The government of Los Angeles, the second-most populous city in the United States, declared the curfew until this morning and called the National Guard for the riots, looting and protests against police violence, the most important since 1992, caused by the George Floyd crime in Minnesota.
Since Friday night, the city centre has been the core of conflicts, with burned-out police cars, blocked roads and broken windows, during protests against police violence triggered by the crime of the African-American citizen.
On Saturday the riots spread to other areas such as Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, where scenes of looting and pitched battles occurred.
Against this background, the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, declared a curfew for the entire town that will last until Sunday morning and called, according to local media, for California authorities to deploy National Guard troops.
Other American capitals such as Atlanta (Georgia), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Portland (Oregon) have imposed similar measures, but in the case of Los Angeles, it fears that the situation that occurred in 1992 will be repeated.
In that year, another police crime, this time that of Rodney King, led to violent riots and confrontations with the police that ended with more than 50 deaths and 2,000 injuries.
The mayor noted that the wave of protests and the coronavirus pandemic represent “the strongest moment he has experienced as a Los Angeles resident since the 1992 riots,”.
During Saturday, several protesters gathered in the wealthy areas of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood / Fairfax in peaceful protests that subsequently led to violent confrontations.
Several shops in the well-known Rodeo Drive and Fairfax shopping areas, such as Apple Store and Nordstrom, were looted while barricades were organized on the most important avenues and highways in the city.
Despite the shocking images, there were also peaceful protests in neighbourhoods like Boyle Heights, historically regarded as the heart of Latino activism in Los Angeles.
For now, the Los Angeles City Council has asked California Governor Gavin Newsom to deploy the National Guard, a reserve military corps, to deal with the unrest.
In the San Francisco area, in northern California, no curfew has yet been declared in the face of the protests that took place in front of the City Hall and toured the most peaceful city centre.
Since last Monday, the United States has been the scene of a wave of protests over the murder of George Floyd, an African-American man, who died of suffocation by a police officer after being detained in Minneapolis (Minnesota).
At least one person died and two others were injured in a shooting caused during the protests in Indianapolis (Indiana) for the death of the black citizen George Floyd, as confirmed by the Police this Sunday.
The incident occurred near the epicentre of the protests, Monument Circle, said the police chief of the city, Randal Taylor, at a press conference.
His deputy, Josh Barker, confirmed an ongoing investigation and the possible relationship of the shooting to the protests, although the latter aspect has not yet been verified. Barker also said multiple firearm incidents in the city.
The Indianapolis Police assured on their Twitter account that none of these incidents is related to their agents.