Jack Murillo, a Marine veteran, holds a sign in front of law enforcement guarding a federal building on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Downtown L.A. businesses scramble to recover after days of unrest, curfews, and protest-related closures as city lifts restrictions amid fallout from Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Downtown Los Angeles businesses hoped customers would return quickly on Tuesday after Mayor Karen Bass lifted a curfew she had imposed last week to prevent vandalism and break-ins during nighttime protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The protests, which have been concentrated in a few blocks of downtown where federal and local government buildings are, were in response to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city and subsequent deployment of the National Guard and Marines.
The curfew set in place June 10 provided “successful crime prevention and suppression efforts” and protected stores, restaurants, businesses and residents, the Democratic mayor said. It covered a relatively tiny slice of the sprawling city.
Little Tokyo neighborhood hit hard
On Tuesday afternoon, the impact of days of protests could be seen in the boarded-up windows lining the streets of Little Tokyo, a historical Japanese American district right next to a federal detention building still heavily guarded by military troops.
A steady stream of tourists stopped in the neighborhood to take photos of baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani wearing Dodgers blue in a massive mural on the side of a hotel.
Don Tahara, the owner of Far Bar, said businesses in the area have been hit hard with vandalism and some break-ins.
On June 8, thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to Trump’s deployment of the Guard, blocking off a major freeway as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs to control the crowd. Photos captured several Waymo robotaxis set on fire.
A day later, police officers used flash bangs and shot projectiles as they pushed protesters through Little Tokyo, where bystanders and restaurant workers rushed to get out of their way. Some protesters set off fireworks and threw water bottles at the officers, yelling, “Shame!”
But Tahara, a third-generation Japanese American immigrant, said he also understands why the protests were necessary, seeing similarities between the current administration’s immigration raids and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
“The problems that Little Tokyo had 75 years ago was basically the federal government coming in and imprisoning all of them in concentration camps,” Tahara said. “They were uprooted from their homes and businesses, their churches … we’re seeing a repeat of that.”
Source: Los Angeles mayor lifts downtown curfew she imposed during protests against immigration raids
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