LOS ANGELES _ New protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd continued Monday across Southern California, with demonstrators entering the 405 Freeway and closing northbound lanes.
The demonstrators walked from the Federal Building in Westwood and onto the freeway onramp. The California Highway Patrol was on scene. Some motorists stopped their cars to support the marchers.
Protests were also going on elsewhere, including in Hollywood, West Hollywood, Van Nuys and Orange County. There were reports of some stores broken into in Van Nuys, a few blocks away from the peaceful protests.
Los Angeles County officials told residents to stay off the streets after 6 p.m. Monday or risk arrest.
The second night of countywide curfews followed days of massive, mostly peaceful protests to decry Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis. Nearly 1,200 people were arrested Sunday after police officers clashed with demonstrators and looters shattered windows and emptied stores in Santa Monica and Long Beach.
County officials sparked mass confusion Monday when they issued an emergency alert at 3:30 p.m. announcing a 6 p.m. curfew. A second alert, sent minutes later, announced a 5 p.m. curfew. The second message was sent in error, officials said.
The county's 6 p.m. curfew supersedes later curfews set by city governments, officials said. City curfews set earlier than 6 p.m. will still apply, they said.
Cities with their own curfews include Beverly Hills, 1 p.m.; Long Beach business district, 1 p.m.; Santa Monica, 1:30 p.m.; Long Beach, 4 p.m.; Culver City, 4 p.m.; and West Hollywood, 4 p.m.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore told KTLA-TV that 700 people were arrested Sunday in L.A. During mass protests, he said, protesters threw rocks, bricks and bottles at police officers.
On Saturday, nearly 400 people were arrested when looters targeted the Fairfax shopping district, including on Melrose Avenue. The city "lost 88 buildings on Melrose," Moore said.
On Friday, 500 people were arrested when protesters shut down several freeways in downtown L.A., Moore said.
California's new policy that eliminates bail for most misdemeanor arrests _ an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19 in jails _ does not apply to looters, L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said. She urged victims to preserve video clips of crimes.
"If you are a victim of a crime, if your business was in fact looted, vandalized, please do not erase any video tapes," she said. "We need that. In court, we'll be able to use that of course to get justice for you."
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia blamed looting and nearly 100 small fires in his city on organized criminals who were unaffiliated with peaceful protests. The groups have been "hitting cities across the state," he said, pointing to a similar pattern of peaceful marches, then mayhem, in Santa Monica.
"It's pretty clear given the type of activity and how organized the activity was, there is a strategy going city to city and doing this criminal work," Garcia said. The damage to small business owners, he said, was "unacceptable."
Luna said he agreed with the spirit of the protests, and was "offended and appalled" by Floyd's death. Floyd died in handcuffs after Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes, while Floyd yelled that he could not breathe.
All Long Beach police officers have been called back from vacation, Luna said. He said the idea that officers were "just standing around" and allowed unimpeded looting is "complete B.S."
"If you were looting and we have your license plate number and your face, we're gonna come after you," Luna said.
"Sunday was one of the most distressing days in Santa Monica history," Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown said Monday.
More than 400 people were arrested on suspicion of crimes that included looting, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a police officer and curfew violations, Santa Monica Police Chief Cynthia Renaud said. She estimated that 95% of those arrested did not live in the city.
Demonstrators and looters were often just a few blocks apart. Looters in the Fourth Street shopping district appeared organized, smashing windows with crowbars and skateboards and loading stolen goods into waiting cars. At least two police cars burned.
Several blocks away, police fired rubber bullets at demonstrators on Ocean Avenue after protesters threw eggs and water bottles.
A similar dynamic developed in downtown Long Beach. At the Pike Outlets on Shoreline Drive, the crowd used hammers and threw trash can lids to smash windows. Some protesters yelled at them to leave the stores alone. Riot police moved in after 6 p.m. and the crowd fled.
On Monday, more than 100 masked volunteers flocked to Long Beach's Harvey Milk Plaza with brooms, buckets and dustpans to clean up broken glass and scrub graffiti from walls.
So many people showed up that organizers began sending volunteers to help businesses in North Long Beach, arranging rides on a city bus.
Jennifer Perez and her husband brought their two children to the Long Beach protest Sunday to teach them to raise their voice against injustice, she said. The family of four returned Monday morning to help clean up.
"The flip side is, they have to come out and help when the bad happens too," Perez said. "Community's important."
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said people who engaged in "destruction and looting" were only hurting others in the community, saying: "They have not just caused chaos and damage. They are hijacking a moment and a movement."
Some business owners were angry that the police had given the looters such leeway. Russell Bowman, owner of Thunderbolt Spiritual Books in Santa Monica, watched from inside as looters smashed his windows.
"The looters broke the window in my face," Bowman said. "There was nothing we could do."
Other residents of the progressive city tried to empathize with the looters. Sara Meeter, 28, stood outside an REI store on Fourth Street, holding a cardboard sign that simply read "Justice." The store's windows had been shattered and smoke was pouring out.
Across the street, people were scavenging through an optometry office and jewelry store, the front of which was spray-painted: "Save a life, kill a cop."
Meeter said she saw a "kid" throwing boxes of shoes out of the Vans store for others to pick up. A Santa Monica resident, Meeter was following the chaos but staying out of the way. "It's completely overwhelming," she said. "All my senses are on overload."
She and her friend Danielle Fetzer, 32, of Venice, both white, said it was important to be allies with the protesters and witness the history that was unfolding. Fetzer said they needed to "just show that we're not going to ... handle the systematic oppression of black people."
"It's a tale as old as time and I'm tired of it," she said. "I'm tired of the police using their power to hurt civilians. I say burn the place down. Sometimes things need to be burnt down so that we can rebuild.
"Who are we to tell people of color how should they express that anger?"
