George Floyd Protests, Part 2: Unilateral Use of Force
As Mayor Eric Garcetti extended the nightly curfew every day, LAPD officers arrested protesters, often hundreds at a time, for breaking curfew. Police officers beat protesters with batons even during peaceful protests. In some protests, the police fired tear gas and rubber bullets despite the protesters begging them not to shoot.
LAPD arrested at least 2,700 people before Garcetti lifted the curfew on Thursday, June 4—they stopped releasing arrest figures after June 2. Looters constituted only about 3% to 5% of the arrests. Advocacy groups have hit the city and the LAPD with multiple lawsuits, claiming their curfew enforcement violated protesters’ freedom of speech and civil rights by arresting and holding them under squalid conditions—the LAPD announced they will not charge or fine most of the nonviolent protesters on June 7.