As darkness fell on Los Angeles Saturday night, two of the city’s most famous retail strips — Melrose and Fairfax avenues — became a focus for looting and vandalism.
Several businesses on Melrose Avenue, a trendy row of design and clothing stores, were looted. One building was set on fire and burned for hours.
Dozens of looters ran into an Adidas store on Melrose and Edinburgh avenues at 9:45 p.m., running out with blue boxes of shoes. Empty shoe boxes and glass littered the sidewalk outside the store.
Cars honked as the looting continued.
Two men stood across the street watching the scene unfold together.
“It’s horrible. They need any excuse just to take something,” said Mel, a 39-year-old Compton resident who would provide only his first name.
Mel said he came to the area to witness this part of the country’s history.
“It’s going to be in the news,” he said. “It’s going to be like the Watts riots. I wasn’t really alive for it, but I was alive for this one. I’ll tell my kids and family members what happened.”
Mariana Solaris, 20, of San Bernardino was walking along Melrose when police fired foam pellets. “I came out peacefully to show my support, and the police are aiming right at me. To feel and experience it for myself — to have to run — I’m still shivering.
“I saw this on the news earlier tonight, and I thought, ‘No way is it really like that out there with the police.’ So I came out to see. And, yeah, it’s really like that.”
“Sometimes peaceful is not enough,” said Alexis Equihua, 20, who was marching along Melrose at 11 p.m., as rioters destroyed storefronts and stole goods. “I’m not one of the people vandalizing, but honestly, I get it. They feel like actions speak louder than words.”
Numerous stores were also vandalized on Fairfax Avenue, which has become a streetwear haven. Protesters set fires in the street.
Travon Walton, a 25-year-old student from Long Beach, arrived in the Fairfax area in the afternoon to join the protests.
He said that he saw many nonblack protesters inciting the police from up close and worries that the black community will receive the blame.
“All the white people are in the front,” he said. “We’re going to be the ones that get the backlash.”
This was his first protest, and he planned to leave after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew.
“We thought we’d just come out here to have a peaceful protest,” he said, “but as you can see it’s not that at all.”
In front of Shorty’s Barber Shop on Fairfax Avenue, a group of hooting protesters lit a dumpster on fire just after 10 p.m. and then moved it into the middle of the street.
A fire burning inside it quickly grew larger. A female protester posed for a photo in front of the dumpster while others bearing cardboard signs watched the flames from the sidewalk.
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Protesters stand on top of a burned LAPD cruiser as another burns at 3rd St. and Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles Saturday.
(Wally Skalij / 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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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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A protester yells out along 2nd and Spring streets in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester throws a fire department firehose on a fire in the middle of the street in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Luis Sinco/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 protester blocks an LAPD vehicle from passing along 1st Street 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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Protesters scale a chainlink fence to escape from police 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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CHP officers protect themselves from protesters on the northbound 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
(Wally Skalij / 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 block traffic as they momentarily occupy the northbound lanes of the Harbor Freeway.
(Luis Sinco / 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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A protester stands above the northbound 110 Freeway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Traffic backs up after protesters block the northbound lanes of the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/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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A protester lies injured on the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.
(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / 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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People stand on the side of the 101 Freeway during the Black Lives Matter protest.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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The marchers exit the freeway, but they continued to protest off Aliso Street.
(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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L.A. protesters make their presence known.
(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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Jaime Carter holds a U.S. flag as a fellow protester torches it.
(Dania Maxwell / 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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A looter takes a suitcase stuffed with stolen clothing from a Fallas Paredes 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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LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – MAY 30, 2020. Police react to projectiles thrown by protesters on Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, May 30, 2020. About 200 people marched through downtown streets, slowing traffic and keeping ahead of police trying to cut them off. Looting and the destruction of public and private property has spread across the country in the wake of the the police killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
(Luis Sinco/Luis Sinco)
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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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LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – MAY 30, 2020. Police remove a burning trash can left by protesters on Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, May 30, 2020. About 200 people marched through downtown streets, slowing traffic and keeping ahead of police trying to cut them off. Looting and the destruction of public and private property has spread across the country in the wake of the the police killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
(Luis Sinco/Luis Sinco)
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Police arrest two men and a woman for violating the curfew along Broadway in downtown Los Angeles Saturday.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – MAY 30, 2020. Police officers stand outside a looted store on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, May 30, 2020. About 200 people marched through downtown streets, slowing traffic and keeping ahead of police trying to cut them off. Looting and the destruction of public and private property has spread across the country in the wake of the the police killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
(Luis Sinco/Luis Sinco)
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LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – MAY 30, 2020. Motorists go on a jjoyride down Main Street in downtown Los Angeles despite an 8 p.m. curfew on Saturday, May 30, 2020. About 200 people marched through downtown streets, slowing traffic and keeping ahead of police trying to cut them off. Looting and the destruction of public and private property has spread across the country in the wake of the the police killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
(Luis Sinco/Luis Sinco)
