People running terrified in the streets, military vehicles and soldiers taking aim, mass looting, fire, explosions, helicopters circling, businesses shuttered behind wooden plates, and just when we thought DTLA was safe from the riots, a monstrous entity surfaces from the depths that could destroy us all—if this sounds like a Japanese science fiction movie from the 1950s, it should.
The movie is called “Godzilla Curfew.” And we, the people of DTLA, are all starring in it.
But, in order for a kaiju of such magnitude to ravage the city, there must have been a reason, and it must have been called for. So, who called Godzilla Curfew?
Backstory: After the third day of protests beginning June 6th, rioters who infiltrated the anti-ICE cause began their typical “five-finger discount” sale of Downtown LA, looting and vandalizing Broadway from 3rd to Olympic and other parts of the city, including Target and Zara at Figat7th.
In response, Mayor Karen Bass implemented the Godzilla Curfew on June 10th, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., with only locals and safety personnel allowed to commute throughout the night. It seemed like a great idea at the time, but the Godzilla Curfew began tearing DTLA’s economy apart.
For business owners now boarded and some abandoned, the Godzilla Curfew hadn’t protected them; it had penned them in for an economic apocalypse, choking the life out of the city—causing economic woes and a new breed of anxieties for DTLA residents and businesses.
A week later, Mayor Bass eased the hours of enforcement and pushed the start of the nightly curfew back to 10 p.m. instead of 8 p.m.
In the meantime, across all channels, broadcasts continued with reports of ICE and unidentified others hopping out of cars and abducting immigrants. Unmarked cars, lack of identification, no warrants—anyone could be picked up at any time, at any place. Like if Mothra was flying around catching humans in its web.
Soon, a plan using the sedating effects of vocalist Nezza’s singing the National Anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium to remind us all that we’re in this together would calm the savage beasts. Nope. She’s been banned from Dodger Stadium after defying stadium rules.
Nezza sings the national anthem in Spanish – Photo – Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times
With all hope lost, amidst the destruction, DTLA voices would emerge. Community leaders began making public calls to the mayor and council members to put an end to Godzilla Curfew once and for all and calling on locals and businesses to petition the city for help.
Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, Eunisses Hernandez, and Councilmember Curren Price may soon be receiving thousands of letters from the DTLA community urging them to end the current DTLA curfew and work with our community leaders to develop alternative public safety strategies that serve and protect our neighborhood.
Nolan Marshall III, CEO of South Park’s Social District reached out to a long list of City Hall dignitaries stating, “I do want to reiterate that our position continues to be that the curfew needs to be ended immediately. Absent an end to the curfew, we would like to see a refinement of the boundaries, and the South Park BID excluded.”
Marshall went on to state, “We continue to support, as we always have, an increased police presence in downtown. We continue to support a targeted anti-looting task force. But the curfew is a hammer, and we need the precision of a needle.
We know that busy streets are safe streets. According to our partners at DTLA Alliance, downtown visitation is down 20% week over week. We have also heard from our hotel partners that they are receiving calls from large groups contemplating cancellations. We are at risk of further destabilizing downtown at a time when we should be aligning together to host World Cup and the Olympics.
Again, we ask that you end the curfew so that we can begin to invest in the repair that’s already been done before it’s too late.”
Downtown Residents Association spoke for the residents after finding over 80% of DTLA dwellers wanted the curfew lifted.
“The current DTLA curfew and work with our community to develop alternative public safety strategies that actually serve and protect our neighborhoods. Many businesses are already boarded up and have been secured. This curfew is not just ineffective—it’s harmful. It compromises the rights of residents, scares away visitors and customers, disrupts our local hospitality economy, transportation, grocery stores, and food delivery, and places undue burden on immigrant workers and small business owners who already face heightened vulnerability.
We cannot continue down this path.” – DTLA RA
Unmarked cars detain man against his will outside of RedWood Bar on 2nd and Hill
Basically, targeted foot beat patrols and community-informed presence in high-risk areas could stay, but the Godzilla Curfew had to go.
However, on June 17th, ABC News reported, “City leaders say the curfew has been successful in preventing more damage in the area.”
Now, the city council is expected to discuss the possibility of extending how long the curfew will be in effect during its meeting on Tuesday, June 17th. At this point, the curfew has no end date.
The full City Council will make a determination whether the mayor’s declaration of a local emergency will be ratified or ended, with the hopes the Godzilla Curfew will soon return from whence it came.
Stay tuned for updates. #dtlaweekly
