Curfews in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica will start at 1 p.m. PDT Monday for business districts and 4 p.m. PDT citywide following a weekend of protests and looting.
“This has been a difficult weekend in our City. Thousands of protesters marched through our streets to call attention to the devastating circumstances surrounding the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Sadly, there were multiple incidents of vandalism. Several stores, buildings and public art pieces were damaged. This will not be tolerated in our City. It’s unfortunate that the message of the peaceful protesters has been diminished by criminal behavior,” Beverly Hills Mayor Les Friedman said in a statement.
Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown also expressed his disappointment in a news release, saying “On Sunday, Santa Monica honored and respected, and ultimately protected, a peaceful protest against institutional racism. Yet our solidarity with those honoring George Floyd was betrayed, as was his memory, by opportunistic and organized criminals.”
“Taking advantage of the protest as a diversion, they stole not only goods, but jobs, and challenged the resilience of our business community, which is poised for recovery from the ongoing pandemic. Sunday was one of the most distressing days in Santa Monica history,” he continued.
