It was the kind of scene that, it seems, only this tumultuous year of 2020 could produce.
With the National Guard patrolling the streets of Los Angeles after several nights of looting, violence and fires, hundreds of people gathered downtown to protest the death of George Floyd and police brutality against so many other black people. After weeks of calls for strict social distancing amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Eric Garcetti joined the crowd, took a knee and pulled down his blue Los Angeles Dodgers face mask to speak.
As he spoke, chants rang out: “Defund the police!”
Los Angeles County was, yet again, under a sweeping overnight curfew, and the nation was on edge after seven nights of chaotic protests and threats by President Trump to deploy “thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers” to American cities.
At the protests downtown, many of those gathered Tuesday decried comments made by Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore, who said looters across Southern California over the weekend were “capitalizing” on the death of George Floyd.
“We didn’t have protests last night — we had criminal acts,” Moore said during a news conference with Garcetti on Monday night. “We didn’t have people mourning the death of this man, George Floyd — we had people capitalizing. His death is on their hands as much as it is those officers.”
Moore apologized minutes later, saying he “misspoke when I said his blood is on their hands” and that he regretted “that characterization.”
“But I don’t regret, nor will I apologize, to those who are out there today committing violence, destroying lives and livelihoods and creating this destruction,” Moore said. “His memory deserves reform. His memory deserves a better Los Angeles, a better United States and a better world.”
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A protester dances on top of Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during a demonstration by members of Refuse Fascism who are calling an end to the Trump administration on June 20, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Deborah Jay Winams cries after singing a song at a Black Lives Matter Los Angeles rally to call for justice in the fatal shooting of Kenneth Ross Jr. by Gardena police in 2018. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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People participate in the All Black Lives Matter march in West Hollywood on Sunday, June 14. Thousands of demonstrators marched for racial justice and LGBTQ rights. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester waves a rainbow flag on Sunset Boulevard during the All Black Lives Matter march on Sunday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Thousands hold up signs and march in the All Black Lives Matter solidarity protest on Hollywood Boulevard. The procession started at Hollywood and Highland and moved into West Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Jason De Puy of West Hollywood wears a mask that reads “Black Trans Lives Matter” as people fill Hollywood Boulevard during a solidarity march called All Black Lives Matter on Sunday, June 14. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters hold up signs at the All Black Lives Matter march, which was organized by Black LGBTQ leaders and organizations in place of a previously planned event by the group behind LA Pride. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters march, raising fists and signs in the air, on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood on Sunday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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The Compton Cowboys ride horseback down South Tamarind Avenue, joining thousand of protesters Sunday during the Compton peace ride, which ended at City Hall. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook speaks to the crowd of protesters and the Compton Cowboys at the end of a peace walk at Compton City Hall on Sunday. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Elijah Estrada, 6, holds up his fist for 8:46, the length of time George Floyd was held down by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, at the conclusion of a peace ride and walk with the Compton Cowboys at Compton City Hall on Sunday. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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A family member of Breonna Taylor, right, is hugged by another woman after speaking to protesters in Beverly Hills Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A woman tries to get between Black Lives Matter protesters and pro-Trump counter protesters during a demonstration at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Regina Scott takes knee next to Johnathan Jasper, brother of slain teen Anthony Weber, during a rally in front of LA City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s office Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester yells in front of a Black Lives Matter mural with the names of victims on Fairfax Ave. during a march Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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David Blackgold hugs Huntington Beach police officer K. Wood during a Black Lives Matter protest in Huntington Beach Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A National Guardsman holds a rose given to him by a protester along Fairfax Ave. during a march Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A Black Lives Matter protester blows bubbles by a police line in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester lies on the ground under his horse with his hands behind his back as demonstrators including some on horseback rally in front of LA City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s office in Los Angeles Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Tempers flare between Black Lives Matter demonstratiors and pro-Trump counterprotesters in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Black Lives Matter demonstrators raise clenched fist in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Mek Bitul held up a sign with the words, “This Is The Tipping Point!!!” in front of City Hall, joining nearly 1,000 people gathered to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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Katyana DeCampos, a citizen of France visiting California, marched with a sign with the words “Anti Racism,” joining nearly 1,000 people gathered to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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Zoe Perkins, 4, of Glendale and her mother brought flowers to the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles to protest the death of George Floyd. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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LAPD Chief Michel Moore, left, talks with community leaders outside police headquarters after a candlelight vigil for George Floyd on Friday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A man lays a rose at the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Braydon Deauce White, 4, fist-bumps a National Guardsman at LAPD headquarters Thursday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Allison Bracy of Fontana hugs daughter Brielle Bracy, 10, while attending a rally in Riverside on Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester drapes himself with a flag during a demonstration in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Gustavo R. Ramirez of Pomona kneels in front of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters at Moonlight State Beach in Encinitas. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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Crowds gather in downtown L.A. to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. At 9 p.m., for exactly 8 minutes and 46 seconds, protesters shone lights into the sky. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters dance on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles as a march attracted thousands of people. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Thousands of protesters gather at the Los Angeles Civic Center. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Stephen Chang, 32, left, of Silver Lake, with an American flag draped over his head, joins other demonstrators at the intersection of Spring and Temple streets in downtown Los Angeles, as they protest against L.A. Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and also demand justice in the death of George Floyd. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
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Miles Miles, 8, left, and Memphis Miley, 6, center, of Newport Beach, join protest against racism in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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Protester Vailing high-fives National Guardsmen as they march through Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters march through a residential neighborhood in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters walk through a residential neighborhood in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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A L.A. Sheriff’s deputy watches as protester Annik Chung holds a sign while cheering on marchers along La Brea Ave. in Hollywood. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Mustafa-Ali, 27, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, joins other demonstrators as they protest on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
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Paul Villalobos, 28, from Oakland, joins other demonstrators as they protest on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
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A huge crowd gathers in downtown Los Angeles to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors march through downtown Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Riverside County Sheriff Lt Chris Durham tries to calm nerves after hundreds of demonstrators that marched to the police station protest the death of George Floyd in Moreno Valley. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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In a sign of peace, protesters reach out to Riverside County Sheriff deputies, who were there to enforce an 8pm curfew during a demonstration to protest the death of George Floyd’s in Moreno Valley. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Hundreds of demonstrators block traffic as they march down both sides of Balboa Blvd. to protest against racism in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters march through West Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd during march on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters march through West Hollywood to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd during march on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors rally on the steps Anaheim City Hall steps against last week’s in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Bando Kev prays along Hollywood Blvd. in front of the National Guard and near TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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A couple promote peace on Highland Ave. in Hollywood as protesters continue to demonstrate. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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Makenzie Anderson, 2, rides on her father, Shawn’s shoulders as they join hundreds of protesters marching throughout downtown. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Marcus Owen, yells out chants for George Floyd as hundreds of protesters gather outside City Hall in a daylong protest. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Hussain Sharif, left, Mari Drake, and Thomas Rosado chant as they ride along with hundreds of protesters at a downtown demonstration. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Hundreds of protesters march throughout downtown ending with many arrested for curfew violations. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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“Hands up. Don’t shoot,” say hundreds participating in a march against the of George Floyd on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice onTuesday. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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Members of the California National Guard flash peace signs after protesters had marched by in support of Black Lives Matter in Venice. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters shoot hoops while taking a break from marching against the death of George Floyd by police on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice on Tuesday. The basketball hoop was attached to the front of a bus that followed the protest for a while. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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Several hundred protesters take a knee and hold their fists in the air during a moment of silence to honor George Floyd during a peaceful protest march from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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A woman stands next to an image of George Floyd as hundreds participate in a march against the in-custody death of Floyd in Venice. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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Terrence Burney, 36, left, and Commander of the LAPD Operation West Bureau Cory Palka, right, talk together peacefully in front of Getty House in Hancock Park. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors gather outside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Hancock Park house as they continue to demonstrate against police brutality. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Jessica Jordan takes a knee as she joins other protesters at Sunset & Vine in Hollywood on Tuesday. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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A young woman reacts to a group chant, while gathered with a couple hundred people to protest the death of George Floyd and in support of Black Lives Matter, near the Manhattan Beach Pier. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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Jayse Garcia, 27, of Los Angeles takes part in a demonstration in Hollywood. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters sit in front of National Guardsmen closing Sunset Blvd at Vine Street in Hollywood. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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Mira Ercingoz,16, from Palos Verdes, center in red hat, holds a poster with an image of George Floyd alongside protesters in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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Demonstrators take a knee during protests in Hollywood on Tuesday.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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A mother and daughter pass protestors in Hollywood. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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Several hundred protesters gather to demand justice for George Floyd at the Manhattan Beach Pier Plaza Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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Janie Hill,15, from Lawndale, receives a hug from a friend, following an emotional discussion with a Manhattan Beach Police officer, at the conclusion of a protest in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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LAPD Cmdr. Gerald Woodyard takes a knee with clergy members from the Los Angeles area as they participate in a march and demonstration outside LAPD headquarters in Los Angeles. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti walks out to address protesters and clergy members outside LAPD headquarters on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Several hundred protesters take a knee and hold their fists in the air during a moment of silence to honor George Floyd during a peaceful protest march from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
On Tuesday, protesters’ chants rang out outside the LAPD’s glass headquarters: “Fire Michel Moore! Fire Michel Moore!”
And: “Hey, hey, ho, ho! Michel Moore has got to go!”
Garcetti on Tuesday night defended Moore, saying he was glad the chief apologized.
“I’m glad he quickly corrected it, and I’m glad that he further apologized, as well,” Garcetti said. “I want to be very, very clear about that. If I believed for a moment that the chief believed that in his heart, he would no longer be our chief of police. I can’t say that any stronger.”
Nearly 3,000 demonstrators in Southern California have found themselves in handcuffs after taking to the streets since Friday. Booking records reviewed by The Times show the vast majority of those arrested in Los Angeles County for looting, vandalism and burglary offenses are from here, seeming to refute perceptions of “outside agitators” coming in to fuel unrest.
A man with a sidearm and assault rifle impersonating a National Guard member was arrested Tuesday by the LAPD on suspicion of illegal possession of an assault weapon near a protest at City Hall.
Police said the man was confronted by real members of the National Guard at First and Main streets. Greg Wong, 31, was taken into custody after Guardsmen confronted him after noticing the decals on his uniform were incorrect.
Demonstrators on Tuesday were intent on keeping it peaceful. As one group of people marching approached a line of police officers near 8th and Figueroa, a man asked them to step back, shouting, “Everyone go home safe tonight!”
The young man, who declined to give his name but said he was from Glendale, said this is the first march he has attended.
“I just couldn’t sit there and not do anything anymore. All four of those cops should have been arrested,” he said of the Minneapolis police officers present for Floyd’s death.
Floyd last week died after police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Chauvin was fired and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in George’s death. He is now out of jail on $500,000 bail. The other officers at the scene when Floyd died — Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng — are being investigated for their roles.
On the steps of City Hall on Tuesday, protesters urged each other to stay back from a barricade placed between them and rows of police and National Guard troops.
A black woman with a megaphone stood before the crowd and them to show gratitude for each other. She asked people to look around and thank people of different races who were with them.
“We have Caucasian people here, we have Asian people here, we have Hispanic people here,” she said. “We have Americans here. We have non-citizens here. … We need to thank everyone for standing united because, guess what? We are standing together.”
Nearby, Raynard Sterling, a nurse practitioner and former combat medic, stood in a white coat and teal surgical mask, taking in the scene.
“I think individuals like me, African Americans that have seen this happen routinely and even in other states, in urban America, we’re angry,” said Sterling, 52. “The underlying emotion is anger. We’re also hurt for [Floyd] and his family, but we’re very angry.”
Lauren Skillen, 26, of Los Angeles, and her sister Taylor, 28, woke up Tuesday and wanted to do something to help the protest efforts.
Skillen’s office, a production company, had let everyone off work for Blackout Tuesday, in which people posted black boxes to their social media feeds to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
The sisters asked for donations on social media and got $160 in two hours. They went to two stores and bought Gatorade, water, bandages, alcohol wipes and tissues. After assembling 60 care packages in Ziplock bags, they headed downtown to distribute to protesters.
“Sometimes it feels hollow to be another body — I know that’s not right thinking — but I wanted to be able to do something,” Skillen said.
Many parents brought their children to experience this moment in history. Khalil Bass, 30, who is black, brought his 6-month-old son.
“I don’t want him, when he gets his driver’s license, to be pulled over for no reason and have guns drawn on him,” Bass said.
When Bass was a football player in high school and college, he was repeatedly pulled over as he drove his teammates around and officers saw a car full of men of color, he said. Bass also played football in Canada and said the police are remarkably different.
“When you come home, it’s that feeling like you did something wrong when you know you didn’t,” he said.
Bass was laid off from his job as a trainer at a gym in Beverly Hills in mid-March. He said it seems like people have more time to pay attention and read the news because so many millions are not working amid the pandemic.
“There’s a feeling of being a part of history,” he said. “Everyone feels like we can make a change, and more people are jumping on the bandwagon. This is the first time it is not all black people at a protest.”
Standing in front of several National Guard troops on Spring Street, a 6-year-old boy named Quentin, who is black, wore a Spider-man face mask and held up a handwritten sign: “PLEASE LET ME LIVE!!! MY LIFE MATTERS!!”
Quentin had seen videos of burning buildings in the news and worried about his mom, who had been protesting since Saturday. He asked her to bring him along “to show me” what a peaceful protest looks like.
Wearing a short-sleeve shirt covered with photos of cats and a pink-hued, leopard print mask, 8-year-old Gianna Garcia said people needed to know that the protesters were strong and powerful.
“It’s going to be a good army,” she said.
Sitting atop a slow-moving black Jetta on Spring Street with her legs dangling through the sunroof, Gianna held her small, clenched fist aloft. She clutched a sign reading: #ChargeAllFour.
Her mother, Maureen Maldonado, was in the back seat, holding another sign with the words “I can’t breathe.”
Maldonado, a Latina, said that she and her daughter had been protesting for four days. Coronavirus had “removed all types of childcare” from the 38-year-old office manager’s life, but she believed that her daughter needed to be here.
“At least for me, the only change I can make is that I shape my daughter the right way,” Maldonado said.
Hundreds of people remained downtown after the 6 p.m. curfew passed.
One 37-year-old man, who stood outside City Hall half an hour past curfew, said that if the coronavirus pandemic had not forced the closure of so many businesses, “most of us wouldn’t be here. We’d be at work.”
“I’m out of work right now; most of us are, I bet you,” said the man, who declined to provide his name but said he lives in Hawaiian Gardens. He lost his job as a motor coach bus driver in March because of the stay-at-home orders.
As the clock struck 6 p.m., crowds remained downtown despite the curfew.
About 120 to 150 people were arrested Tuesday evening on Broadway north of Fifth Street. At 8:15 p.m., several were lined up near the boarded-up windows of Mattress Central and Planet Fitness, their hands zip-tied.
LAPD Sgt. Rex Ingram said all of them were arrested for curfew violations. Ingram said there had been no reports of looting downtown Tuesday evening.
Andy Freeland, 29, was walking with a crowd of people around 7 p.m. when, he said, officers charged at them near 5th and Broadway.
He scurried down Broadway, and someone opened a door in a boarded up residential building. A few dozen people ran inside. About an hour later, Freeland was hiding the building’s parking garage, hoping not to get arrested but expecting police to come in.
“We’re in the trash room and left the lights on and are sitting silently to hopefully not appear threatening if the LAPD opens it,” he told a Times reporter in a text message.
Eventually, police officers entered the building and told Freeland and others to go home. He was not arrested.
More than 1,000 people gathered outside Garcetti’s residence in Windsor Square Tuesday evening, chanting “defund police!” as an LAPD helicopter circled overhead. The crowd did yoga, deep breathing and stretching exercises. Someone burned sage.
To Whitney Peterson, 35, of Los Angeles, the chant was not a call for abolishing law enforcement but limiting it and steering resources elsewhere.
“When...people are getting killed by police, and yet we have schools and lower income communities struggling, it’s hard to swallow,” she said of public spending for police. “These communities are not being protected, and that needs to change.”
Speaking Tuesday evening, Garcetti said he had directed LAPD to “minimize” their use of rubber bullets when dealing with peaceful protesters.
“I think that we’ve seen less of any of those tactics, and I hope that we can see the most minimal if not zero of those tactics,” he said. He mentioned that an officer had their skull fractured and that officers needed to make peaceful protesting possible.
Garcetti said there needed to be more national leadership “to bring this moment to a calmer place.”
“The political pyromania of this moment that we see coming out of Washington right now — it’s not only not bringing us together, it is fanning the fuel of this fire.”
Times staff writers Benjamin Oreskes and Richard Winton and photographer Kent Nishimura contributed to this report.
