LOS ANGELES _ The National Guard is pulling out of the Los Angeles area, a week after being deployed amid largely peaceful protests and some scattered looting in a few areas, two sources familiar with the plan told The Times on Sunday.
The National Guard has been a visible and controversial presence in the region, guarding landmark buildings like City Hall and also assisting with crowd control.
Protests of unprecedented size and scale continued across Southern California, with tens of thousands marching Saturday in various cities to express outrage at police brutality and the George Floyd killing in police custody.
The Floyd protests have been peaceful, and the Los Angeles Police Department is investigating videos showing officers using force on some of those demonstrators.
One source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the pullout could be completed later Sunday. A second source said that a small number of Guard members remain to protect some key L.A. assets but that most have returned to their bases.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti called in the Guard on May 30 after heated protests in the Fairfax District that ended with some burglaries and thefts by people police believe were not associated with the demonstrations. There have been no major reports of such illegal activity since Monday, when some businesses in Hollywood and Van Nuys were hit. Stores in Long Beach, downtown L.A. and Santa Monica also saw people stealing merchandise.
The LAPD arrested thousands over the last week, many of them for violating curfew rules.
The decision to end the curfews Thursday came a day after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against Los Angeles city and county and the city of San Bernardino to end the curfews, saying they were an unconstitutional violation of free expression.
At its peak there were more than 1,000 Guardsmen in the L.A. area, some toting M-4 rifles. Humvees and military trucks were present in the city in a way not seen since 1994, in the days after the Northridge earthquake _ and during the 1992 riots.
Bringing in the National Guard sparked criticism from Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents a portion of South Los Angeles. "Our fear is real that additional law enforcement will only further violence against people of color," he said May 31.
