Clean-up of graffiti, damage begins in Los Angeles as anti-ICE protests continue
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A worker removing graffiti from a sign as protests against immigration sweeps continue in Los Angeles, California, US, on June 9.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LOS ANGELES – Even as protests against raids by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stretched into a fourth day on June 9 in Los Angeles, city workers began a clean-up of graffiti and other weekend damage across the city.
Maintenance workers could be seen removing anti-ICE graffiti spray-painted on City Hall as other workers covered up messages in the city’s Arts District.
Burned out shells of Waymo autonomous vehicles remained on the city street where they had been engulfed in flames a day earlier.
Spray-painted messages with expletives aimed at ICE and anti-police and pro-migrant statements could be seen across downtown Los Angeles, including at the Roybal Federal Building, where protesters continued to gather on the afternoon of June 9.
The clean-up efforts come after protesters clashed with the Los Angeles Police Department, other law enforcement personnel and ICE agents amid ongoing immigration sweeps in Southern California.
The protests reached a boiling point on June 8 as multiple vehicles, including a California Highway Patrol cruiser, were set on fire.
The police fired tear gas into the crowds.
Los Angeles TV station KTLA reported that several businesses in the downtown area, including a cell phone retailer and a clothing store, were looted and vandalised overnight and in the early morning hours.
Los Angeles Public Library said it would close its branches in downtown, Chinatown and Little Tokyo due to the protests.
“We’re closing to ensure the safety of patrons and staff in DTLA,” the library said on June 9, referring to Downtown Los Angeles, in a post on social media platform X. REUTERS
