A curfew has been issued for part of Downtown Los Angeles following days of civil unrest triggered by ICE raids.
Mayor Karen Bass announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the curfew will be in effect from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday “to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting.”
A curfew has been in considered for days, she said. “But clearly after the violence that took place last night – 23 businesses looted – and just the extensive widespread nature of the vandalism, we reached a tipping point.”
“I will consult with elected leaders and law enforcement officials tomorrow on the continuation of the curfew but we certainly expect for it to last for several days,” Bass added.
The curfew covers one square mile in downtown Los Angeles, and there are exceptions for residents, people traveling to and from work and credentialed media.
LA Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell emphasized that anyone who is within the designated curfew area in Los Angeles between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. – and is not deemed exempt – will be “subject to arrest.”
“The curfew is a necessary measure to protect lives and safeguard property following several consecutive days of growing unrest throughout the city,” McDonnell said Tuesday.
Protests entered a fifth day on Tuesday. A few dozen protesters gathered peacefully downtown in front of the federal detention center Tuesday, which was quickly declared an unlawful assembly, the Associated Press reported.
Earlier Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom asked a federal court to block the Trump administration from using the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles, saying it would only heighten tensions and promote civil unrest.
He filed the emergency request after Trump ordered the deployment to LA of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines following protests directed at the president’s stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws.
The federal government said Newsom was seeking an unprecedented and dangerous order that would interfere with its ability to carry out enforcement operations. A hearing on the matter is set for Thursday.
In a public address on Tuesday night, Newsom said Trump “chose theatrics over public safety” when he deployed the National Guard to California without his support and that the decision was a “brazen abuse of power.”
He criticized Trump for the mass deportations, saying that the administration is “indiscriminately targeting hard working immigrant families regardless of their roots or risk” and that the immigration crackdown has gone well beyond arresting criminals as “dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers and seamstresses” are among those being detained.
“Everyday Angelenos came out to exercise their constitutional right to free speech and assembly, to protest their government’s action,” Newsom said. “The situation was winding down, but that's not what Donald Trump wanted...he chose more force.”
Newsom said Trump’s decision should be a warning to other states.
“California may be first — but it clearly won’t end here,” he said.
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