Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in the city on Saturday, May 30, as police cruisers burned in the Fairfax area during the fourth straight day of protests in the city.

Garcetti also called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to deploy as many as 700 National Guard troops to the region to assist as the protests became more violent.

The Los Angeles Police Department declared the Fairfax Avenue protest an unlawful assembly as some of the thousands of protesters there set cruisers on fire after smashing windows in other police vehicles.

Officers sprayed tear gas and shot beanbags into the crowd after threatening to arrest the thousands of demonstrators who had gathered to demand justice for George Floyd, an African-American man who died after a white officer kneeled on his neck in Minnesota.

The protesters shut down traffic at the intersection; they were met with a couple dozen Los Angeles Police Officers blocking further access on Third Street.

As some officers attempted to leave the area, demonstrators blocked them in, in some cases yelling profanities and throwing water bottles at them.

Saturday’s protest came a day after the most chaotic night yet in the string of demonstrations in Los Angeles; the local community is still reeling from looting, fires and violence that broke out Friday evening.

The demonstration started off peacefully in Pan Pacific Park shortly before noon, where hundreds of activists protested police brutality, carrying homemade signs that read, “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe.”

They chanted familiar mantras like, “No justice, no peace,” and, “Say their names.”

Andrew Masembe, a 35-year-old Burbank resident, said in Pan Pacific Park, before the march turned violent, that he felt the need to be a part of this chapter in history.

“You always think about these times in history and what you would do,” he said. “So faced with that, I decided to show up. It’s for black people to be heard. For so long, we been silent.”

This story is developing and will be updated.

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