National Guard troops are being deployed to Long Beach to assist local law enforcement as looting and vandalism have sprung up amid ongoing protests, Mayor Robert Garcia said tonight.
The protests were triggered in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, ignoring the man's pleas and cries of "I can't breathe."
Up to now, the protests in Long Beach had been peaceful, Garcia said, but today was a different story. He noted that many of the businesses that have been vandalized or looted were small, mostly minority-owned mom-and-pop shops.
"What I saw tonight, and the type of vandalizing that was happening was unacceptable. I saw the Kress Market, a small mom-and-pop grocery store, owned by two hardworking immigrants that came to this country, that put everything they had into their small bodega and market — I saw that being attacked tonight."
You can watch the full address from Garcia, Luna, and city manager Tom Modica, in the video above.
MORE COVERAGE ON TODAY'S PROTESTS:
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