May 31, 2020


SANTA MONICA, Calif. –  The City of Santa is devastated by today’s events in Santa Monica, throughout Los Angeles County, and across our country. We are a community that values equity, inclusion, and safety. The peaceful protest to honor the life of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery has devolved to include looting and property destruction.  

“This has been a gut-wrenching day in Santa Monica. Our top priority remains the personal safety of everyone in our community,” said Mayor Pro Tempore Terry O’Day. “We are thankful that no critical injuries have occurred. We have had a great deal of property damage caused by opportunistic looters. We have the support of every law enforcement agency in Southern California and are restoring sanity to our streets. Stay at home. You are safest there.” 

The Santa Monica Police Department’s (SMPD) first priority is the safety of the public during this dynamic event and has implemented a curfew until 5:30 a.m. tomorrow throughout Santa Monica. SMPD will enforce the 4 p.m. curfew order, including making necessary arrests.  The full strength of the Santa Monica Police Department and Santa Monica Fire Department (SMFD) are responding, with support through mutual aid from our neighboring jurisdictions. The City of Santa Monica is working with the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Fire, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and other regional law enforcement agencies. The United States National Guard is on the ground in Santa Monica. This continues to be a dynamic event and we are prioritizing life safety. 

“Anyone who is in Santa Monica right now can do something to protect the lives of your neighbors,” said Santa Monica Police Chief Cynthia Renaud. “If you are still in Santa Monica, please leave now.  If you know anyone on the streets of Santa Monica, please tell them to go home.  Santa Monica Police Department has made hundreds of arrests and with the assistance of the National Guard, we continue to enforce our curfew and secure our streets.” 

Latest Updates: 

  • There have been nine fires today across our City. There are no active fires at this time.   
  • Please use 9-1-1 for life threatening emergencies. If you have photo or video evidence of individuals looting in Santa Monica, please email info@santamonica.gov. 
  • No officers have been injured. 
  • The I-10 and Pacific Coast Highway off-ramps into Santa Monica are closed.  
  • Metro Expo Line service and bus lines are not available.   
  • When leaving Santa Monica, please head east. 
  • The City is doing everything we can to respond to the most urgent calls for assistance.  
  • Santa Monica Police and Fire have responded to over 1,000 9-1-1 calls since 12 p.m. 

Santa Monica State Assemblymember Richard Bloom shares, “I fully support the people’s right to protest.  The pursuit of justice on behalf of George Floyd weighs heavily on the minds of most of us. And let us not forget the memory of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, and the many who came before who were also unjustly killed.  Looting and violence always hurts the cause of justice. And the need for justice has never been greater, nor has there been a time in my memory where more people have been united and engaged in pursuit of justice and a better world.  I ask that we work together peacefully towards that end and call on law enforcement and the public to act safely and with restraint.  Towards that end, I urge people to stay home, stay safe and respect the curfew.” 

Sign up for emergency alerts text SMALERTS to 888-777 or santamonica.gov/alerts. Follow the City on Twitter at @santamonicacity, Facebook and Instagram at @CityofSantaMonica for developing updates on this situation. 

 

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Source Article from https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2020/05/31/santa-monica-prioritizing-life-and-safety-during-protests-and-looting

Horatio Gonzalez, 22, and Xitlalic Rosa, 23, traveled from Indiana to Chicago’s Federal Plaza on Saturday to attend their first protest. Outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago, a thick crowd of people surrounded a black SUV and destroyed it by hitting it with blunt objects, smashing the glass, opening the doors and ruining everything inside. Police in riot gear pressed the crowd back with batons.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-fear-settles-over-minneapolis-protests-and-violent-clashes-spread-across-the-us/2020/05/30/ece33416-a297-11ea-b5c9-570a91917d8d_story.html

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Source Article from https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/05/tanker-truck-george-floyd-protesters-minneapolis-bridge.html

By targeting antifa, however, Mr. Trump effectively paints all the protests with the brush of violent radicalism without addressing the underlying conditions that have driven many people to the streets. Demonstrations have broken out in at least 75 cities in recent days, with governors and mayors deploying the National Guard or imposing curfews on a scale not seen since the aftermath of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

While Mr. Trump has been a focus of anger, particularly among the crowds in Washington, aides repeatedly have tried to explain to him that the protests were not only about him, but about broader, systemic issues related to race, according to several people familiar with the discussions. Privately, advisers complained about his tweets, acknowledging that they were pouring fuel on an already incendiary situation.

“Those are not constructive tweets, without any question,” Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only black Republican in the Senate, said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “I’m thankful that we can have the conversation. We don’t always agree on any of his tweets beforehand, but we have the ability to sit down and dialogue on how we move this nation forward.”

Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor and supporter of Mr. Trump, said the president, with election looming in five months, is focused on catering to his core supporters rather than the nation at large. “Trump is far more divisive than past presidents,” Mr. Eberhart said. “His strength is stirring up his base, not calming the waters.”

Robert C. O’Brien, the president’s national security adviser, said the president would continue “to take a strong stand for law and order” even as he understood the anger over Mr. Floyd’s death.

“We want peaceful protesters who have real concerns about brutality and racism. They need to be able to go to the city hall. They need to be able to petition their government and let their voices be heard,” Mr. O’Brien said on “State of the Union” on CNN. “And they can’t be hijacked by these left-wing antifa militants who are burning down primarily communities in the African-American sections and the Hispanic sections of our city.”

But Mr. Trump’s absence rankled the Democrats he was criticizing.

“What I’d like to hear from the president is leadership,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “And I would like to hear a genuine care and concern for our communities and where we are with race relations in America.”

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/politics/trump-protests-george-floyd.html

WASHINGTON — Demonstrators clashed with police in the nation’s capital for a third consecutive night on Sunday, as multiple layers of law enforcement attempted to enforce a citywide curfew to stifle heated protests over the death of George Floyd.

Multiple fires broke out near Lafayette Park, just steps from the White House with fire trucks rushing to the scene. Police became more aggressive in using tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd as the 11 p.m. curfew drew closer. Loud noises were followed by screams and stampedes of protesters running to safety.

The anger of some demonstrators was palpable as they screamed obscenities at police who had formed a line, wearing shields and standing between protesters and the White House.

Some fled and escalated violence in the nearby streets. The windows of the AFL-CIO headquarters were smashed in. One man used a baseball bat to smash in the windows of cars.

Many protesters voiced their disapproval of the violent instigators, fearing that they would hijack the cause of combating police violence and achieving justice for Floyd.

Many businesses downtown had boarded up doors and windows in the area in anticipation of a night of looting.

D.C Mayor Muriel Bowser’s curfew was set to last through 6 a.m. Monday. The mayor had said as recently as Sunday afternoon that she was not planning on issuing a curfew. She also activated the Washington, D.C., National Guard to support the city’s Metropolitan Police Department.

U.S Marshals Service personnel and Drug Enforcement Administration agents were also deployed to the streets of Washington to assist police with security, Department of Justice spokesperson Kerri Kupec told NBC News — an extraordinary step for basic crowd control.

The standoff between law enforcement and protesters grew increasingly heated as the curfew neared. Police fenced off protesters and formed a line, donning shields and facing the crowd as some demonstrators threw empty water bottles in their direction. Others were screaming obscenities at them. Officers used tear gas, flash bangs and fireworks to move protesters away just feet from the White House.

Law enforcement blocked off streets in the areas surrounding the White House, as sign-waving demonstrators marched and chanted “no justice, no peace!”

A peaceful crowd gathered in front of the White House as the sun set.

“It’s really overwhelming as a black American — especially a black female that has black brothers, a black dad. It’s encouraging to see so much support right now,” said Melita Bell, 30, who works for a nonprofit in the D.C. area.

Bell put off seeing the Floyd video because she knew it would be harrowing. And it was.

“It’s just hard to see something like that and picture — that could have been my dad, that could have been my brother, that could have been my uncle,” she said. “Silence is violence. If you’re not showing up and making your voice heard you’re not supporting the black community.”

Another black woman, walking past Bell, waved a big green sign that read “Legalize Being BLACK.”

The crowd included good Samaritans — one woman was offering free hand sanitizer to protesters braving the coronavirus pandemic, while a man was picking up trash to keep the streets clean.

Moments before 8:30 p.m., the crowd began chanting “Black lives matter!” followed by “F— Trump!” and “This is what democracy looks like!” and “No justice, no peace!”

The protests were punctuated by moments of panic as crowds screamed and ran after being spooked by police.

One man who bolted said police threw a canister of what some feared was tear gas.

“I heard screaming and ran,” he said.

As crowds grew after sundown, the Secret Service issued a warning on Twitter: “In an effort to ensure public safety, pedestrians and motorists are encouraged to avoid streets and parks near the White House complex.”

The crowd skewed younger but was diverse — full of black and white protesters as well as some Latino and Asian Americans.

“Police have been a brutal oppressive force in this country since its inception,” said Gregory Kleinburd, a 27 year old white man, who is unemployed due to COVID-19.

“I just want to help. I don’t think any half-measures or anything short of sweeping reforms will actually address this issue,” Kleinburd said, proposing dramatic changes such as requiring officers who kill someone to leave the force.

At the White House a day earlier, police used pepper spray, tear gas and what appeared to be rubber bullets on protesters, seeking to push them back. Protesters tossed objects like bottles toward the police. Some pulled bricks out of a sidewalk near the park and began throwing them toward police.

The Washington, D.C. protests came amid nationwide demonstrations over the killing of Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Derek Chauvin, the since-fired officer who detained Floyd, a black man, was arrested and charged Friday with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Chauvin was seen on videotape holding his knee against Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he begged for mercy.

Three other officers were also involved in Floyd’s detainment.

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/d-c-mayor-issues-citywide-curfew-third-night-unrest-simmers-n1220601

Governors and mayors in states across the country where protests flared Friday night say a small number of demonstrators, and in some cases out-of-state agitators, are responsible for escalating the events with violence and property damage.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the protesters “are coming in largely from outside of the city, from outside of the region, to prey on everything we have built over the last several decades.”

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said every person who was arrested in the city Friday night was from out of state. “We don’t know these folks,” he said.

Carter later had to walk back his comments, saying he later learned the arrest data was “inaccurate.” But he wasn’t the only official in the state who blamed the violence on outsiders.

“Last night is a mockery of pretending this is about George Floyd’s death or inequities or historical traumas to communities of color,” said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Saturday. He estimated as much as 80 percent of those destroying property in the cities were not locals.

The Star Tribune reported that officials made 40 arrests Friday night in the Twin Cities primarily for burglary, breaking curfew and destruction of property, and that the local jail log showed people booked from Illinois, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, and Alaska.

Other local reports put the number between 36 and 69 — and note their investigations into the matter do not support the assertions of local officials.

According to reporting by Theo Keith at Minneapolis’s Fox 9, 84 percent of those arrested had local addresses; Brandon Stahl of the city’s KARE 11 reports 86 percent of those arrested Friday night (and Saturday morning) were local. John Elder, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis police department, told both outlets his department has found that arrested people often give false addresses, and that preliminary investigations have revealed arrest records in other states for a number of those currently in custody.

Walz has promised the data analyzed by state officials to arrive at the conclusions shared during the conference will be made public. It’s not yet clear whether such data could explain the discrepancy.

Concerns over violence come as Minnesota prepares to increase National Guard presence

Officials’ comments came as the state prepares to deploy the full Minnesota National Guard, which law enforcement has said would be the first time such action has been taken since World War II. Seven hundred soldiers had already been deployed in the cities and another 1,000 are expected.

Thousands of demonstrators have protested peacefully in the Twin Cities since Monday, when Floyd was killed by former police officer Derek Chauvin during an arrest in Minneapolis. Chauvin handcuffed and pinned Floyd down over reported suspicions Floyd passed a counterfeit $20 bill, with the incident recorded and shared widely on social media. Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, holding him to the ground, as he struggled and yelled, “I can’t breathe.” Onlookers begged Chauvin and three other former officers on the scene to relent as Floyd became unresponsive and was later pronounced dead.

Protesters in Minneapolis and around the country have marched peacefully following Floyd’s death, chanting some of Floyd’s final words, “I can’t breathe,” and holding signs demanding an end to police brutality.

But in many cities, protests have devolved into violent clashes with police who have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, burning and breaking into buildings, and destroying police cars. A top public safety official in Minneapolis estimated Saturday that tens of thousands of people have been involved in the protests that have overwhelmed local police forces.

During large protests like those unfolding in Minneapolis, it’s not uncommon for actors with different agendas to take advantage of chaotic moments.

As Jason Johnson, a politics and journalism professor at Morgan State University, argued, anarchists and “opportunistic criminals” often take advantage of these moments to break into stores or sow chaos.

They are usually dwarfed by peaceful protesters who march to demand action against longstanding issues with racial bias from police and can be differentiated from people he described as “revolutionaries” who target places like police precincts and big-box stores that can be symbols of oppression. Fires can also be started by police, whose tear gas canisters can remain hot for hours after they’ve been launched, and who have thrown emergency flares.

The protests over Floyd’s death have once again sparked conversation over what is the right way to protest and what will actually cause change. However they proceed, protesters in Minneapolis and elsewhere will likely continue to take to the streets to express pent-up anger over long-term racial disparities in treatment from law enforcement as systemic problems persist.

Update, May 31, 1 am ET: This article has been updated with St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s comments revising his earlier assertion on out-of-state arrests.


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Source Article from https://www.vox.com/2020/5/30/21275562/minnesota-protests-governor-walz-mayors-frey-carter-out-of-state-agitators-violence

Chicago will have a limited National Guard presence after a curfew was imposed over protests in response to George Floyd’s death, officials said Sunday.

“Governor [J.B.] Pritzker [D]—at my request—has ordered a small contingent of the National Guard to maintain a limited presence and support our police in order to ensure we don’t have a repeat of last night,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) said. 

She also said the city’s 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew will also remain in place “until further notice.” 

Pritzker (D) confirmed he is activating the Illinois National Guard at Lightfoot’s request.

“This is an immensely challenging moment for our city, our state, and our country, one born from decades and centuries of systemic racism,” Pritzker said in a statement. “To those peacefully expressing the pain, fear, and rage of this moment, I hear you. Your voices matter. We must address the profound injustices in our society and bring about real and meaningful change.” 

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said the National Guard’s presence will be on the “outer perimeter” of the downtown area, The Chicago Tribune reported

Pritzker activated 374 Illinois National Guard soldiers to assist the Chicago Police Department, according to the Tribune. 

Lightfoot said it is “absolutely devastating” to see images and read reports of “reckless destruction” across Chicago and the country. 

“I am still mourning the death of George Floyd, as so many of us are. I am still processing the pain from that injustice, even as we’ve turned our focus to confronting what happened last night . . . And I know so many of you are as well,” she said. 

“And that’s also why I am hurt and angry at those who decided to try hijack this moment and use it as an opportunity to bring havoc . . . to loot and destroy,” she added. 

Sometimes violent protests have broken out across the country in response to the death of Floyd, who died last week in Minneapolis shortly after he was arrested. Video footage of his arrest shows an officer kneeling on his neck as Floyd said he can’t breathe. 

The officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other Minneapolis officers were fired but not charged. 

Lightfoot said the violence during the local protests “dishonor” Chicago and its “long and proud legacy as a leader of bold and vibrant peaceful protest.” 

She also urged those who are “peacefully” protesting to wear face coverings and maintain safe social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

“COVID-19 is still very much alive in our city, and the highest risk of spread is in big crowds,” she added. 

Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/500353-chicago-to-have-limited-national-guard-presence-after-curfew-imposed