LOS ANGELES _ As Los Angeles on Sunday imposed another overnight curfew, large new protests were taking place in Huntington Beach and Santa Monica, where some looters took advantage of the situation and hit the Santa Monica Place mall and other shops.
Hundreds of people walked from the Santa Monica Pier north along Ocean Avenue, carrying signs and chanting. The demonstration decrying the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, was peaceful.
Shortly before 2 p.m., however, the KTLA news helicopter captured video of several dozen looters running from the nearby Santa Monica Place shopping center with armloads of clothing.
Looters also ransacked the Vans at 400 Broadway, stealing shoes and skateboards from the store and storage room.
A couple blocks away, at 7th Street and Broadway, people were seen breaking into a pharmacy, using a skateboard to shatter the window before climbing inside.
In Huntington Beach, police declared a protest near the pier an unlawful assembly about 1 p.m., said Angela Bennett, public information officer for the Huntington Beach Police Department.
She estimated about 500 people were demonstrating and said there were no reports of violence or vandalism. Video footage showed police officers lining up to face the protesters near Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street. No arrests had been made as of 1:45 p.m., Bennett said.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Sunday imposed an overnight curfew for a second night 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, is necessary to maintain order after two straight nights of looting, arson and tense clashes between police and protesters in the street, Garcetti said.
"When times demand it," the mayor said, "strong steps are required to bring peace back to our city."
Garcetti extended the curfew as members of the National Guard patrolled the city, deployed after the nighttime violence.
Saturday's unrest eclipsed that of Friday in downtown Los Angeles, when violence extended into other parts of the city and left portions of the Grove mall in the Fairfax District ablaze. Police shot projectiles at protesters in multiple locations. Protesters threw rocks and other objects, as well as fireworks, at police.
Los Angeles police said 398 people were arrested Saturday on suspicion of crimes including burglary, looting, vandalism, failure to disperse, and firearms and curfew violations. Five LAPD officers were injured, with two of them hospitalized, officials said.
The most seriously injured officer was struck by a brick while in the Fairfax area, authorities said, The brick fractured his skull. Another officer suffered a broken arm, and another suffered a broken leg during the clashes with protesters.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore, appearing with Garcetti at a news conference at City Hall on Sunday, said the officer whose skull was fractured underwent surgery Saturday night. "I believe he will survive," Moore said.
Garcetti said people who engaged in "destruction and looting" were only hurting others in the community.
"They have not just caused chaos and damage," he said. "They are hijacking a moment and a movement."
Saturday's unrest _ which undercut a weekend meant to be focused on the reopening of restaurants, barbershops and hair salons shuttered due to the coronavirus outbreak _ spurred other cities to enact overnight curfews.
The cities of Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Culver City and Torrance announced curfews for Sunday into Monday, as did the city of Santa Ana in Orange County.
In West Hollywood and Torrance, the curfews will be in effect each night until they are lifted by city officials. In Beverly Hills, the curfew took effect at 1 p.m. for the business district, which includes Rodeo Drive, and will be in place at 4 p.m. for the rest of the city.
"Violence, looting, and vandalism will not be tolerated in our city," Beverly Hills Mayor Lester Friedman said. "It's unfortunate that the message of the peaceful protesters has been diminished by criminal behavior."
At dawn Sunday, five National Guard military Humvees were parked at 3rd and Hill streets in downtown L.A. Guardsmen dressed in full combat gear stood outside shattered storefronts as the morning light revealed the damage from the days before: broken windows, trash-strewn streets and graffiti-tagged buildings.
By 7 a.m., scores of Guardsmen toting M-4 rifles marched on patrol along Broadway between 7th and 8th streets.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the city and county of Los Angeles shortly before midnight, which was when he activated the National Guard.
Los Angeles County officials also proclaimed a countywide state of emergency to deal with the unrest.
"This emergency comes as we are in the midst of battling another emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," county Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Sunday in a statement. "This taxes our resources, but not our resolve."
The proclamation will help authorities coordinate an emergency response and mutual aid and speed up the procurement of supplies, officials said. It also provides for future state and federal reimbursement of costs the county incurs. The dramatic move came after a day of deteriorating conditions. Demonstrators burned Los Angeles Police Department cruisers and looted retail businesses including the Apple Store and Nordstrom at the Grove. Some protesters even made it to Beverly Hills' famed Rodeo Drive, where they were met by a line of officers.
Since the protests started, 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.
The decision to call in the National Guard was criticized by City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents a portion of South L.A.
"It's clear that our fear is real that additional law enforcement will only further violence against people of color," Harris-Dawson said in a statement. "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."
The last time the National Guard patrolled the streets of L.A. was during the 1992 riots, which erupted after the police officers who beat black motorist Rodney King were found not guilty.
Compared with those riots, the events in Los Angeles on Saturday were significantly less widespread and dangerous. The protests and looting were limited Friday night and Saturday morning largely to downtown Los Angeles and on Saturday afternoon and evening to the Fairfax District.
Although officers were hurt when protesters threw objects at them, there have been no fatalities. The 1992 riots swept across large swaths of Southern California and left more than 60 people dead.
Despite the curfew imposed by Garcetti that lasted until 5:30 a.m. Sunday, 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 in the day.
As the sun rose over downtown Sunday morning, crews went to work sweeping up shattered glass and painting over graffiti.
The Guardsmen patrolled between skid row and Bunker Hill, while Humvees rumbled through the financial district. The soldiers on foot patrol carried automatic rifles and wore full combat gear, with gas masks strapped to their thighs. Some looked uncomfortable as passersby stopped to photograph them, while others nodded and said, "Good morning."
Eli Ventov has had his store, Reloaded L.A., along Melrose Avenue for nearly 12 years. The store had just reopened Wednesday after being closed because of the pandemic.
On Saturday, as they saw the protests start to grow, workers rushed to Home Depot and got painters paper to cover the windows so no one would break in.
No one did break in that night. But in the same building, people broke into the Dr. Martens store. Around 7 p.m., someone threw a bottle with gasoline inside the store, Ventov said.
"It went from this store, to this store, to this store," Ventov said of the resulting fire, gesturing to shoe store Tony-K and then to his store.
Ventov stood across the street and watched his clothing and jewelry store burn.
"You see all your life running across your face," he said. "I can't believe it."
"I understand where they're coming from, but did you really need to come that way?"
"He stayed the whole time. We saw him on the news across the street watching his building burn down," said Ramon Pazos, who works at the store. "There's nothing we could do but watch."
On Sunday morning Ventov stood outside the blackened store, where the roof appeared on the verge of collapse and the sky was visible through patches. He grew teary-eyed as a friend embraced him and told him it would be OK.
Ricky Flores swept inside the clothing store Flashback, where a sign out front read "Now open! Please wear a mask for entry."
He and his friend had opened the store four years ago, with help from investors whom they eventually bought out. A year ago, business was going so well they moved from a smaller space next door to a larger one.
The store had just reopened Friday after being closed since March. But they closed Saturday because of the protests. They watched on the news as buildings across the street burned.
When Flores arrived Sunday morning, around 7 a.m., people were still stealing items from the store, he said. The alarm was blaring and people had broken the security gate the night before.
"I thought this was going to be cool," Flores said, shaking the broken gate. "... They got through it easily."
People stole three televisions off the wall, shoes and clothes. They even stole the ice cube trays from the freezer.
"What kind of a sick person takes the ice cube trays out of the freezer?"
He estimated losses totaled $200,000.
"It's going to be hard to open back up with all the inventory gone," Flores said. "If they say it's safe to open back up in two days, it's like, what are we going to sell?"
