Cleanup of graffiti, damage begins in Los Angeles as anti-ICE protests continue

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By Christian Martinez

(Reuters) -Even as protests against raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stretched into a fourth day Monday in Los Angeles, city workers began a cleanup 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 Monday afternoon.

The cleanup 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 Sunday as multiple vehicles, including a California Highway Patrol cruiser, were set on fire. Police fired tear gas into the crowds.

Los Angeles television station KTLA reported several businesses in the downtown area, including a cell phone retailer and a clothing store, were looted and vandalized 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 Monday in a post on X.

(Reporting by Christian Martinez; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)