Mayor Karen Bass announced a curfew for downtown Los Angeles as anti-ICE protests continued on Tuesday.
The curfew will begin at 8 p.m. tonight, last until Wednesday morning, and apply to one square mile of downtown L.A. Bass said she issued the curfew ” to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting.” Bass added that 23 businesses were looted on Monday night.
“Many businesses have now been affected or vandalized,” Bass said. “I think if you drive downtown L.A., the graffiti is everywhere and has caused significant damages.”
For five consecutive days, protesters and law enforcement have lined the streets of downtown, resulting in nearly 200 arrests. Some of the encounters between demonstrators and police turned violent at times.
The demonstrations started on Friday after several immigration raids in the Westlake District, downtown and South LA. Crowds quickly formed around federal agents during the operations. Some individuals attempted to prevent authorities from placing individuals into vans.
The nearly week-long protest caught the attention of President Trump, who deployed thousands of troops from the California National Guard and 700 U.S. Marines to protect federal buildings, against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Donald Trump is putting fuel on this fire. Commandeering a state’s National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral,” Newsom wrote Sunday on X. “California will be taking him to court.”