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Curfews Expire as California Assesses Damage From Unrest

Associated Press

   LOS ANGELES - Curfews expired early Monday as California cities
   assessed widespread damage following a weekend of violence, vandalism
   and arson amid passionate protests against the death of a handcuffed
   black man in Minneapolis police custody.

   National Guard soldiers deployed in Los Angeles and other cities to
   back up police forces who faced an uncertain day after Sunday's turmoil
   quieted down overnight.

   Thieves smashed their way in more than 20 cities into stores --
   carrying away armloads of sneakers, clothes and electronics.

   Armed members of the Guard protected Los Angeles City Hall on Sunday
   after upheaval in the nation's second-largest city and then rolled into
   suburban Santa Monica and Long Beach as throngs savaged businesses
   there.

   Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti denounced the mayhem as having nothing
   to do with protests by those outraged by the death of George Floyd, a
   handcuffed black man seen in a video pleading for air as a white
   Minneapolis officer pressed a knee on his neck.

   "Criminals are wrong to think that they can hijack this message,
   undermine this movement and divide us -- they will not," Garcetti said.

   Hundreds of people have been arrested during the disturbances that
   forced cities and counties to place millions of people under overnight
   curfews. In Los Angeles County, the tactic appeared to help quell
   trouble.

   Neighboring San Bernardino County said it would imposed a curfew Monday
   evening after there was vandalism and thefts at businesses a day
   earlier.

   In Sacramento, where no curfew was imposed, Sunday night brought more
   violence and destruction at businesses in the midtown area and near the
   Capitol after a largely peaceful daytime protest. Police fired tear gas
   and rubber bullets at those who ignored orders to leave.

   Other violence statewide included an arm wound suffered by a gunshot
   victim in Walnut Creek.

   And across the state, devastated shop owners cleaned up.

   In Emeryville, across the bay from San Francisco, where thieves stormed
   malls late Saturday, Keyla Calderon swept up glass outside the medical
   scrubs shop Uniform Advantage.

   Calderon's store had just reopened after being shuttered for six weeks
   under California's orders to stem spread of the coronavirus. She turned
   on the news to see scenes of people breaking into her shop and others.

   "To hear the alarm ring and see people destroy the store before my
   eyes, it was heartbreaking," Calderon said.

   In nearby Oakland, about 60 people were arrested, including three
   detained on suspicion of opening fire on police department headquarters
   early Monday. No officers were injured, authorities said.

   Gov. Gavin Newsom deployed 1,000 members of the Guard to assist the
   20,000 officers of the Los Angeles police and sheriff's departments,
   Garcetti said.

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