Aaron Landy watched for hours on Saturday night as people on foot and then in cars moved up and down Melrose Avenue looting stores and setting them on fire, doing wheelies in the street and tagging walls with graffiti.
All the while, not a single police cruiser rolled by, Landy said, even though officers were staged in huge numbers not far away, squaring off with protesters.
Landy’s longtime Fairfax neighborhood, it seemed to him, had been completely abandoned to lawlessness.
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Looters grab merchandise at the REI store in Santa Monica.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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L.A. County Sheriff SWAT officers stand guard after looters caused wide-spread damage in Santa Monica on Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Suspected looters sit handcuffed on Santa Monica Blvd. after being spotted running from a CVS store nearby.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Sake House employee, Jared Settles, can’t bear to watch as the restaurant burns in Santa Monica Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors embrace as another is led away in handcuffs on 5th St. in Santa Monica on Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters face off with police in downtown Santa Monica as unrest continues in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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A mannequin sits on a sidewalk after looters damaged businesses near the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A man guards a convenience store in downtown Santa Monica as looters plunder nearby stores as protestors Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters ransack stores in downtown Long Beach on Sunday.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester face off with police in downtown Santa Monica Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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A police officer inspects the damage to a Vons supermarket in Santa Monica hours after it was looted.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester is treated for a wound after being struck by a rubber bullet and before being arrested for unlawful assembly on 5th St. in Santa Monica Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters ransack a strip mall at the intersection of Seventh Street and Long Beach Boulevard in Long Beach on Sunday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters ransack a strip mall at the intersection of Seventh Street and Long Beach Boulevard in Long Beach on Sunday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A handcuffed woman sits outside a Rite Aid on the corner of Pine Ave and 6th in Long Beach as officers talk on Sunday.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Cecelia Rosales walks past a moving line of police at the corner of Broadway and 5th in Santa Monica.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester uses a hammer, the other a skateboard to smash windows at the Converse Store in Santa Monica.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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A protestor is taken away while being arrested for unlawful assembly on 5th St. in Santa Monica on Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A looter walks away with a surf board in Santa Monica Sunday as civil unrest continues over the death of George Floyd.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters rush out of the Patagonia Store on 4th Street in Santa Monica.
(Robert Gauthier/Robert Gauthier)
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Protesters walk through the streets of downtown Los Angeles after leaving Pershing Square on Sunday.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
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Residents cheer from above as protesters take to the streets in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
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The California National Guard is deployed at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, May 31, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
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A storefront on Melrose Avenue is cleaned up Sunday after being shattered.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
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Smashed windows at a BevMo on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles catch a bicyclist’s attention Sunday.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors sit along 3rd St. as a small fire burns behind them in the Fairfax District.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters stand on top of a burned LAPD cruiser as another burns at 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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People carry looted items taken from stores that were broken into, in the Fairfax District on Saturday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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People carry stolen items taken from stores that were broken into in the Fairfax District in Los Angeles.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A building on Melrose Ave is on fire Saturday night.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Police move in to arrest protesters in the Fairfax District in Los Angeles Saturday night.
( Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A couple consoles each other knowing they will be arrested along with protesters on Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Police and groups including Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and Build Power stand off at Pan Pacific Park on Saturday, May 30, 2020.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A police car is spray-painted with the name Floyd during a demonstration at Pan Pacific Park on Saturday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles police arrest a protesterat W 3rd St and S Fairfax Ave. in the Fairfax District on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Two women hug each other knowing they will be arrested along with other protesters on Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters yell at LAPD officers at 3rd St and Fairfax Ave on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters yell at LAPD officers at 3rd St and Fairfax Ave on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A skateboarder falls over a small fire set by protesters on 3rd St. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protestor is arrested by LAPD officers at 3rd St. and Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester kicks in the door of a Whole Foods Market in the Fairfax District Saturday,
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Police arrests looters at Whole Foods Market in the Fairfax District Saturday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A LAPD police car is engulfed in flames as protest turned violent Saturday in the Fairfax District Saturday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester falls to the ground after being shot with a rubber projectile from LAPD officers at 3rd St. and Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester runs for safety after being shot with a rubber projectile from LAPD officers at 3rd St. and Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protestor refuses to be arrested as he holds his dog at 3rd St. and Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters run from the Apple Store at The Grove on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Chief of Police for Los Angeles, Michel Moore, tells protesters that the Fairfax District is closed Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester is arrested in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles on Saturday, May 30, 2020.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Police yell at protester in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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As police watch, protesters demonstrate at the Farmers Market Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters gather at Pan Pacific Park on Saturday, May 30. The peaceful protest turned violent later in the day.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A caravan of cars protesting the killing of George Floyd rally in front of LAPD Headquarters on Saturday.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters ransack a Walgreens store along Broadway in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Police officers react to a firecracker thrown by protesters on Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Shop owners put up plywood at Superare Fight Shop after looters and vandals ransacked businesses along Melrose Ave. in the Melrose District on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters and vandals ransack Spokes ‘N Stuff at Melrose Ave. and Ogden Dr. in the Melrose District on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters break windows along Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Orange County Sheriff deputies maintain a police block as a firecracker thrown by a protester explodes behind them during a protest Saturday in Santa Ana.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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As fireworks explode in the background, Michelle Usher of Santa Ana, middle, prays in the street at the intersection of McFadden Avenue and Bristol Street in Santa Ana Saturday night.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester confronts Orange County Sheriff deputies who formed a police block to push demonstrators away from the intersection of McFaden Avenue and Bristol Street Saturday in Santa Ana.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester wipes tears as she listens to an impassioned speaker during a demonstration against the death of George Floyd during the coronavirus pandemic on Saturday in Orange.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters run from a jewelry store as LAPD officers approach in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters run from a jewelry store as LAPD officers approach in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters gather around a fire in the middle of the street in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, May 29, 2020.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester breaks a window with a bat to a business in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A looter steals liquor bottles from Terroni restaurant on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters raise their arms at LAPD officers on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protestwr trips and falls as LAPD officers approach on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters hold hands as they walk through a construction site to escape LAPD officers in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A Starbucks is looted along Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A looter steals extra virgin olive oil from Terroni restaurant in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Police keep their eyes on protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, May 29, 2020.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A firework is ignited as protesters demonstrate in downtown on Friday, May 29, 2020, in Los Angeles.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester raises his arms as LAPD officers approach on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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An MTA bus is vandalized in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters start a fire on Seventh Street in downtown Los Angeles on Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters break into a Rite Aid store in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, May 29, 2020.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times
)
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Looters take liquor and beer from a Rite Aid store in downtown Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters take jewelry from a store in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A police officer keeps an eye on protesters in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Police move past a fire set by protesters in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters look for jewelry on the floor at a jewelry store in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters run from a jewelry store as LAPD officers approach in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A police cruiser drives past a fire in the middle of the street in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester throws a wooden pallet on a fire on Seventh Street in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall early Saturday morning.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A man smashes the window of a business in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Police fire percussion rounds to clear protesters from Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Luis Sinco)
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A protester remains defiant after being pushed to the ground by police on Grand Avenue in in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall as they demonstrate in downtown on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A police officer arrests a protester.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Police try to contain protesters in downtown Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall Saturday morning.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall as they demonstrate in downtown Saturday morning.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters block the 110 Freeway downtown.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters march onto the 110 Freeway.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters are escorted off the 110 Freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester is escorted off the freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters climb over a fence near the 110 Freeway.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters on the freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters on the Harbor Freeway.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Police officers assume a defensive stance as a protester approaches them on the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester grimaces in pain.
( Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Police officers escort a protester off the northbound lanes of the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles police patrol the 110 freeway after chasing protestors off Friday, May 29.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester rides a skateboard on the 110 Freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters on the 110 Freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters packs Wilshire Blvd overlooking the 110 freeway on Friday, May 29.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Police officers form a human barrier against protesters gathered near the intersection of Fifth and Olive streets in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Police restrain a protester near the intersection of Fifth and Olive streets.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester celebrates after vandalizing a police cruiser.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Garbage lands on police officers as they confront protesters near the intersection of Fifth and Olive streets.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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An LAPD officer prepares to push protesters back.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall as they demonstrate in downtown Friday night.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters face off with a large law enforcement presence in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestwrs demonstrate in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, May 29.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester confronts LAPD officers.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters raise their hands a police block their way in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Elyssa Wells calls out as she and others sit on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Dozens of protestors stand off with police May 28 on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Police speed along Third Street in downtown Los Angeles in response to a demonstration by hundreds of people.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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LAPD officers hold the line against dozens of protesters on Grand Avenue.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Dozens of protesters, many with the Black Lives Matters-LA movement, stand off with police.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester jumps in the street to block an oncoming California Highway Patrol vehicle in Los Angeles.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester tosses a bottle of water on a CHP vehicle as other protesters swarm the car at a rally in front of LAPD headquarters.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters link hands May 27 across the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles in a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Two people stand on a police vehicle during Wednesday’s Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Los Angeles.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Harina Yacob, 26, of Los Angeles wears a mask reading, “Please, I can’t breathe,” which Floyd is heard saying in video of a police officer kneeling on his neck.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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People tend to the injured protester on the 101 Freeway near downtown Los Angeles.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters cheer as the injured demonstrator is helped to his feet by firefighters.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters link hands and raise their arms on the 101 during Wednesday’s protest.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Black Lives Matter protesters march in downtown L.A.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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The killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis sparked this and other nationwide protests.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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Myche Barriere, 23, left, and Annika Sillemon, 16, carry signs at Wednesday’s protest.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters surround a California Highway Patrol cruiser in downtown Los Angeles.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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Kika Villareal, 27, left, and daughter Aubrie join Wednesday’s protesters downtown.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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Black Lives Matter protesters gather in downtown L.A.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester sits at the intersection of South Hill and West 2nd streets during the L.A. protest.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters watch the demonstration at South Hill and West 2nd streets.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester silently approaches an officer.
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters on a downtown Los Angeles street.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters cross Broadway, heading toward Hill Street.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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A worker cleans up at a BevMo on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles on Sunday.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
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Paige Esquivel paints over graffiti at the Paper Bag Princess, a shop on Melrose Avenue where she works, on Sunday.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
“Where are the police? They’re nowhere. There’s not a policeman in sight. It’s just like a free-for-all,” Landy remembered thinking. “It was just shocking. I was outraged.”
He wasn’t alone. From the Grove shopping mall and Santa Monica’s business district to downtown Long Beach, television beamed live images all weekend of looters breaking into stores and stealing merchandise — often without officers in sight.
The mass protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody have proved a vexing challenge for law enforcement agencies. They have been encouraging peaceful demonstrations, but in recent days watched them devolve as looters and vandals broke off from the peaceful protesters, stealing and setting fires.
Police have often found themselves outmanned as they tried to control protests while also trying to chase down the looters, some of whom have moved through demonstration areas in cars hitting numerous businesses. One Los Angeles councilman likened the looting of a computer store on Melrose Avenue to a McDonald’s drive-through, which went unchecked and broadcast live for some time.
The L.A. Police Department had to have officers deployed around the city, because it was not sure where protesters and looters would hit. So when the Fairfax District became the focus of Saturday’s activities, it took hours for the LAPD to marshal more resources for the area.
Mayor Eric Garcetti has praised police officers for their restraint, even as he has sought to commiserate with protesters over their anger about Floyd’s death. He told them they had every right to be out in the street protesting, before instituting a curfew Saturday night to stem what he said was growing violence in the streets.
Earlier on Saturday, Police Chief Michel Moore got cheers from a crowd after he condemned the actions of Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes leading up to his death, and who has been criminally charged in the case. But later, when violence erupted and fires started to be set, Moore declared gatherings unlawful, ordered people to disperse and began deploying “strategies that we know are harsh and are strong but that we know are necessary” to keep people safe, he said Sunday.
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Looters grab merchandise at the REI store in Santa Monica.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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L.A. County Sheriff SWAT officers stand guard after looters caused wide-spread damage in Santa Monica on Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Suspected looters sit handcuffed on Santa Monica Blvd. after being spotted running from a CVS store nearby.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Sake House employee, Jared Settles, can’t bear to watch as the restaurant burns in Santa Monica Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors embrace as another is led away in handcuffs on 5th St. in Santa Monica on Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters face off with police in downtown Santa Monica as unrest continues in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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A mannequin sits on a sidewalk after looters damaged businesses near the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A man guards a convenience store in downtown Santa Monica as looters plunder nearby stores as protestors Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters ransack stores in downtown Long Beach on Sunday.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester face off with police in downtown Santa Monica Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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A police officer inspects the damage to a Vons supermarket in Santa Monica hours after it was looted.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester is treated for a wound after being struck by a rubber bullet and before being arrested for unlawful assembly on 5th St. in Santa Monica Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters ransack a strip mall at the intersection of Seventh Street and Long Beach Boulevard in Long Beach on Sunday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters ransack a strip mall at the intersection of Seventh Street and Long Beach Boulevard in Long Beach on Sunday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A handcuffed woman sits outside a Rite Aid on the corner of Pine Ave and 6th in Long Beach as officers talk on Sunday.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Cecelia Rosales walks past a moving line of police at the corner of Broadway and 5th in Santa Monica.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester uses a hammer, the other a skateboard to smash windows at the Converse Store in Santa Monica.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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A protestor is taken away while being arrested for unlawful assembly on 5th St. in Santa Monica on Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A looter walks away with a surf board in Santa Monica Sunday as civil unrest continues over the death of George Floyd.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters rush out of the Patagonia Store on 4th Street in Santa Monica.
(Robert Gauthier/Robert Gauthier)
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Protesters walk through the streets of downtown Los Angeles after leaving Pershing Square on Sunday.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
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Residents cheer from above as protesters take to the streets in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
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The California National Guard is deployed at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, May 31, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
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A storefront on Melrose Avenue is cleaned up Sunday after being shattered.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
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Smashed windows at a BevMo on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles catch a bicyclist’s attention Sunday.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors sit along 3rd St. as a small fire burns behind them in the Fairfax District.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters stand on top of a burned LAPD cruiser as another burns at 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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People carry looted items taken from stores that were broken into, in the Fairfax District on Saturday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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People carry stolen items taken from stores that were broken into in the Fairfax District in Los Angeles.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A building on Melrose Ave is on fire Saturday night.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Police move in to arrest protesters in the Fairfax District in Los Angeles Saturday night.
( Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A couple consoles each other knowing they will be arrested along with protesters on Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Police and groups including Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and Build Power stand off at Pan Pacific Park on Saturday, May 30, 2020.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A police car is spray-painted with the name Floyd during a demonstration at Pan Pacific Park on Saturday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles police arrest a protesterat W 3rd St and S Fairfax Ave. in the Fairfax District on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Two women hug each other knowing they will be arrested along with other protesters on Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters yell at LAPD officers at 3rd St and Fairfax Ave on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters yell at LAPD officers at 3rd St and Fairfax Ave on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A skateboarder falls over a small fire set by protesters on 3rd St. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protestor is arrested by LAPD officers at 3rd St. and Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester kicks in the door of a Whole Foods Market in the Fairfax District Saturday,
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Police arrests looters at Whole Foods Market in the Fairfax District Saturday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A LAPD police car is engulfed in flames as protest turned violent Saturday in the Fairfax District Saturday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester falls to the ground after being shot with a rubber projectile from LAPD officers at 3rd St. and Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester runs for safety after being shot with a rubber projectile from LAPD officers at 3rd St. and Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protestor refuses to be arrested as he holds his dog at 3rd St. and Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters run from the Apple Store at The Grove on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Chief of Police for Los Angeles, Michel Moore, tells protesters that the Fairfax District is closed Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester is arrested in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles on Saturday, May 30, 2020.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Police yell at protester in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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As police watch, protesters demonstrate at the Farmers Market Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters gather at Pan Pacific Park on Saturday, May 30. The peaceful protest turned violent later in the day.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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A caravan of cars protesting the killing of George Floyd rally in front of LAPD Headquarters on Saturday.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters ransack a Walgreens store along Broadway in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Police officers react to a firecracker thrown by protesters on Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Shop owners put up plywood at Superare Fight Shop after looters and vandals ransacked businesses along Melrose Ave. in the Melrose District on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters and vandals ransack Spokes ‘N Stuff at Melrose Ave. and Ogden Dr. in the Melrose District on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters break windows along Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Orange County Sheriff deputies maintain a police block as a firecracker thrown by a protester explodes behind them during a protest Saturday in Santa Ana.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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As fireworks explode in the background, Michelle Usher of Santa Ana, middle, prays in the street at the intersection of McFadden Avenue and Bristol Street in Santa Ana Saturday night.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester confronts Orange County Sheriff deputies who formed a police block to push demonstrators away from the intersection of McFaden Avenue and Bristol Street Saturday in Santa Ana.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester wipes tears as she listens to an impassioned speaker during a demonstration against the death of George Floyd during the coronavirus pandemic on Saturday in Orange.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters run from a jewelry store as LAPD officers approach in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters run from a jewelry store as LAPD officers approach in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters gather around a fire in the middle of the street in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, May 29, 2020.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester breaks a window with a bat to a business in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A looter steals liquor bottles from Terroni restaurant on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters raise their arms at LAPD officers on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protestwr trips and falls as LAPD officers approach on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters hold hands as they walk through a construction site to escape LAPD officers in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A Starbucks is looted along Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A looter steals extra virgin olive oil from Terroni restaurant in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Police keep their eyes on protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, May 29, 2020.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A firework is ignited as protesters demonstrate in downtown on Friday, May 29, 2020, in Los Angeles.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester raises his arms as LAPD officers approach on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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An MTA bus is vandalized in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters start a fire on Seventh Street in downtown Los Angeles on Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters break into a Rite Aid store in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, May 29, 2020.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times
)
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Looters take liquor and beer from a Rite Aid store in downtown Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters take jewelry from a store in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A police officer keeps an eye on protesters in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Police move past a fire set by protesters in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters look for jewelry on the floor at a jewelry store in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Looters run from a jewelry store as LAPD officers approach in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A police cruiser drives past a fire in the middle of the street in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester throws a wooden pallet on a fire on Seventh Street in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall early Saturday morning.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A man smashes the window of a business in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Police fire percussion rounds to clear protesters from Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Luis Sinco)
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A protester remains defiant after being pushed to the ground by police on Grand Avenue in in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall as they demonstrate in downtown on Saturday.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A police officer arrests a protester.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Police try to contain protesters in downtown Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall Saturday morning.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall as they demonstrate in downtown Saturday morning.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters block the 110 Freeway downtown.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters march onto the 110 Freeway.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters are escorted off the 110 Freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester is escorted off the freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters climb over a fence near the 110 Freeway.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters on the freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters on the Harbor Freeway.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Police officers assume a defensive stance as a protester approaches them on the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester grimaces in pain.
( Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Police officers escort a protester off the northbound lanes of the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles police patrol the 110 freeway after chasing protestors off Friday, May 29.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester rides a skateboard on the 110 Freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters on the 110 Freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters packs Wilshire Blvd overlooking the 110 freeway on Friday, May 29.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Police officers form a human barrier against protesters gathered near the intersection of Fifth and Olive streets in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Police restrain a protester near the intersection of Fifth and Olive streets.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester celebrates after vandalizing a police cruiser.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Garbage lands on police officers as they confront protesters near the intersection of Fifth and Olive streets.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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An LAPD officer prepares to push protesters back.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall as they demonstrate in downtown Friday night.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters face off with a large law enforcement presence in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestwrs demonstrate in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, May 29.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester confronts LAPD officers.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters raise their hands a police block their way in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Elyssa Wells calls out as she and others sit on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Dozens of protestors stand off with police May 28 on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Police speed along Third Street in downtown Los Angeles in response to a demonstration by hundreds of people.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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LAPD officers hold the line against dozens of protesters on Grand Avenue.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Dozens of protesters, many with the Black Lives Matters-LA movement, stand off with police.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester jumps in the street to block an oncoming California Highway Patrol vehicle in Los Angeles.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester tosses a bottle of water on a CHP vehicle as other protesters swarm the car at a rally in front of LAPD headquarters.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters link hands May 27 across the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles in a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Two people stand on a police vehicle during Wednesday’s Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Los Angeles.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Harina Yacob, 26, of Los Angeles wears a mask reading, “Please, I can’t breathe,” which Floyd is heard saying in video of a police officer kneeling on his neck.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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People tend to the injured protester on the 101 Freeway near downtown Los Angeles.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters cheer as the injured demonstrator is helped to his feet by firefighters.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters link hands and raise their arms on the 101 during Wednesday’s protest.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Black Lives Matter protesters march in downtown L.A.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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The killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis sparked this and other nationwide protests.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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Myche Barriere, 23, left, and Annika Sillemon, 16, carry signs at Wednesday’s protest.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters surround a California Highway Patrol cruiser in downtown Los Angeles.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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Kika Villareal, 27, left, and daughter Aubrie join Wednesday’s protesters downtown.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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Black Lives Matter protesters gather in downtown L.A.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester sits at the intersection of South Hill and West 2nd streets during the L.A. protest.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters watch the demonstration at South Hill and West 2nd streets.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester silently approaches an officer.
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters on a downtown Los Angeles street.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters cross Broadway, heading toward Hill Street.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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A worker cleans up at a BevMo on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles on Sunday.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
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Paige Esquivel paints over graffiti at the Paper Bag Princess, a shop on Melrose Avenue where she works, on Sunday.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Moore said officers showed tremendous effort in a tough situation, where acts of violence and dangerous situations were cropping up all around them.
“It wasn’t perfect, our actions will never be. But our commitment to this community is to do our very best and I am proud of what I’ve seen,” he said.
Garcetti said Moore never came to him and said he did not have enough officers. Still, Garcetti said the escalation of events merited asking for the National Guard to provide some much-needed relief for a department that was spread thin.
Both Garcetti and Moore said they were conscious of striking the right tone in part because the LAPD has not done so in the past.
In 2007, the LAPD took blame for a melee that broke out in MacArthur Park, where TV footage showed officers swinging batons and firing less-than-lethal rounds at immigration rights protesters and journalists, leading to a stack of claims of excessive force.
The LAPD’s failure to quickly respond to rioting after the acquittal of officers in the beating of Rodney King in 1992 continue to haunt the city and its leaders.
Some said Sunday that, with protests continuing to play out across the city even with the National Guard in town, it was premature to judge the department’s response to the latest unrest.
“It’s way too early,” said Lt. Craig Lally, president of the police union that represents LAPD officers. “Every situation is different.”
On Sunday, the LAPD found itself caught in the middle, with some protesters saying officers were too aggressive, and some merchants and residents saying they were not aggressive enough.
Protesters have questioned the department’s commitment to deescalation and blamed LAPD officers in riot gear for stoking tensions. They have blasted police for shooting protesters with beanbags and rubber bullets to disperse them, and said clashes between protesters and police skirmish lines were largely the result of police aggression.
Chris Murillo, 36, of Santa Ana, who said he was shot with a projectile in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday evening, said the officers had opened fire without reason or warning. He said the use of force was indicative of a broader trend in law enforcement, of intimidating citizens into compliance without justification.
“A lot of different emotions right now,” Murillo said of being shot. “I don’t want to get arrested, but this is something that’s important to me.”
Other longtime residents and business owners, meanwhile, also said the police were in the wrong, but for different reasons. They said they felt police weren’t tough enough with looters on Saturday, sticking to large tactical formations and tracking protesters even as they abandoned other streets to criminals hellbent on filling their cars with stolen goods and torching establishments.
And, some law enforcement officials, current and retired, also criticized the LAPD response, saying it was riddled with flaws — from acquiescing to protesters gathering in huge numbers in a business district like Fairfax, to delaying two moves that would have increased manpower sooner: mobilizing the entire police force into action by canceling off-days and vacations, and calling in the National Guard.
Well into Saturday afternoon, Garcetti dismissed the idea of calling in the National Guard, saying the LAPD had the situation under control and calling on Angelenos and show their “better angels” by avoiding mayhem. He requested the guard enter the city hours later, leading to their arrival in the overnight hours.
LAPD teams led by Moore had pushed a large protest group through Fairfax. After the protest at Pan Pacific Park began spilling outward, police asked protesters to disperse but were ignored. Moore said he considered arresting everyone, but there were too many protesters and not enough officers.
So, “rather than get in a physical fight with everyone,” he said, he determined the group simply had to be dispersed — and that the direction to push them was north. To the east, there were more protesters and the police command center, he said. To the west, there were burning vehicles.
To the north, there were more businesses, including on Melrose Avenue. But it was the only way to go, Moore said.
Charles “Sid” Heal, a retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s commander, said the LAPD decision to allow protesters access to an area like the Grove and Farmers Market was a miscalculation. Keeping crowds away from vulnerable areas is a key part of crowd control, he said.
“That means place sentries where you don’t want them to go in advance,” Heal said.
He also questioned Moore’s decision to be on the ground in one specific neighborhood, interacting with individual arrestees himself, instead of being in a command center where he could assess the entire picture of protest and unrest across the city.
Being on the front lines can endear a police leader to his officers, but doesn’t make much tactical sense, he said.
“As a commander, you need situational awareness. You need to be able to see the entire events to best manage and decide how to respond,” Heal said. “As a leader, you don’t want to get down in the weeds.”
Councilman Paul Koretz said he spoke to Rick Caruso, the developer of the Grove and a former police commissioner, “before it got as bad as it was,” and Caruso was not happy.
“I would just say that he did not think well of the City Council and the mayor [and] our ability to protect the city and the businesses,” Koretz said. “It is devastating.”
Caruso declined to comment.
Lally, of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said commanders often can get a better sense of a situation by being on the ground, as Moore was, and that officers have been doing an exemplary job given what they are facing.
“These officers are taking rocks and bottles, they’re being punched, and yet I think they’re very restrained and professional. They’re also getting tired. They’ve been out there for days now,” he said.
He also said that people judging the LAPD’s tactics from the outside looking in should be careful with their words given they don’t have all the facts.
“Unless you are there and seeing what’s on the ground, I don’t know how anybody can second-guess anyone,” he said.
Others say they spent hours observing the response directly, and found it lacking.
Landy, a 59-year-old filmmaker who had been taking video of the mayhem, ended his Saturday night in the emergency room getting a head scan after being attacked by four men who believed he had recorded them looting stores, he said.
Throughout the night, he said he observed a city that had been left to be destroyed, in ways that were, in his judgment, entirely preventable. A single store would be looted two, three or four times in a row, before finally being set ablaze, he said.
Landy and other locals personally prevented multiple fires that otherwise would have taken off, he said, including by pulling a burning mannequin out of Urban Outfitters. Neither police nor fire officials responded.
“It was just madness. And you were like, ‘Where is a cop? Where is a single cop?’” Landy said. “It was just an absolutely failed strategy.”
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
