to swell over the Memorial Day death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Many demonstrations have ended in violence, vandalism and arrests.
Denver mayor issues 8 p.m. curfew through weekend
DENVER — Blaming a small group of agitators for violence and vandalism, Denver’s mayor issued an 8 p.m. curfew on Saturday and called in the Colorado National Guard to help enforce it as hundreds of people protested the killing of George Floyd for the third day.
Floyd died Monday after a Minneapolis officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he pleaded for air and eventually stopped moving, leading to the protests there and cities across the U.S.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock decided to impose the curfew each night until Monday following a destructive wave of protests Friday night that followed more peaceful demonstrations earlier in the day. After dark, the state Capitol and other state and city buildings were vandalized. A Molotov cocktail was thrown at the McNichols Civic Center Building near Denver’s City Hall, he said. He pointed out that some of them belong to businesses that have struggled to survive during the coronavirus outbreak.
“What does this mindless destruction achieve?” Hancock asked.
The graffiti included Floyd’s name and “Black Lives Matter” but also anti-police messages including “Kill Cops!” At the top of the Capitol’s West Steps, graffiti on the windows above the three entrances read, “Stop Killing Us.”
Some protesters threw rocks, bottles and large fireworks at police officers, and police seized handguns, assault rifles and crowbars from protesters, Police Chief Paul Pazen said. He drew a comparison between the Minneapolis officers involved in Floyd’s death giving law enforcement a bad name with violent protesters who were interfering with the message of peaceful protesters.
Tay Anderson, an African American protest organizer and a Denver school board member, criticized people who claimed to be allies of their cause but threw rocks and bottles.
“If you’re coming to agitate, please do not put others in harm’s way with your actions,” Anderson wrote on Twitter. “The last two days we’ve had innocent people gassed and shot at. Yesterday Black folks in Denver explicitly asked NOT TO AGITATE, because it would be us that would get the blame.”
The fear of infiltration was on display at Saturday’s protest. Hashim Coates, a black member of the Colorado Democrats, and a white former Marine who had placed tape over his name on his uniform got into a heated discussion after Coates asked him why he would not identify himself. Before that, the unidentified man, who held a sign saying “The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost” told a reporter during an interview that he did not want to be identified because he worked for the federal government. Coates, who wore a face mask that said “I am not a robber,” later said he was concerned about white supremacists trying to undermine the protests.
But the daytime protest was peaceful, even upbeat at times.
The crowd gathered on the lawn in front of the state Capitol and people across the street roared when the driver of a trash truck honked his horn repeatedly. Soon after, a woman in a Mercedes SUV with George Floyd’s name written on its windows drove by, and then a cyclist hauling two dogs on a trailer with another on his bike pumped up the crowd by blasting Michael Jackson. Later, people on both sides got down on the ground and lay on their stomachs with their hands behind their backs and for several minutes chanted, “I can’t breathe” — Floyd’s plea in the moments before he died.
Crowds begin to thin around the Fairfax area
By 4:30 p.m. some protesters could be seen heading away from the mass of people gathered at Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street.
With the crowd thinning, it was easier to spot the destruction of property in this popular commercial neighborhood. Protesters spray-painted “Cops and Klan go hand and hand” along on the side of a Citibank at Fairfax. Across the street, “Eat the Rich” was scrawled on the Writers Guild of America building.
People climbed up on the roof of the Farmers Market’s Starbucks Coffee, while nearby protesters held signs that read, “Abolish Cops.” The Grove appeared to be untouched, and some people walked through the outdoor mall as they headed away from the crowd.
A woman who gave her name as Tof came upon the protest after doing some shopping in the neighborhood. Looking down the street, she said peaceful protests hadn’t worked in the past.
“There’s no wrong way to protest,” she said. “We would never do this if they weren’t killing us.”
Garcetti announces curfew at 8 p.m. for downtown Los Angeles
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Saturday issued a curfew in downtown Los Angeles between 8 p.m. tonight and 5:30 a.m. tomorrow, saying the measure is necessary to clean up damage from yesterday and restore order after days of protests that at times have escalated into looting and arson.
Smoke and loud bangs around the Grove
Tar-black smoke filled the sky near 3rd Street and Edinburgh Avenue, and several witnesses said protesters had set a car on fire. Amid the chaos, some protesters ducked into stores on 3rd Street in this commercial district. Francesca Maldonado, 29, said she saw officers pointing thin green-colored rifles at the crowd, prompting protesters to run.
Ohio National Guard called to Columbus to enforce law amid protests
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The governor of Ohio is calling out the National Guard and asking the highway patrol to help enforce law in Columbus as the mayors of the state capital and Cleveland both announced 10 p.m. curfews following damage to businesses amid protests over the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd.
Gov. Mike DeWine said Saturday that the vast majority of protesters want “simply to be heard” and focus attention on the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer pressed a knee into his neck.
But the governor adds that sadly the calls for justice and change are “being drowned out by a smaller group of violent individuals.” He says that “acts of violence cannot, and will not, be tolerated.”
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther says he believes racism “is a public health and safety crisis” and he wants to see a more equitable city, but “we are now at a point that we can no longer tell who is protesting for change and an end to racism and who has only chaos and destruction in mind.”
Ginther says more than 100 public and private properties in Columbus had been damaged and at least 10 robbed of goods. He says five police officers were injured by thrown bricks or rocks and police vehicles have been set afire.
With protests near Beverly Hills, police urge residents to stay home
Trump says memory of George Floyd being dishonored by ‘rioters, looters and anarchists’
In Florida to watch the historic first crewed space launch by a private company, President Trump on Saturday cast the protests sweeping the nation as the work of radical leftists.
Before giving remarks about the SpaceX launch of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, Trump said the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis was a “grave tragedy” that “should never have happened.”
Trump said he has spoken to Floyd’s family and “expressed the sorrow of our entire nation for their loss.”
He said civil unrest, which is sweeping through cities across the country, should not lead to violence or the destruction of property.
“The memory of George Floyd is being dishonored by rioters, looters and anarchists,” he said during the speech. “I will not allow angry mobs to dominate. Won’t happen.
“The violence and vandalism is being led by antifa and other radical left wing groups who are terrorizing the innocent, destroying jobs, hurting businesses and burning down buildings.”
California Gov. Newsom tells ‘violent actors’ in protests: ‘You are not welcome’
As protests began flaring up again Saturday in cities across California, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged the state to unite against racism and warned violent instigators to stay away.
Here is his statement:
“Over the last few days, we have seen millions of people lift their voices in anger, rightfully outraged at how systemic racism is allowed to persist. Every single day, people of color are disadvantaged and discriminated against. Black and Latino men in particular face mortal danger all across this country simply because of their race. Every person who has raised their voice should be heard.“
“I want to thank all those who helped protect human life last night and today – from community members who exercised their right to protest peacefully and encouraged others to do the same, to the law enforcement officers who faced what were, at times, challenging conditions.”
“In California and across the country, there are indications that violent actors may be attempting to use these protests for their own agendas. We are closely monitoring organizing by violent extremist organizations ahead of tonight. To those who seek to exploit Californians’ pain to sow chaos and destruction, you are not welcome. Our state and nation must build from this moment united and more resolved than ever to address racism and its root causes.”
Trump addresses protests in speech at Kennedy Space Center
Boston mayor hosts prayer vigil for George Floyd
The mayor of Boston hosted a prayer vigil with clergy and the city’s police commissioner to honor the memory of George Floyd.
Protests, some turning violent, erupted in cities around the country Friday and Saturday over Floyd’s death in Minneapolis while handcuffed and in police custody. The officer was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh says the prayer vigil, streamed live on the Boston government website, was to honor Floyd.
Walsh says, “If there‘s ever a moment to acknowledge injustice and re-commit our nation to eradicating it, it’s right now ... This is our moment in time to change as a nation.”
Cities announce curfews as protests continue
Curfews have been announced in Cincinnati, Louisville, Ky., Milwaukee and other cities as protests escalate and are expected to continue across the U.S. in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who was killed in Minneapolis by a white officer while in police custody.
After protests erupted in Cincinnati, Mayor John Cranley announced a curfew that will last for two nights beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and ending at 6 a.m. the next day.
In Louisville, Mayor Greg Fischer said a curfew will be implemented from 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. after protests there devolved into chaos. And in Milwaukee, a 9 p.m. curfew will also go into effect.
Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, Ore., declared a state of emergency after businesses in the area were damaged following protests Friday.
He also imposed a curfew that will begin Saturday at 8 p.m. and last until Sunday at 6 a.m.
“I cannot condone last night’s violence. I can’t stand by and watch our city be destroyed, buildings set aflame. But nor will I stand silent as men like George Floyd are murdered by the very institutions that are supposed to protect and serve them,” Wheeler said Saturday at a news conference. “Institutions fail and deny [black people] their basic rights.”
The governor of Ohio is calling out the Ohio National Guard and also asking the highway patrol to help enforce laws in Columbus as the mayors of the state capital and Cleveland both announce 10 p.m. curfews following damage to businesses.
Gov. Mike DeWine said Saturday that the vast majority of protesters want “simply to be heard” and focus attention on the death of Floyd.
But the governor adds that sadly the calls for justice and change are “being drowned out by a smaller group of violent individuals.” He says that “acts of violence cannot, and will not, be tolerated.”
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther says he believes racism “is a public health and safety crisis” and he wants to see a more equitable city, but “we are now at a point that we can no longer tell who is protesting for change and an end to racism and who has only chaos and destruction in mind.”
Officials in Ohio and Illinois call out Trump’s response to protests
In the wake of George Floyd’s death, officials in states across the U.S., including Ohio and Illinois, are speaking out against President Trump’s response to protests and what many say is long-standing systemic and institutionalized racism in the country.
In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine said that the public has a responsibility to do more to prevent another similar tragedy, which he described as an “injustice.”
“We also have the obligation to do everything we can as a society when there is one who is not doing that, one who might be a racist, who might have other challenges, to make sure that they stop being a police officer,” DeWine, a Republican, said Friday.
When asked whether structural racism was one of the main factors that has led to the deaths of unarmed black people being killed while in police custody, DeWine said: “Whenever we find barriers, we have to knock those barriers down. Some of those barriers may have to do with racism, some of those barriers may not have to do with racism, but you got to knock them down anyway.”
Meanwhile, in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker accused Trump of stoking racism.
“Well, I have a lot, I’d like to say, but let me begin by saying that from the very moment that I announced my decision to run for governor, three-plus years ago, I said that this president was a racist, a misogynist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, and I was right then and I’m right now,” said Pritzker, a Democrat. “His tweets, his reaction, his failure to address the racism that exists in America, his stoking the flames in sometimes subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways is completely unacceptable. It’s reprehensible, in fact, and I’m, I’m, you know, I’m outraged by what he does in response to these situations.”
Former President Obama also released a statement this week in which he said he shares in the “anguish” of many Americans. “But we have to remember that for millions of Americans, being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly ‘normal’ — whether it’s while dealing with the health care system, or interacting with the criminal justice system, or jogging down the street, or just watching birds in a park,” his statement said. “This shouldn’t be ‘normal’ in 2020 America. It can’t be ‘normal.’ If we want our children to grow up in a nation that lives up to its highest ideals, we can and must be better.”
Officials call for public safety reinforcements at protests across the U.S.
As protests across cities in the U.S. escalate, public officials are calling for more local law enforcement help.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has enlisted the help of more than 1,500 officers to help police departments in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin. And in Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers called upon the state National Guard to help local law enforcement in Milwaukee.
The additional resources come as tensions over race relations and police brutality continue to mount in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died this week while in the custody of white Minneapolis police officers.
About 125 National Guard members will be deployed to Milwaukee and a curfew will go into effect at 9 p.m. in the city. Evers and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett issued a joint statement Saturday that said: “It is critical that people are able to peacefully express their anger and frustration about systemic racism and injustice, in Milwaukee, the State of Wisconsin, and our Nation. This limited authorization of citizen soldiers from the Wisconsin National Guard will help protect people who are exercising their First Amendment rights and ensure the safety of the public.”
Meanwhile, in Texas, Abbott called on protesters to remain peaceful: “As Texans exercise their First Amendment rights, it is imperative that order is maintained and private property is protected,” Abbott said in a statement Saturday.
Disruptive protests can be effective, expert says
The images from the protests that have swept cities across the nation, including Los Angeles and Minneapolis, can be alarming: windows smashed, businesses looted, cars set ablaze and smoldering.
Many people are questioning the effectiveness of these acts and whether vandalism and destruction of property can actually lead to progressive social change.
Some experts and political scientists say yes.
“There is a common misconception that any kind of disruptive political action only works if it wins the sympathy of bystanders. But disruptive protests can be politically effective by compelling people who prefer not to pay attention to finally pay attention,” said Clarissa Rile Hayward, a political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
“It jars onlookers out of their perceptual habits. It commands the attention, not just of people who directly experience the negative effects of structural power, but also of people — like the average white American — whose interests structural power serves.”
Hayward points to protests that took place in the 1960s during the civil rights movement and in 2014 when protests erupted after Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, was killed outside an apartment complex in Ferguson, Mo.
Her research has found that issues related to race relations were put on the political agenda after such disruptive protests and that even presidential candidates started talking about those issues more.
“That’s why I think you can have effective disruptive protests even if people don’t feel sympathetic towards them,” she said.
“I think it’s important for people to distinguish that destruction of property from loss of life. We can rebuild buildings but not bring people back to life. These disruptive political actions put on the agenda the systemic problem of violence against black men and women. We should be focused on the problem and not focused on the loss of property.”
One killed in Detroit during George Floyd protests
One person was killed in downtown Detroit after someone fired shots into a vehicle during a protest over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody, a Detroit police spokeswoman said Saturday.
The shooting occurred about 11:30 p.m. Friday near Detroit’s Greektown entertainment district as officers were confronted with dozens of protesters, said Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood, a police spokeswoman. She said an officer wasn’t involved in the shooting.
A police report released Saturday said the shooting victim, a 21-year-old man, was sitting in the driver’s seat of a silver Dodge Caliber in a parking lot with two other male occupants when an unknown person fired shots into the vehicle and then ran off.
Police earlier said that based on preliminary information, the assailant had pulled up in a Dodge Durango and fired shots into a crowd.
Kirkwood said that the victim was pronounced dead at a hospital and that police were still investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Police made more than 60 arrests during Friday’s protest. The majority of those arrested live in Detroit’s suburbs, not the city itself, Kirkwood said.
“We know that the individuals from outside the city of Detroit who converged at the protest location don’t represent this city,” Police Chief James Craig told reporters Friday evening.
The demonstration began earlier in the day and was peaceful as protesters marched by Detroit police headquarters. As evening wore on, some in the crowd became belligerent and a police commander was struck with a rock Friday evening and hospitalized.
Officers, many in riot gear, confronted the demonstrators and formed lines across streets during the demonstration, but by midnight, the crowd had thinned considerably as police shot canisters of gas toward the protesters.
Cincinnati mayor imposes weekend curfew after ‘violent and destructive’ behavior Friday night
The mayor of Cincinnati has announced a 10 p.m. curfew Saturday and Sunday in areas of the city following damage to businesses during protests over the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer pressed a knee into his neck.
Mayor John Cranley said hundreds of people had demonstrated peacefully with no major issues before 11 p.m., but those who engaged in criminal activity “were not part of the protest.” Eleven people were arrested and more arrests will come as suspects are identified, he said.
Cranley said the businesses targeted were just “trying to earn a living, and be active and productive members of our community.” The curfew in the downtown and Over-the-Rhine areas will allow police to clear the streets and more easily arrest the few who might commit criminal acts, he said.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that, as many protesters began to disperse Friday night, other groups began to break windows and steal from stores. Some windows at the county justice center were broken and some restaurants and shops were broken into. About 50 businesses reported damage, officials said.
Chief Eliot Isaac of the city Police Department said 200 to 250 people earlier had gathered and marched, at one point going onto Interstate 75, which was shut down for 20 minutes. “I understood their anger; definitely share that same anger with them,” he said.
Later, however, some turned to “violent and destructive” behavior in the downtown and Over-the-Rhine areas, damaging and stealing from businesses and throwing rocks and bottles at police, who deployed pepper-ball irritants and gas, Isaac said. Two officers sustained minor injuries, he said.
“I believe that everyone in that crowd last night was not from Cincinnati,” Isaac said. “This lawless behavior cannot continue. ... We will not allow it.”
The Enquirer said it was the most significant unrest in the city since protests and violence following the 2001 police shooting of an unarmed black man in Over-the-Rhine, which led to days of unrest, a federal investigation and changes in the Police Department.
Floyd, unarmed and handcuffed, died Monday after the officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleaded for air.
Protesters angry over long-simmering racial tensions: ‘This is the moment’
Shamell Bell, an original member of Black Lives Matter and now a professor of African American studies at Dartmouth College, said in recent weeks her students have mobilized and become full-time activists and organizers in light of George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis and the subsequent protests that have taken hold in that city and others across the country, including Los Angeles.
“The coronavirus has helped us go inward, and what is great about this is that we have been given the opportunity to reset, and that’s what you see,” Bell said.
Bell, 35, said the protests and destruction of property are reflective of the growing disillusionment the younger generation has about race and police brutality in the United States. She added that in recent months, when white supremacist groups emerged in rallies across the U.S., in some cases armed, to protest against stay-at-home orders, people of color have taken notice.
“The catalyst was the coronavirus,” she said. “We’ve been prodded by a race war. This is the moment.”
But tensions, she added, have been simmering for a while.
“My son grew up in the Black Lives Matter movement, and when he was 5 he asked me, ‘Mommy, are you going to get shot by the police or government?’” she recalled her now 9-year-old son asking.
“I cried. I had no answer but tears. I didn’t know if I had to be a martyr for the movement. I don’t understand how people don’t get angry when people die, but they do when properties burn.”
U.S. mayors fire back at Trump on Twitter
President Trump is facing growing backlash from mayors in cities across the U.S. for his response to protests that have erupted in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.
“Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis will never be mistaken for the late, great General Douglas McArthur or great fighter General George Patton. How come all of these places that defend so poorly are run by Liberal Democrats? Get tough and fight (and arrest the bad ones). STRENGTH!” Trump tweeted Saturday.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser shot back at Trump on Twitter:
During a news conference Friday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded to Trump’s tweet earlier in the week that suggested he would send U.S. troops to Minneapolis to shoot “thugs” who were on the streets demonstrating, by calling the tweet “profoundly dangerous.”
“We see the game he’s playing because it’s so transparent, and he’s not very good at it,” Lightfoot said. “He wants to show failures on the part of Democratic local leaders. … His goal is to polarize, to destabilize local government and to inflame racist urges. And we can absolutely not let him prevail.”
And during a post-midnight briefing early Friday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey became visibly upset as a reporter read aloud tweets Trump had written that called him a “very weak Radical Left Mayor,” who needed to “get his act together and bring the city under control.”
“Donald Trump knows nothing about the strength of Minneapolis,” Frey said, adding: “We are going to get through this. ... Weakness is refusing to take responsibility for your own actions. Weakness is about pointing your finger at somebody else during a time of crisis.”
Trump’s tweets criticize protesters reacting to death of George Floyd
President Trump on Saturday taunted demonstrators who gathered around the White House on Friday night to protest his response to the killing of an unarmed black man by a police officer in Minneapolis, and appeared to encourage his own supporters to gather tonight at the executive mansion.
In a series of tweets criticized for escalating tensions and potentially sparking violence, Trump dismissed the protesters as “professionally managed” and praised the U.S. Secret Service’s response, saying agents and officers handled the situation with restraint.
When protesters “got too frisky or out of line, [agents] would quickly come down on them, hard — didn’t know what hit them. The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic. Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence.”
Cleanup underway after night of violence in Atlanta
National Guard members lined sidewalks in downtown Atlanta early Saturday as crews cleaned up glass and debris left behind after violence broke out during a protest over the death in Minnesota of George Floyd.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency early Saturday and tweeted that up to 500 members of the Guard would deploy immediately “to protect people & property in Atlanta.” He said he acted at the request of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who had earlier appealed in vain for calm.
A large electronic billboard with a red background and the city’s seal on Saturday morning still carried the message, “If you love Atlanta PLEASE GO HOME,” echoing the mayor’s pleas.
National Guard members blocked anyone from approaching heavily damaged buildings, including the College Football Hall of Fame and nearby restaurants. Shattered glass covered the sidewalk and spray-painted messages covered many surfaces.
Street-cleaning crews and volunteers cleaned up debris as curious residents surveyed the aftermath, taking photos and shooting video. Spray-painted tags on the logo sign at CNN Center in downtown Atlanta had already vanished.
As protesters set fires and broke windows, officers issued disbursement orders and used tear gas to try to stop them, according to posts on the Atlanta Police Department Facebook page. Protesters shot at officers and threw bricks, bottles, rocks and knives, police said.
At least four officers were injured and arrests were made, according to the Facebook posts, but police spokesman Carlos Campos said in an email early Saturday that it would take some time to gather information and put out exact numbers.
On Saturday morning, damage to businesses and some apartment buildings could be seen along intermittent sections of Peachtree Road in Buckhead, an upscale neighborhood north of downtown Atlanta where large groups moved late Friday night after demonstrations downtown splintered.
Windows were shattered at a CVS pharmacy and a Dick’s Sporting Goods store across the street from Phipps Plaza, a luxury shopping mall where plywood boards were nailed over entrances and a Servpro disaster recovery team worked.
Just up the road there was visible damage to Del Frisco’s Grille, where the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department said firefighters extinguished a blaze just before 1 a.m.
Several high-end jewelry stores up and down Peachtree sustained damage, with smashed windows and storefronts boarded. The front door of a Dior designer clothing store was broken and displays inside were toppled.
Several people in ordinary street clothes, many wearing face masks and some accompanied by children, were outside buildings and stores sweeping up glass and picking up other trash left behind.
Minnesota’s entire National Guard called out for first time since World War II
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota officials called out the state’s entire National Guard on Saturday for the first time since World War II to defend the Twin Cities against an onslaught of looting and violence that escalated this week following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.
Some of the state’s 13,200 National Guard troops were still training, officials said, but more than 2,400 were expected to hit the streets Saturday night to prevent further destruction.
Hundreds of National Guard forces did little to quell unrest overnight as crowds ignored an 8 p.m. curfew and swarmed streets and the interstate, surrounded a police precinct, broke windows and looted businesses amid random gunfire. Residents on Saturday emerged to survey the damage, some roaming smoky neighborhoods with brooms as volunteer cleanup crews.
At a morning briefing, Gov. Tim Walz — an Army National Guard veteran — and city officials sought to distinguish between civil rights protesters angered by Floyd’s death and the suspects responsible for looting, fires and vandalism.
Trump says White House protesters ‘just there to cause trouble’
Video: Looting and vandalism mark night of protests in L.A.
L.A. protests lead to one of largest mass arrests by police in years
Los Angeles police arrested more than 500 people after protests against police brutality led to a night and morning of vandalism and looting on the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
The LAPD spent much of Friday night and Saturday morning trying to clear the streets as people smashed windows, stole items from stores, clashed with police and set items on fire, including at least two LAPD vehicles.
Authorities said they had to make so many arrests because those on the street refused repeated orders to leave, including an unlawful-assembly order for all of downtown issued at 9:30 p.m. Friday.
At least four Los Angeles police officers were hurt, some after being hit by debris. Numerous stores were vandalized and looted but officials could not give an immediate count.
It marks one of the largest mass arrests by the LAPD in several years. In 2011, police arrested about 300 people when officers cleared out the Occupy L.A. camp at City Hall.
Trump thanks Secret Service for keeping White House safe during protests
President Trump on Saturday thanked the Secret Service for keeping the White House safe from protesters who clashed outside with police.
“Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService. They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe,” Trump tweeted.
He added: “They let the ‘protesters’ scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard — didn’t know what hit them. The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic. Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence.”
Trump also directed blame at Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, who he said refused to let city police get involved.
Protesters outside the White House were reported to have thrown bottles and bricks before being dispersed early Saturday.
At least one person hurt in Bakersfield after car plows into crowd of protesters, witnesses say
BAKERSFIELD — A protest in downtown Bakersfield on Friday night turned tense when a car drove through a crowd, injuring at least one person, witnesses said. Police later dispersed the protesters.
About 500 demonstrators gathered downtown about 4:30 p.m. Friday, chanting, “Black lives matter,” “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “I can’t breathe” — the last words of George Floyd, a black man who died while a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground with his knee.
Bakersfield native Marion Deloth said he joined the protest because he’s spent his entire life fighting racism and injustice. His father was one of the original delegates of the United Farm Workers, he said.
“I was born in the ’50s and have seen racism and injustice my whole life,” Deloth said. “Until black, white, Hispanics come together, nothing is going to change.”
The protest took a violent turn after a vehicle reportedly ran into a group of people at the corner of Truxtun Avenue and Eye Street. According to eyewitness accounts, the vehicle started honking, but not in support of the protesters.
“I guess he wasn’t with us,” said Priscilla Carballo, 19, a resident of southwest Bakersfield.
Carballo said the car accelerated and then turned around and came back before protesters began hitting it with water bottles, said 17-year-old Alex Olea.
He said an ambulance arrived about 15 minutes later to tend to at least one person who got hit on the initial pass.
Police could not be reached to confirm the incident.
At 8:40 p.m., a SWAT vehicle and about six police patrol cars arrived in front of department headquarters with sirens blaring.
Officers ruled it an unlawful assembly and threatened to arrest those protesting. Officers lined Truxtun Avenue about 50 feet from the demonstrators, who raised their arms in protest.
Just before 9 p.m., officers began moving eastward and the protesters retreated.
More than 30 people arrested in Las Vegas protest
LAS VEGAS — At least 31 people were arrested during a Las Vegas Strip protest over the death of George Floyd that erupted into sporadic clashes with police beneath neon casino marquees.
There were no immediate reports of injuries to the hundreds of protesters or property damage in nearby resorts or stores. Two police officers were injured, including one hospitalized with a wrist injury, and one police vehicle was vandalized by graffiti, said Officer Larry Hadfield, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesman.
Police Capt. Dori Koren told reporters while arrests were being made that his department and its elected head, Sheriff Joe Lombardo, wanted to balance rights to protest with efforts to keep people safe amid demonstrations in several in U.S. cities.
“We made it as easy as possible for people to just disperse or go home,” Koren said. “These are individuals that intentionally wanted to either commit violence or intentionally were breaking the law.”
More than 400 demonstrators — racially diverse and predominantly young adults — answered social media calls for action in memory of Floyd, 46, a black man who died Monday after pleading for air for several minutes with a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on his neck.
In an unusual move, U.S. embassies in Africa speak out on the death of George Floyd
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — As protests rock the U.S., some American embassies in Africa have taken the unusual step of issuing critical statements on the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, saying that no one is above the law.
The statements came as the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, condemned what he called the murder of Floyd, a black man, and said Friday that the continental body rejects the “continuing discriminatory practices against black citizens of the USA.”
Africa has not seen the kind of protests over Floyd’s killing that have erupted across the United States, but many Africans have expressed disgust and dismay, openly wondering when the U.S. will ever deal with systemic racism.
“‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’?” tweeted political cartoonist Patrick Gathara in Kenya, which has its own troubles with police brutality. He, like many, was aghast at the tweet by President Trump, flagged by Twitter as violating rules against “glorifying violence.” The president later said it had been misconstrued.
Mindful of America’s image on a continent where China’s influence has grown and where many have felt a distinct lack of interest from the Trump administration in Africa, some U.S. diplomats have tried to control the damage.
The U.S. ambassador to Congo, Mike Hammer, highlighted a tweet from a local media entrepreneur who addressed him, saying: “Dear ambassador, your country is shameful. Proud America, which went through everything from segregation to the election of Barack Obama, still hasn’t conquered the demons of racism. How many black people must be killed by white police officers before authorities react seriously?”
The ambassador’s response in French: “I am profoundly troubled by the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Justice Department is conducting a full criminal investigation as a top priority. Security forces around the world should be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
Similar statements were tweeted by the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Uganda, while the embassies in Tanzania and Kenya tweeted a joint statement from the Department of Justice office in Minnesota on the investigation.
‘I’m just a business owner trying to survive’
At 10:30 p.m. Friday, 19-year-old Alexa Huizar was working inside D-town Burger Bar in Los Angeles when she heard windows being smashed. Huizar stepped outside and saw a crowd of people at the corner of 6th and Spring streets, breaking into a Starbucks.
“It was crazy,” she said.
Huizar immediately texted a video of the break-in to her boss, Pedro Mojarro, 32, who rushed over to downtown L.A. from his home in South Gate.
He decided to stand outside his business and plead with protesters not to damage his business. He said he supported the demonstrators but was upset that they were targeting businesses like his.
“We’re with you — I’m not against you,” he said. “If you need to protest, go do it in front of the police station. Be angry at them.”
Mojarro said he was mostly upset that the demonstrators didn’t take into consideration how difficult it has been for businesses like his. He said he had to shut down his second business in Boyle Heights because of the coronavirus outbreak. A month ago, someone broke the window of the burger restaurant in downtown L.A., which ended up costing him $7,500.
On top of that, sales at his restaurant were down by more than 70%. “Give us a break,” he said.
At 2 a.m. Saturday, Mojarro and Huizar were still standing outside the restaurant, taking video as protesters ran up and down the street, smashing things.
Asked what he wanted demonstrators to know, Mojarro said: “I’m just a business owner trying to survive.”
Police in Kentucky apologize for targeting news crew at protest
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A police officer was seen on camera firing what appeared to be pepper balls at a news crew during a live television broadcast of the second night of protests in Louisville, prompting an apology from the city’s police department.
The incident came on the heels of the on-air arrest in Minneapolis of a CNN news crew that was reporting on the protests over the death of George Floyd. The handcuffing and arrest of the journalists drew an apology from Minnesota’s governor.
A crew from WAVE-TV was in downtown Louisville on Friday night, covering demonstrations over the death of Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by police in her own home in March. Officers in riot gear stood shoulder to shoulder moving people down a key street near City Hall, the Courier Journal reported.
As WAVE-TV was on air, reporter Kaitlin Rust is heard yelling off-camera: “I’ve been shot! I’ve been shot!” Video shows a police officer aiming directly at the camera crew, as Rust describes the projectiles as “pepper bullets.”
“I want to apologize,” Louisville police spokeswoman Jessie Halladay told the Courier Journal. “It’s not something that should have occurred if she was singled out as a reporter.”
Halladay said she couldn’t tell who the officer was at this time, but that police would review the video again and “if we need to do any investigation for discipline, we will do that.”
The video shows Rust and the camera crew moving away as indignant in-studio anchors ask if they’re OK and what’s going on. Rust tells them they’re OK, and that the crew was behind the line, but police wanted them to move farther away.
Protesters break into Portland police HQ, light fire
PORTLAND, Ore. — Protesters broke into police headquarters Friday night and authorities said a fire was lit inside as a rally over the death of George Floyd turned violent.
Blazes continued to burn early Saturday morning in multiple locations in downtown Portland, including a building that housed a bank.
Police via Twitter labeled the event a riot before midnight and closed several streets. They said two people had been arrested in connection with the overnight disturbance and another person was arrested Friday afternoon.
Portland police said at least one shooting was tied to the protest, although details weren’t immediately released. A fire built from cardboard boxes and other items burned in the middle of a street downtown and video appeared to show dozens of people breaking into Pioneer Place mall and taking bags from a Louis Vuitton store. Police said they deployed gas after people threw projectiles at them. Firefighters were responding to the fires, police said.
Earlier, thousands of people filled Peninsula Park in North Portland for a peaceful evening vigil that lasted three hours, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Hundreds then began marching through downtown to Portland police headquarters outside the Multnomah County Justice Center. There was scattered vandalism along the route.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler tweeted a plea to protesters to remain peaceful and said at about 11:50 p.m. that, although he had left Portland to attend to his dying mother, he was heading back to the city.
“I am with family to prepare for her final moments. This is hard, this is personal, but so is watching my city get destroyed. I’m coming back NOW,” he said, adding that police and community leaders would be hearing from him.
“Portland, this is not us,” he wrote earlier on Twitter. “When you destroy our city, you are destroying our community. When you act in violence against each other, you are hurting all of us. How does this honor the legacy of George Floyd?”
Protest in Sacramento briefly halts traffic on Highway 99
A largely peaceful protest in Sacramento against police brutality briefly disintegrated into chaos early Saturday after a group of demonstrators hurled water bottles, trash and other objects at police officers and halted traffic on Highway 99.
During a tense standoff on the Highway 99 overpass on 12th Avenue, about 75 protesters surrounded a group of police officers, forcing the police to retreat westward toward a gas station on Franklin Boulevard. The officers knocked several protesters over, and someone threw a plastic planter at the officers.
The police fired a pepper ball into the crowd at one point, and authorities ordered the demonstrators to disperse. California Highway Patrol officers, stationed on the freeway ramps, also fired several flash-bang grenades to end the gathering. A protester said he was hit with a pepper ball fired by law enforcement.
Within a half hour, tempers cooled and most of the protesters had left the vicinity. No arrests were immediately reported.
The protesters were the remnant of a group of 500 who staged a noisy but peaceful protest Friday night in front of a police substation to demonstrate against the police-custody death in Minneapolis of George Floyd.
The two-hour Sacramento protest at the Joseph E. Rooney police annex on Franklin Boulevard was peaceful but tense as the demonstrators chanted slogans and taunted several dozen helmeted officers blocking the building’s main entrance.
Fireworks go off in downtown L.A.
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Owners protecting stores from looters in downtown L.A.
A night of vandalism, looting and despair in downtown L.A.: ‘This is all depressing’
In the heart of downtown Los Angeles’ loft district, which before the coronavirus bustled with restaurants and other shops, the scene was chaotic and surreal at midnight.
Hours after what began in downtown as a peaceful protest of the killing of George Floyd, the situation took a dark turn. Los Angeles police repeatedly clashed with protesters as they tried to push them south from City Hall.
Then some people in the crowd began vandalizing buildings and looting some businesses. One man threw a scooter into a plate-glass window of a business.
Some jewelry stores were looted, and one person handed a handful of jewels to a reporter on the street. Jewelry display cases lay nearby.
Mayhem rules the streets of Minneapolis as officials plead for calm
As fires raged and mayhem ruled the streets of Minneapolis Saturday morning, the governor pleaded for calm, promising to deploy more than 1,700 National Guard forces and even considering President Trump’s offer to send in active duty troops.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appeared visibly shaken and frustrated during an early-morning briefing where he warned that opportunists – potentially including cartels and white supremacists - were taking advantage of protests over the death of George Floyd Monday at the hands of Minneapolis police to wreak havoc in the Twin Cities.
More than 500 National Guard troops fanned out across the city alongside hundreds of state troopers and police – but were still outnumbered by unruly crowds who defied an 8 p.m. curfew.
These deployment levels are reaching the levels of when we deploy overseas,” Walz said.
“This is the largest concentration of law enforcement in the history of Minnesota and it is not enough.” Walz called the riots an “unprecedented threat to our state” by those “out to cause as much damage as they can” by blending with protesters. During the briefing, officials said they had responded to multiple groups of several thousand in a handful of areas.
“Our goal is to do everything we can to start to restore order,” Walz said. “There’s simply more of them than us.” He called Trump’s decision to place troops at the ready to deploy to Minneapolis “prudent” and said they were “talking about it.”
“If this ends with a massive [military] presence and a conflict with folks who are looking for that, that is not bringing back order,” Walz cautioned.
On Lake Street early Saturday, masked looters raided convenience stores that were then set afire as gunfire sounded and onlookers cheered. Earlier, looters had swarmed stores around the Fifth Precinct police station, spraying graffiti, tossing fireworks and bashing windows before raiding a Subway, Office Depot and other stores.
At least 50 people were charged overnight as officers initiated mass arrests, Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said at the briefing, noting that, “the level of resistance we have seen tonight has increased exponentially: We have had officers shot at, we have had what looks to be improvised munitions targeted at the officers. We have had officers injured” – though none seriously.
He said authorities were preparing for the largest crowd yet late Saturday, “what is now looking to be an international event.”
“We will not give up our efforts to clear the streets,” he said. “We are committed to maintaining order.”
Crowds still gathering in downtown L.A.
Protesters still clashing with police outside White House
Protesters enter closed downtown CVS pharmacy
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Police cars hit with debris in downtown L.A.
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Watch Atlanta’s mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms passionate speech to protesters
Starbucks at 6th and Spring St. in downtown L.A. looted
Portland’s Justice Center has been set on fire by protesters
Protests continue late into the night in Atlanta
After midnight, protesters in Atlanta hurled bricks at police cruisers and SUVs that drove along Peachtree Street and smashed the windows of the W Hotel, a SunTrust Bank, a Verizon store and the Cyan apartments.
The four-lane street lined with sleek luxury apartments, hotels and restaurants was strewn with glass and rubble and the humid air reeked of burnt rubber and weed.
Outside Maggiano’s Italian restaurant, metal bistro chairs and tables were tossed on to the southbound lanes of the street.
“This is crazy,” Sydney Durham, 32, a cleaning business owner and local resident, shouted into her cellphone as she walked to meet a friend at the W Hotel. Her Uber had to stop two blocks away because the street was blocked.
“Go to City Hall!,” she said as a gaggle of protesters walked by, some holding leather totes stuffed with bottles of liquor. “Why you got to bust stuff up where people live? This is not going to solve anything!”
Outside the W, Durham stood on the steps and looked back at the damage.
“It makes us look bad,” she said softly. “It’s not peaceful.”
A few blocks north, protesters parked cars on Lenox Road, and the scene became a surreal, lurching street party as protesters lolled on top of SUVs and stuck their heads out of sedans and cruisers blasting out drum and bass and hip-hop.
Outside a strip mall, a gaggle of men danced and swayed their arms as a fire burned inside a Sleep Number mattress store. Officers in shields and helmets slowly inched forward, firing tear gas and pellet guns into the crowd.
And so it went on.
TV reporter tackled during live shot in Phoenix
CVS at 8th and Grand St. in downtown L.A. being looted
Police: One dead after shots fired at protesters in Detroit
One person was killed in downtown Detroit after someone in an SUV fired shots into a crowd of people protesting George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis custody, a Detroit police spokeswoman said Saturday.
The shooting occurred about 11:30 p.m. Friday near Detroit’s Greektown entertainment district as officers were confronted with dozens of protesters, said Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood, a police department spokeswoman. She said an officer wasn’t involved in the shooting.
Kirkwood said the victim was a 19-year-old man, who was pronounced dead at the hospital. The suspect pulled up in a Dodge Durango and fired shots into the crowd, she said.
No details about the victim or the person who fired the shot or shots were immediately available, Kirkwood said.
A white former Minneapolis officer was charged with murder Friday in the death of Floyd, a black man who was handcuffed and pleaded for air as the officer pressed his knee on his neck for several minutes during the arrest.
Earlier in the evening a Detroit police commander was struck with a rock and hospitalized.
Officers, many in riot gear, confronted the protesters and formed lines across streets.
Dozens of arrests were made and that police say many were not Detroit residents, WJBK-TV reported.
By midnight, the crowd had thinned considerably as police shot canisters of gas toward the protesters.
Frustration over lack of response to protect businesses in Minneapolis
Santiago Guachamin of Minneapolis works for the Minnesota National Guard as a technician but was not among those deployed to respond to the protests.
Instead, he was out guarding his family auto repair shop and sales lot on Lake Street against roaming looters overnight Saturday, as he has for the past three nights. Guachamin, 34, said he was one of the few neighbors who was armed.
“The government of Minnesota abandoned us,” he said just before a passer by destroyed a glass bus kiosk with a hammer.
Guachamin’s family immigrated to the Twin Cities 15 years ago from Ecuador, he learned English and they saved to buy their business. He supported those protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, but condemned local and state officials for not acting sooner to keep the streets and businesses safe.
“This is everything we have and they’re telling us to just walk away? This is not right,” he said. “This is my Minnesota – not theirs.”Guachamin stood consoling his 65 year-old mother who despaired in Spanish as she watched a nearby gas station burn. Firefighters attempted to approach the building several times, but were repelled by rioters, he said.
Several fire trucks eventually made their way to the scene around midnight, followed by a dozen National Guard Humvees. Troops quickly blocked the street.Guachamin wiped away tears. He recognized the military police unit.
“They’re going to set up a perimeter,” he predicted, and they did.Later, as fires, fireworks, joyriding and looting continued nearby, he learned of the Pentagon’s plan to potentially send troops to restore order in Minneapolis.
“It’s about time. The National Guard does what they can but it’s not enough,” Guachamin said. “Start sending them because we need security. Police can’t handle all of this.”
Pentagon orders Army to put active-duty U.S. military police units on ready
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — As unrest spread across dozens of American cities on Friday, the Pentagon took the rare step of ordering the Army to put several active-duty U.S. military police units on the ready to deploy to Minneapolis, where the police killing of George Floyd sparked the widespread protests.
Soldiers from Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Drum in New York have been ordered to be ready to deploy within four hours if called, according to three people with direct knowledge of the orders. Soldiers in Fort Carson, in Colorado, and Fort Riley in Kansas have been told to be ready within 24 hours. The people did not want their names used because they were not authorized to discuss the preparations.
The get-ready orders were sent verbally on Friday, after President Donald Trump asked Defense Secretary Mark Esper for military options to help quell the unrest in Minneapolis after protests descended into looting and arson in some parts of the city.
Trump made the request on a phone call from the Oval Office on Thursday night that included Esper, National Security Advisor Robert O’ Brien and several others. The president asked Esper for rapid deployment options if the Minneapolis protests continued to spiral out of control, according to one of the people, senior Pentagon official who was on the call.
”When the White House asks for options, someone opens the drawer and pulls them out so to speak.” the official said.The person said the military units would be deployed under the Insurrection Act of 1807, which was last used in 1992 during the riots in Los Angeles that followed the Rodney King trial.
“If this is where the president is headed response-wise, it would represent a significant escalation and a determination that the various state and local authorities are not up to the task of responding to the growing unrest,” Brad Moss, a Washington D.C.-based attorney, who specializes in national security.
Mayor Garcetti issues statement about protests in L.A.
LAPD makes arrests in front of City Hall
The scene in front of L.A. City Hall
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Protesters walk through downtown as police clear streets
Protestors walked through downtown Los Angeles, west on Eighth Street around 7 p.m. chanting and cheering.
An hour and a half later they walked back against traffic through the streets holding signs condemning police brutality. Drivers honked their horns. Some reached their arms out their windows and raised their fists. One driver in a luxury sports convertible honked and raised his fist and was surrounded by supportive protestors.
Around 9 p.m. a heavy police presence arrived. Police blocked each side of the intersection. Occasionally they marched forward to push people further back. One officer told people gathered that the intersection was “chaotic” and not safe.”
Over a speaker on some officer’s radio could be heard “officer surrounded on first and Broadway.”
Protestors stood peacefully in the intersection. Some yelled at officers, but from a distance. One shouted, “Stop killing us!”
None of the police that passed the area noticed that one door to the CVS drugstore had been smashed. Nobody entered through the door for a while. Around 9:20, a handful of people began entering through the smashed door. The block soon cleared of both police and protestors who moved on to other locations.
LAPD declares unlawful assembly through downtown L.A.
Following hours of protests on the streets of downtown L.A. in which demonstrators clashed with police, closed the 110 Freeway and vandalized cars, the LAPD declared an unlawful assembly order for the city center.
“This is being made following repeated acts of violence and property damage. Residents should stay inside. Business should close. Those on the street are to leave the area,” the department said. Two LAPD officers were hurt.
Tension continues to build between police and protesters in Atlanta
Helicopters swirled above Centennial Olympic Park Friday night as SWAT officers with rifles blocked the streets and stopped anyone from entering the area around the CNN Center.
“Don’t point that at me,” a young black protester in shorts and a T shirt hollered at a white SWAT officer who had been deployed downtown from suburban Cobb County.
Outside the CNN Center, a huddle of officers in riot shields marched in tight formation towards the park past a line of smashed police cruisers and SUVs.
Officer hurt and several cruisers vandalized in downtown Los Angeles
Marking a third day of protest in California over the the killing of George Floyd, demonstrators blocked the 110 Freeway on Friday night and clashed with police officers in a series of tense incidents on the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
At least one LAPD officer was hurt and several cruisers were vandalized in a series of violent encounters that went into the night.
Marchers moved through downtown Los Angeles and into the Staples Center area, chanting “I can’t breathe” and “No justice, no peace.” Then some members of the group went onto an onramp to the 110 Freeway and temporarily blocked traffic, waving signs and chanting at stopped motorists.
Police were able to get protesters back onto downtown streets, but some got back on the freeway later in the evening.
Driver plows through crowd of protesters in Bakersfield
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Minneapolis city council member says National Guard not present
Minneapolis City Council member Alondra Cano tweeted: “Gas station on Lake and Park is on fire, our MFD can’t get to it safely due to crowd of people. Governor pulled out the national guard he had promised, we are doing our best to have MPD fill in their absence. Pray for Lake Street tonight”
Atlanta mayor brings rappers and celebs to calm protests; crowds smash windows at CNN Center
ATLANTA - In the historic cradle of the nation’s civil rights movement, mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms gathered famed Atlanta rappers and the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Friday night to plead for calm as a downtown protest against the killing of George Floyd became violent with protesters hurling water bottles at officers, setting a police vehicle on fire and smashing the windows of the CNN Center.
At an extraordinary press conference at Atlanta’s police headquarters, Killer Mike, Clifford “T.I.” Harris, and Bernice King took to the podium to plead with protesters to go home.
His voice shaking, Killer Mike, whose real name is Michael Render, said he did not want to be at the police headquarters, but he was the son of an Atlanta police officer.
“I got a lot of love and respect for police officers, down to the original eight police officers in Atlanta, that even after becoming police had to dress in a YMCA because white officers didn’t want to get dressed with niggers,” he said through tears. “And here we are 80 years later, I watched a white officer assassinate a black man, and I know that tore your heart out. I know it’s crippling.”
Invoking the Rev. Martin Luther King and storied civil rights groups, such as the Southern Christian Leadership Center and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and people like his grandmother, aunts and uncles, Killer Mike said he came with a message:
“I’m duty bound to be here to simply say that it is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy,” he said. “It is your duty to fortify your own house, so that you may be a house of refuge in times of organization and now is the time to plot plan, strategize, organize and mobilize. It is time to beat up prosecutors you don’t like it the voting booth.”
By 9:30pm, police in the city that prides itself on being a progressive black-run city that has in recent years avoided violent protests, were using tear gas to try to disperse the crowd.
“What I see happening on the streets of Atlanta is not Atlanta,” Bottoms said. “This not a protest. This is not the spirit of the Martin Luther King Jr. This is chaos. A protest has purpose.”
Her voice swelled as she reminded Atlantans of the city’s long legacy of black mayors and black police chiefs, of the fact that more than half of business owners in metro Atlanta are minority business owners
“So when you burn down this city, you’re burning down our community! If you want change in America, go and register to vote! Show up at the polls on June 9th! Do it in November! That is the change we need in this country. You are disgracing our city. You are you are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country.”
Thousands defy curfew in Minneapolis; police respond with flash bang grenades
Thousands of protesters defied a regional curfew in the Twin Cities Friday night, blocking streets and an interstate and rushing police stations.
Officers responded with flash bang grenades and pepper spray as fires erupted and buildings smoldered for a fourth night.
Amber Zunker, 21, protested every night, erecting a barricade late Friday near the Fifth Precinct as two officers fired flash bang grenades from the roof. Zunker, a college student from a small town, wore a Black Lives Matter shirt and said she felt compelled to protest because she felt her community was racist and “I have a lot of family who don’t really get it.”
Three protesting roommates said they joined the march through the streets because they were fed up with police not being held accountable. “We’re sick of black people dying and people not getting prosecuted,” said Carissa Ellison, 21, a student at Augsburg University.
“Those officers should have stood up. This is going to continue until they’re prosecuted.”
George Floyd protesters shut down 101 Freeway in San Jose, return to downtown L.A.
Marking a third day of protest in California over the the killing of George Floyd, demonstrators shut down the 101 Freeway on Friday afternoon in San Jose.
There were also new marches through the streets of downtown L.A. to Staples Center and in Hollywood. The Los Angeles Police Department said those protests have been peaceful and no arrests have been made. Demonstrators chanted “I can’t breathe” and “no justice no peace.”
The killing of Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck earlier this week, has sparked protests across the country, including two in downtown Los Angeles. On Wednesday night, demonstrators briefly shutdown the 101 in the L.A. civic center.
Protesters descend on CNN Center in Atlanta, throw rocks at police
California prison employees suspended over racist remarks about death of George Floyd
SACRAMENTO — California prison officials said Friday they had suspended multiple employees who made racist jokes about the death of an unarmed black man in police custody in Minneapolis, a disclosure that came amid protests across the state and nation.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation “was made aware of abhorrent comments made on social media by some employees that will not be tolerated,” spokeswoman Dana Simas said. “The employees who made the comments were immediately suspended, and we are investigating the incidents fully.”
Secretary Ralph Diaz said in a letter to his staff that what he described as “distasteful jokes and comments” about the death of George Floyd dishonored the department. He called the comments “extremely hurtful and disrespectful to [Floyd’s] family and members of the community.”
Hundreds protest killing of George Floyd on Las Vegas Strip
LAS VEGAS — More than 400 people were demonstrating on the Las Vegas Strip Friday afternoon calling for policing reforms following the death this week of a black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer.
The crowd gathered in triple-digit-heat in front of the dormant fountains of the Bellagio casino-resort, holding signs and chanting “No justice, no peace!” and “Black lives matter,” as passing cars honked.
They then began walking north up the Las Vegas Strip in front of casinos still shuttered because of coronavirus-related closures. The group rallied in front of a shopping mall and briefly blocked traffic on north end of the Las Vegas Strip before marching south again, where they spilled into the streets and blocked traffic.
At least two people were detained by police, though it was not clear why. Several officers used batons to push back a few protesters during the arrests.
Live video streaming online from a KSNV-TV helicopter showed protesters marching up the street, streaming between cars stopped in the traffic
Atlanta police chief addresses crowd at protests
Commentary: A nation rages over the death of George Floyd. As Trump tweets, Biden leads
The absence of leadership was deafening Friday in the White House Rose Garden, where cameras and reporters sat focused on an empty podium for nearly an hour as Minneapolis burned, and a nation raged, over the senseless killing of George Floyd.
Floyd, who was black, died in police custody Monday after officer Derek Chauvin was captured on video holding his knee on Floyd’s neck and throat for nearly nine minutes. Floyd’s pleas for his life — “I can’t breathe” — were all too familiar after the death of Eric Garner, who spoke the same dying words from a police chokehold in Staten Island, N.Y., in 2014.
A static shot of the president-less Rose Garden was shown at the bottom of the screen on MSNBC and other outlets (“The president will speak soon”) as news of the unrest erupted around it: Clips of demonstrators, horrifying footage of Floyd’s last moments, a press conference announcing that former officer Chauvin had finally been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Lockdown at White House lifted
Protests have begun in downtown Los Angeles
White House under lockdown orders as protesters march in D.C.
Protesters climb atop, spray paint CNN sign in Atlanta
ATLANTA — A police car has been set on fire in Atlanta, where protesters were using barricades to break the windows of cruisers while others were jumping on the vehicles and shattering windshields as they demonstrated against the death of George Floyd.
Hundreds of protesters were confronting police outside CNN’s downtown headquarters late Friday. Activists spray-painted a large CNN logo outside the building, breaking a window and tagging doors. One protester climbed on top of the CNN sign and waved a “Black Lives Matter” flag to cheers from the crowd.
Protesters pelted officers who came over with bottles, striking some of them. Other bottles thrown at authorities exploded behind the police line, but no officers appeared to get hit. Protesters chanted, “Quit your jobs.”
The officers backed their line away from the group of protesters who were throwing objects at them.
Police ordered demonstrators to leave the street and threatened to arrest them if they did not leave quickly.
Protesters used accelerant to burn an American flag. People were watching the scene from rooftops, some laughing at skirmishes that broke out and vandalism by the protesters.
Protesters were also walking on the interstate in downtown Atlanta and appeared to be trying to block traffic.
The Georgia State Patrol has responded.
Earlier, as the protest appeared more calm, Kaity Brackett, 27, said she came out to the protest because she thinks the entire criminal justice system needs to be overhauled, starting with policing. She said the Ahmaud Arbery killing was a catalyst for her and referred to his death as a lynching. Arbery was killed on Feb. 23 by a former district attorney investigator and his son, who were not arrested until after video emerged months later.
Brackett wore a blue mask and sat with her partner and a friend. She was less concerned about the threat from the coronavirus.
“We risk our lives going to the grocery store, going to get gas,” she said. “This is more important than all of that.”
‘We don’t have law and order’: Black and Latino business owners face destruction in Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS — Abdishakur Elmi looked on in horror as flames raged and smoke billowed from the roof of the brick building next to his restaurant.
A single truck and a few fire fighters battled the blaze that had already consumed several neighboring businesses overnight in a gentrified section of East Lake Street. The police station had been set alight down the street, and protesters who had overrun it milled with the curious in the smokey morning light.
The neighborhood was under siege. The blaze threatened the Hamdi Restaurant that Elmi founded after immigrating from Somalia to the Twin Cities in 1996, a landmark for what would become the largest Somali American community in the country. The governor had deployed the National Guard overnight, but no troops had appeared at the restaurant.
How the arrest of CNN’s Omar Jimenez during George Floyd protests united press rivals
The arrest of CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez by Minnesota state police early Friday sparked a rare moment of solidarity among cable news competitors and condemnation from a major press freedom group.
Jimenez and his crew were in Minneapolis covering the violent protests over the killing of George Floyd, the 46-year-old African American man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, an incident captured on video. The fired officer, Derek Chauvin, was arrested Friday and charged with third degree murder and manslaughter.
Minnesota state police said the CNN crew was asked to move and refused. But video of the confrontation, which was seen live on CNN, shows Jimenez repeatedly agreeing to cooperate and being given no reason for the arrest.
Protesters block street near San Jose’s City Hall
Crowds gather in Atlanta to protest death of George Floyd
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Editorial: Stop focusing on looting in Minneapolis. Be outraged that police keep killing black men
There is anger on the streets in Minneapolis. And Los Angeles. And Columbus and Phoenix and Denver. It is deserved anger fed by the death of George Floyd, yet another unarmed black man killed as police arrested him.
Another. That’s the key word.
The mature and reasoned response is, of course, to explore what went wrong Monday on that Minneapolis street. Why did the police officers responsible for this unnecessary use of force still have badges, given their history of previous complaints? Why did it take so long for authorities to arrest the officer filmed pinning Floyd to the ground with a knee on his neck? What can Minneapolis — or Los Angeles, or Ferguson, or New York City — do to improve relations between police and the communities they serve? Cue up the commission, bring in the experts, hold some hearings, let people vent for a bit and then, by golly, we’ll have change.
Minnesota governor says Trump’s tweets ‘just not helpful’
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George Floyd’s death in Amy Klobuchar’s home state renews scrutiny of her criminal justice record
Amy Klobuchar has long been seen as a top contender to be Joe Biden’s running mate, albeit with a glaring liability: her weak standing with black voters, a core Democratic constituency.
That vulnerability became even more acute this week after George Floyd, an African American man, died after being pinned to the ground by police in Klobuchar’s home county. The death highlighted once again her record as a prosecutor and sharpened questions of whether the Minnesota senator would be the best choice in this moment of national racial anguish.
“She would be the absolute worst pick at this point,” LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the group Black Voters Matter, said, adding, “In light of what is happening now, it would be an absolute slap in the face of black folks. And the party will pay dearly for that.”
Officer fired for pressing his knee on George Floyd’s neck is charged with murder
‘Let my building burn’: Minneapolis restaurant owner responds to protests and violence
A restaurant caught in the crossfire of unrest in Minneapolis Thursday night has sent a powerful message to its followers on social media: “Let my building burn.”
Gandhi Mahal caught fire overnight. The restaurant is located in the same building as several other food businesses, including the Town Talk Diner and Gastropub, El Nuevo Rodeo and Addis Ababa, that appear to have been heavily damaged by fire. The restaurant is about a block from the Minneapolis Third Police Precinct.
Owner Ruhel Islam’s daughter, Hafsa, wrote the powerful post Friday morning.
“Thank you to everyone for checking in. Sadly Gandhi Mahal has caught fire and has been damaged. We won’t loose hope though, I am so greatful for our neighbors who did their best to stand guard and protect Gandhi Mahal. ... Don’t worry about us, we will rebuild and we will recover.”
As she wrote the post, Hafsa said, she overheard her father on the phone, saying “let my building burn, Justice needs to be served, put those officers in jail.”
Protesters return to downtown Los Angeles to decry police killing in Minneapolis
Protesters filled the streets of downtown Los Angeles for the second evening in a row Thursday, with demonstrators gathering outside Los Angeles Police Department headquarters to decry a black man’s death in police custody in Minneapolis.
The demonstration, organized by the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter, was on a smaller scale than the day before.
Some of the protesters briefly surrounded a California Highway Patrol vehicle, and at least one kicked the cruiser, but the car drove off before it was visibly damaged.
Anger over the killing of George Floyd, who died when a white Minneapolis police office knelt on his neck for several minutes, has flared in cities nationwide.
Trump and Biden take contrasting approaches to Minneapolis crisis
Joe Biden called for the nation to confront the persistence of systemic racism in his first formal response to protests in Minneapolis after a black man, George Floyd, died at police hands, an episode that has prompted outrage and demonstrations across the country about police violence against African Americans.
His remarks came several hours after President Trump responded to the demonstrations, some of which have been violent, by calling the protesters “thugs” and warning in a message on Twitter that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Twitter placed a disclaimer over his message, saying it violated the platform’s standards by “glorifying violence,” but did not delete it.
CNN crew arrested while reporting on Minneapolis protests
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota State Patrol on Friday arrested a CNN television crew as they reported on violent protests in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer knelt on his neck.
Atlanta-based CNN said the crew, which included CNN reporter Omar Jimenez, was released later Friday morning.
While live on air, Jimenez was handcuffed and led away. A producer and a photojournalist for CNN were also led away in handcuffs.
CNN’s communications team earlier said on Twitter that the crew was arrested “for doing their jobs, despite identifying themselves — a clear violation of their 1st Amendment rights.”
George Floyd, Central Park and the familiar terror they inspire
I didn’t feel well Tuesday. My body was tense, my stomach unsettled, the headache I was trying to push past kept pushing back. On most days, I choose to be numb. Tuesday, I decided to feel. I recognize for some the video of George Floyd’s fatal encounter with four Minneapolis police officers is shocking. For me, it was not. I may not always choose to feel, but I am always aware. I learned early on that I didn’t have the luxury of not being aware.
I was 12 when an officer placed his gun to the back of my head while his knee rested in the center of my back. I had been sent to the store to buy a gallon of milk. I came home with trauma. As the officer placed me in handcuffs, he said I looked like a burglary suspect he was searching for.
I was told something similar in my 20s, a full-time reporter fresh out of graduate school, after I was pulled over and placed in handcuffs. The officer asked what I was doing in the neighborhood. When I told him I lived in it, he asked what I did to be able to afford to live there.
Ex-officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter
A Minnesota prosecutor has charged a police officer with third-degree murder and manslaughter in the restraint death of George Floyd.
Floyd is the handcuffed black man whose cries of “I can’t breathe” in a widely seen cellphone video have set off days of violent protest in Minneapolis and around the country.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Friday he might yet bring more charges against the officer, Derek Chauvin.
The white officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for at least eight minutes in the video. Floyd can be seen gradually becoming motionless as Chauvin and three other officers ignore bystanders’ shouts to get off him.
Floyd was pronounced dead at a Minneapolis hospital in the incident, which began when police responded to a report of a man passing a counterfeit bill in a grocery store on Memorial Day.
The charges come after Minneapolis has been rocked by days of protests, including looting, scores of fires and the burning of a police precinct station on Thursday, even after the governor called out the National Guard.