Los Angeles City Controller announced on June 16 that the recent violent protests in downtown Los Angeles have cost the city nearly $20 million.
City Controller Kenneth Mejia released a video detailing the expenses, estimating the cost to be $19.7 million as of June 16.
The protests against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement in Los Angeles began on June 6 and started to ease on the tenth day.
Last week, Mayor Karen Bass imposed a curfew in downtown to curb the escalation of violence, including incidents such as the burning of Waymo self-driving cars, homemade explosive attacks on law enforcement, widespread looting of stores, and extensive graffiti on buildings.
Bass stated in a press conference on June 11 that multiple blocks were extensively covered in graffiti, which was very severe. She urged businesses, communities, and religious leaders to collaborate on cleaning up the city before the World Cup event on July 10. On June 13, she even released a video showing herself assisting in removing graffiti from walls.
Mejia mentioned that approximately 87% of the estimated costs are related to Los Angeles Police Department enforcement, totaling around $17.2 million, which may include officer overtime pay, equipment wear and tear, vehicle damage and maintenance, as well as costs for interagency assistance.
The expenses for public property damages and cleanup amount to an additional $1.2 million, with about $86,000 allocated for graffiti removal.
The City Controller pointed out that these figures do not include potential costs related to litigation or compensation responsibilities that the city government may face in the future. Mejia noted that in 2020, Los Angeles faced 55 lawsuits due to the protests following George Floyd’s death, having paid out $20 million in settlements so far with 21 cases still pending.
At the federal level, senior Pentagon officials stated that the deployment of 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard members to protect federal personnel and property is estimated to cost around $134 million.
Acting Comptroller of the Department of Defense, Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, briefed Congress on June 10 that these expenses primarily cover transportation, accommodation, and meal expenses, funded from the operations and maintenance budget.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned that the federal deployment is expected to last for 60 days.