Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in a Tuesday news conference announced she was enacting a curfew for a small part of downtown L.A. as a way “to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting” after five days of protests in response to immigration raids.
The curfew covers one square mile and is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and end at 6 a.m. Bass said the police would arrest anyone who defies the order, except residents, people traveling to and from work and credentialed media. The curfew is expected to last for several days.
“If you do not live or work in downtown L.A., avoid the area,” Bass said.
Bass said 23 businesses were in the downtown area on Monday night, and there was significant graffiti in the area. Many of the most intense demonstrations have taken place near a series of federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, a detention facility and federal courthouse.
The mayor emphasized that the area with the curfew was small compared to the city’s total 502 square miles.
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“I think it is important to point this out not to minimize the vandalism and violence that has taken place there; it has been significant,” Bass said. “But it is extremely important to know that what is happening in this one square mile is not affecting the city.”
“Some of the imagery of the protests and the violence gives the appearance as though this is a city-wide crisis, and it is not,” she added.
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The curfew comes as President Trump has deployed 4,000 National Guard troops to the area and
Trump has argued the deployment of National Guard troops is necessary to address violence as protesters clash with law enforcement triggered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations that have taken place in recent days.
The Pentagon has also deployed 700 Marines to the greater L.A. area to protect federal buildings and officials.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) sued the administration Monday for Trump’s decision to send in California National Guard troops, deeming it an “unprecedented power grab.”
“One of the cornerstones of our Nation and our democracy is that our people are governed by civil, not military, rule,” the 22-page complaint reads.
“The Founders enshrined these principles in our Constitution — that a government should be accountable to its people, guided by the rule of law, and one of civil authority, not military rule,” it continues.
During the Tuesday press conference, Bass thanked Newsom “for his partnership,” as well as state and local leaders and officers and deputies.
