Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday announced a curfew for a one-square-mile area of downtown LA after four nights of anti-ICE protests led to hundreds of arrests. The nightly curfew runs from 8pm to 6am and covers the area bounded by the 5, 10, and 110 freeways. Bass said Tuesday that she made the decision "to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting," and expects the order to last several days, with input from law enforcement and other officials playing in a role in the decision for when to end it, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The curfew will not apply to residents of the area, people experiencing homelessness, credentialed media, or emergency personnel, according to LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell. The protests were sparked by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and have been centered largely downtown, which prompted Bass to limit the curfew to that area rather than making it citywide. The move comes as anti-ICE protests spread across the nation, with demonstrations in cities including Seattle, Austin, Denver, Dallas, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New York City, the AP reports. An ICE raid at an Omaha meat production plant also sparked a protest there.
Sources tell CNN the LA curfew will affect only about 100,000 residents. Arrests have been ramping up in the city, from 27 on Saturday to 40 on Sunday, 114 on Monday, and 197 on Tuesday. Despite calls from Bass and other officials for peaceful demonstrations, graffiti and property damage have been reported daily. On Tuesday, protesters again blocked the 101 freeway, facing off with California Highway Patrol officers; at least one protester was detained. As of Tuesday afternoon, the highway was largely cleared and traffic was moving again. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)