LOS ANGELES (AP) - More than 60 people have been charged with looting or other felonies committed during recent protests in Los Angeles County, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The majority of charges were for the widespread ransacking of stores that has taken place during mostly peaceful protests that have been held daily for more than a week over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who is black, said she supports the peaceful protests that have brought attention to racial inequality, including in the criminal justice system, but she has a duty to prosecute looting and vandalism.
Hundreds of businesses have been trashed in Los Angeles County as axes and hammers were used to shatter store windows and breach doors, allowing people to run inside and grab handfuls of clothing, bottles of booze and bicycles.
Organizers of protests over the killing of Floyd, a black man who was held down by his neck by a white officer, have denounced the thefts and other violence because it undermines their message.
In Orange County, prosecutors said they charged two men with crimes related to protests: one for trying to steal a police car; and another for assaulting an officer by throwing rocks and bottles at a police cruiser during demonstrations.
Los Angeles prosecutors said they expect to consider additional cases this week from various law enforcement agencies.
More than 2,700 people were arrested in the city of Los Angeles alone since protests and violence began in the nation’s second-largest city. Over 90% of those were for failure to disperse or curfew violations, which are misdemeanors.
Other charges related to demonstrations in Los Angeles County included robbery, burglary, receiving stolen property and two assaults on police officers, including one by a juvenile.
Felony looting carries a possible three year sentence.
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