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After days of immigration protests, the first night of downtown L.A. curfew ended on Wednesday morning with dozens of arrests, but there was less destruction and fewer clashes between protesters and authorities.
The curfew came into effect Tuesday at 8pm and was lifted at 6am the following day. The Los Angeles Police Department reported that at least 25 people have been arrested for violating curfews in the first few hours.
The curfew includes civic centers, including city hall, Maine County Criminal Court, LAPD headquarters and federal buildings that have been targeted for the protest, leading to property damage and arrests of hundreds.
Shortly before the curfew came into effect, Mayor Karen Bass and faith leaders marched into the federal building on Los Angeles Avenue, walking through an area covered in crushed glass, graffiti and police ammunition for days.
Bass said he hopes the curfew will remain for several days and will consult with law enforcement and elected leaders before lifting it. She said the behavior of “bad actors who don’t support the immigrant community” needs to be curbed.
Protesters were not arrested by local law enforcement during the initial confrontation with federal immigration authorities on Friday, but tensions escalated over the weekend, leading to a larger gathering interrupted by episodes of violence, theft, graffiti and property destruction.
LA police said 27 arrests were made on Saturday, 40 people were arrested on Sunday and more than 100 people were arrested on Monday. A further 205 protesters were arrested before Bass announced the curfew at 5:30pm Tuesday.
Over the past few days, people have been arrested on suspicion of crimes such as failing to break up, throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers, driving motorcycles to police lines, and destroying property and theft.
“A lot of businesses are currently affected by vandalism,” Bass said Tuesday. “There were 23 businesses that were looted last night. As you run through downtown, the graffiti is everywhere, causing great damage to businesses and many properties.”
Parts of the city were last placed under a curfew during George Floyd’s 2020 protest.
Immigration and customs enforcement officials said hundreds of people were detained during the attacks since Friday. However, the number of people arrested is not clear exactly. The Los Angeles immigration rights leader said about 300 people have been detained by federal authorities in California since the sweep began last week.
Angelica Salas, director of the Los Angeles Humanitarian Immigration Rights Coalition, said her group used interviews with family members, conversations with elected officials and direct reports from the ground to confirm the restraint.
“Our community is terrified. We are in a state of terror. People are furious about what’s going on,” she told Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday.
Staff writer Noah Goldberg contributed to this article.
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