Los Angeles County has set a curfew of 9 p.m. on Wednesday, marking the fourth straight night on which the county’s 10 million residents will be under restriction.
The curfew is three hours later than the 6 p.m. curfew imposed for the last three days, in response to extensive looting and vandalism. The curfew will lift at 5 a.m. on Thursday, one hour earlier than the previous curfews.
In late afternoon on Wednesday, L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said his agency would not begin enforcing the curfew until 10 p.m. Supervisor Janice Hahn said on Twitter that the curfews are being used to arrest peaceful demonstrators, and that they are no longer needed.
The American Civil Liberties Union had protested on Tuesday that the curfews are unconstitutionally broad, restricting movement across the county in response to isolated lawlessness. The curfews have also made peaceful demonstrators subject to mass arrest.
On Monday, the LAPD reported it arrested 1,200 people. Many more were arrested on Tuesday, though the department did not yet have that figure on Wednesday morning. As of Tuesday afternoon, some 2,700 people had been arrested — mostly for curfew violations and failure to disperse — since Friday, according to LAPD Chief Michel Moore.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said on Wednesday that 61 people have been charged with crimes committed during protests, mostly for looting. Many people were cited and released, and those cases have yet to be presented to the office for potential filing.
The city of Santa Monica eased off its restrictions somewhat on Wednesday, setting a 6 p.m. curfew. On previous days, the city had set its curfew as early as 1 p.m. Culver City also loosened its curfew, setting it for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
In Beverly Hills, however, a curfew remained in place on Wednesday at 4 p.m. citywide. The business district, including Rodeo Drive, was placed under a 1 p.m. curfew.
In the county, the curfew exempts people who are traveling to and from work and to seek medical care. Essential workers, media and the homeless are also exempted.