JM on June 14, 2009, at 10:55PM – #1

This makes me sick. What would they do if the Lakers lost?? Sad to see the photos of The Holy Grail torn apart. Can't wait until the "real" celebrations on Wednesday...

guest on June 14, 2009, at 10:56PM – #2

these trashy fans diminish what the Lakers have accomplished....shame.

Nimadan on June 14, 2009, at 11:01PM – #3

This is how they act NOW...

What's going to happen when the State goes broke?

When their welfare is cut off?

When they're actually HUNGRY???

guest on June 14, 2009, at 11:02PM – #4

didn't the police see this coming ?...I live in Elleven, and the police at my intersection of 11th & Grand didn't appear til 2 hours after the game ended, when much of the damage had been done...people were setting off firecrackers on top of trucks and sparks got into Elleven balconies...what would have happened if the Lakers won on home game with thousand more people in attendance?

EL CHAVO! on June 14, 2009, at 11:17PM – #6

I would call it a trail of boisterousness and a lively celebration.

JM on June 14, 2009, at 11:41PM – #10

Good radio feed at: http://bit.ly/1404dR

Benjamin Pezzillo on June 14, 2009, at 11:59PM – #11

Great photojournalism:

Angela Jude on June 15, 2009, at 12:06AM – #12

Didn't think it would progress this far. I came down and shot a lot of video just as the Shell station on Olympic/Grand was being overtaken. The riot line of police followed about 20 minutes later. It's only quieting down right about now.

dl on June 15, 2009, at 12:35AM – #13

I'd say turn these photos over to the po-po's and get these thugs/eses off the streets and into jail where they belong.

I didn't even know there was another shoe store (Holy Grail) in that area that consigned (I take my kicks to RIF)...I don't think Boston was looted when they won last year.

Charlie on June 15, 2009, at 01:07AM – #14

This is shameful and disgusting. This is pride? This is celebration? I was ambivalent toward the sport, now I have a real distaste for it. Thanks, Lakers fans.

Robert on June 15, 2009, at 08:09AM – #16

Every single hooligan who was arrested should be given a brush and they should be required to scrub every street downtown until is sparkles. I hope the judge throws the book at them. How about a full summer painting over graffiti on the concrete banks of the LA River? Then justice will be served.

keith on June 15, 2009, at 08:19AM – #17

Kinda makes me wish the Lakers lost. and those poor "real fans" who got stuck in the mess, can't imagine having the family in the car while the knuckleheads are messing things up. and the looting, geesh, hope the shoes they stole are the wrong size. seems like lapd would have been in a better preventive position before hand.

Joel on June 15, 2009, at 08:46AM – #18

Gotta love the idiots pulling down street trees. They act worse than animals. Better get them into cages.

JM on June 15, 2009, at 09:04AM – #19

That's probably scared off some of the big retailers for a while. If I was a retailer and I saw those pictures of guys ransacking a shoe store, I'd probably think twice. Makes me mad. Another thing that makes me mad is when I see comments on race creeping into blog comments. An idiot is an idiot, regardless of race or ethnicity. If anything, they remind me of English soccer hooligans.

Dave on June 15, 2009, at 09:22AM – #20

I guess I got off easy just having the wheel on my bike bent up. It was parked at 11th and Hope, pretty sure that's where the crowd ended up after being dispersed. Crazy night in downtown.

Glenn on June 15, 2009, at 10:40AM – #21

The police response was weak. Isn't it a goddamn shame that the LAPD will use rubber bullets and tear gas on a peaceful May Day celebration but not on a crowd destroying shit because their group of tall freaks can shoot a rubber ball into a hoop better than the other team?

Jon on June 15, 2009, at 01:35PM – #22

I think the point was to avoid another May Day, where all the police did was escalate the situation. I'll take last night over May Day or Lakes-Pacers 2000, though of course no rioting would be ideal.

How much damage to LA Live? As close as it was to the epicenter, it seemed to escape unscathed.

Oscar on June 15, 2009, at 05:00PM – #24

Yeah man, poor cop guys (I'm serious)...

Jenn Lantos on June 15, 2009, at 06:20PM – #25

Last night, around Staples Center and beyond? Merely an example of the thin veneer of civilization and civilized behavior.

Elected officials and the city's residents, through their opinions and voting record, often send so many mixed messages to (among others) law enforcement, that it's no surprise the thin veneer of what keeps the city decent and liveable can become thinner and thinner, and eventually too thin to make a difference any longer.

Of course, overall crime rates are down right now. But a few negative alterations here and there to things like LAPD management (remember former police chief Willie Williams?), and too many Angelenos losing their sense of when bad social trends finally have reached a breaking point -- because they're so devoted to being progressive for the sake of being progressive -- means the city's future could be one full of gloom and stagnation.

I'm not even factoring in other things, like the nearly bankrupt condition of California state government.

Eric Murphy on June 15, 2009, at 07:01PM – #26

Also broken windows at Met Lofts and Bottlerock.

loveandhatela on June 15, 2009, at 10:45PM – #27

if it was up to me i would of personally shot them point blank with REAL BULLETS. NO rubber bullets and no tear gas. This was unacceptable behavior, this was no celebration, it was stupid ignorant low life's destroying property.

They should also cancel the parade- because of this and also because the city cant afford their share of the cost really, seriously! And yes im no basketball fan. I like baseball(the game- no particular team), tennis and even bowling lol

Greensmark on June 16, 2009, at 08:06AM – #28

Whew! It was quite a night, folks. I watched the entire thing from my windows above the gas Station. Got some great pictures too. Will post them eventually. It was surreal watching the group of thugs being "sucked" into the gas station doors, only to emerge with loads of merchandise in their arms. Then wave after wave of people doing it again and again.

At the beginning it was kinda fun to watch all the excitement. But when it turned, it turned ugly and vicious. How is it that some folks can get joy out of destroying things. Not to mention trashing MY neighbourhood! SAD!

As to the LAPD: UH, can you say Rodney King? The same thing happened (basically) then as today. Knowing full well that "fans" get carried away at the drop of a hate and especially with all the "specials" being served at all the new bars it is a "no brainer" to figure out that some fans are going to get out of control. I don't know so much about being damned if you do and damned if you don't. I think it would be wiser to have a "plan" of action that can be implemented within minutes, not hours.

Meanwhile, until this society gets a grip on what is acceptable behaviour, we are surely doomed to repeat this again.

Grnsmrk

JM on June 16, 2009, at 09:22AM – #29

There so much rage in this city, and it simmers just below the surface. I can understand there's a lot of anger and frustration with life here sometimes, but I can't understand the pure, animalistic rage I saw on Sunday.

Angelcity on June 16, 2009, at 09:49AM – #30

LAPD is criticized no matter what road they take. If they had pulled out tear gas &/or rubber bullets the comments would be completely against their actions. Ignorant people need to be shown this behavior is not acceptable in our city.

Cancel the Parade...

Greg Kr on June 16, 2009, at 10:00AM – #31

Over a sporting game? Men who play with balls? Not over a crooked election? Over a war? Our own people ruining the M.E.? I sure am proud of those Iranians right now.

Vanzant on June 16, 2009, at 11:37AM – #32

"loveandhatela" , understand the frustration but suggesting we shoot rioters point blank with real bullets is nuts, maybe rubber(if that), but we dont live in Iran or some country where people get killed for breaking windows.

They all deserve to serve time, but their lives are not over and theres plenty of time to rehabilitate them, not kill them.

Jon on June 16, 2009, at 12:08PM – #33

A DEA agent in DC once told me he believed he should be authorized to shoot jaywalkers. I suppose having punishments that fit the crime is probably a good idea.

Joel on June 16, 2009, at 03:39PM – #34

JM wrote: "Another thing that makes me mad is when I see comments on race creeping into blog comments."

I agree wholeheartedly. And lest anyone think otherwise, my comments about the 'animals' had no racial meaning: it was meant to describe the senseless destructive behavior shown by these 'people'.

Brian on June 16, 2009, at 06:36PM – #35

I am not sure how many officers were in the LA Live/South Park area to begin with but could some of this have been snuffed out early with a larger police presence? I'm throwing out a number here but let's say there were 75 officers on hand at the beginning. Why not start with 150 and flood the area with cops to act as a deterrent from the beginning?

Naturallawyer on June 16, 2009, at 06:49PM – #36

I wouldn't place the blame on Laker fans. Several of the cars on the street outside my loft building were broken into (smashed windows, then tossed for valuables), and of all the rioters running in the streets, I didn't see a Lakers' jersey. With the police forces stretched so thin across the area, it was a great opportunity for criminals to commit crimes. Who is going to call the cops because their car was broken into on a night like that?

The LAPD did seem late to show up and a bit disorganized. They used the street outside my building as a "meeting point" for 20 minutes or so about two hours after the game ended (16 cop cars were lined up), then they all left at once, and later the rioters came right along the same street vandalizing cars (there were no cop cars on the street by then).

Chris on June 16, 2009, at 07:43PM – #37

Embarrassing!!

In A Word on June 18, 2009, at 06:18AM – #38

Despicable.

Captain Blake Chow on June 18, 2009, at 07:23PM – #39

Hello just some points of clarification

We deployed very heavily for the game. The Lakers were not in town, the game was not being shown in Staples. Never the less we deployed over 100 officers to the Staples LA Live area.

Additional resources were requested when we saw hordes of people coming in from the east, which effectively doubled or tripled the size of that crowd in a matter of half an hour. Of the arrests made at least 3/4's of them did not live in the downtown area. Some lived in Pacoima, Huntington Park etc..

There were at least five groups to deal with at the same time in different locations.

It would have been easier for us if people in some of the lofts wern't throwing bottles at officers from the roof of the residences.

chattycathy on June 18, 2009, at 10:54PM – #40

Do you want to end riots forever? Do you want wars to stop? Do you want world peace in your lifetime? Do you want to stop overpopulation and the raping of our natural resources? I've got the answer. And I didn't have to have a pitcher of margaritas to come up with this one...It's not fluoride we need in our water, it's estrogen. Some of you may have to think about that a moment.

HAHAH.. Estrogen. on June 19, 2009, at 08:13AM – #41

No, really ... sounds good in theory.

But not for the police. I wouldn't want to see our police force reduced to a bunch of blubbering bleeding hearts.

Greg Kr on June 19, 2009, at 10:18AM – #42

Estrogen. I like it. Women rule, just wait. And I am a man. And Chow, give us the name(s) of the building(s). Ever think they just dont like you? Cops are pricks. They come into my restaurant and kiss my ass, smile smile smile. I say hi to ya'll on the street or the sheriffs in the train station, I get snubbed. Stared at coldly and then they look away. Cops get shot, firemen get burned. No sympathy here. It was your choice. Have fun out there protecting the "system".

Jasmijn on June 19, 2009, at 01:30PM – #43

CPT Chow:

Thanks for addressing the questions about the police response. I haven't seen that elsewhere. An ugly situation overall.

aztek on June 19, 2009, at 01:45PM – #44

what a shame