() Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday provided an update on the looting and vandalism that have occurred in the city as protests against immigration enforcement efforts continue.
“The violence and the damage is unacceptable,” said Bass. “It is not going to be tolerated, and individuals will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The city has seen turmoil since the weekend after Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided several locations in downtown LA and detained 44 people while encountering protesters.
Bass acknowledged that the unrest has mostly occurred a few blocks from the downtown area, and not all of downtown or the entire city. In addition, she says the vandalism, though, is extensive.
Crowds gathered outside federal buildings downtown, including a detention center, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and made multiple arrests.
“I am calling on business leaders, community leaders, and faith leaders to come together downtown in the next few days and talk about how we are going to clean up the city,” added Bass. “This is so extensive it’s going to take community involvement.”
A California Highway Patrol officer told on Tuesday that looters were taking advantage of the city’s preoccupied police. Multiple arrests stemmed from jewelry store break-ins overnight.
“Families across the city are terrified,” Bass said. “They don’t know if they should go to work. They don’t know if they should go to school.”
President Donald Trump has deployed thousands of California National Guard troops over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Border czar Tom Homan sent a warning to California officials that they could face arrest and prosecution if they “cross the line” following Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops.
Bass said she and other officials are looking at curfews and other aggressive responses the city can employ to stop the violence, looting, and vandalism from continuing.
