(Adnkronos) – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has declared a local state of emergency and imposed a night curfew in the city center after several nights of unrest, vandalism and looting. “I have declared a local emergency and imposed a curfew to stop vandalism and looting in downtown Los Angeles,” she told reporters.
The measure, valid until 6 a.m., covers a restricted area of approximately 2.5 square kilometers and applies to everyone except residents, journalists and emergency service operators. The protests, initially peaceful, degenerated after sunset, with small groups taking advantage of the confusion to damage property, set fire to vehicles and loot shops.
The demonstrations arose in response to a wave of arrests by immigration authorities in a city with a significant foreign and Latin American population. President Trump called the protests an “invasion by a foreign enemy” and ordered the deployment of thousands of soldiers, a decision that triggered a harsh institutional clash with Governor Gavin Newsom.
