‘This is a big hit’: Van Nuys cleans up after peaceful protest became a destructive evening

On the morning of Tuesday, June 2, more than 20 volunteers with brooms and brushes kneeled at the storefront belonging to Larry Contreras and Cindy Torres as the father and daughter embraced inside, surveying the damage to the family’s jewelry repair shop in Van Nuys.

The volunteers, mostly San Fernando Valley residents who felt compelled to help out, were picking pieces of jewelry out of shattered glass, or organizing remaining items left in the store in the working class area just off Van Nuys Boulevard.

The Don Larry Watch & Jewelry Repair shop was just one of the neighborhood businesses reeling after a night of peaceful protests Monday against racial injustice and police violence turned destructive when some groups used the demonstration as cover to loot and vandalize the Van Nuys Civic Center neighborhood.

Despite police efforts to protect businesses in the low-income area nearby the protest, looters and vandals successfully targeted at least a dozen businesses from Boost Mobile to immigrant-owned stalls in the Van Nuys Bazaar swap meet.

Police made over 300 arrests Monday night in the San Fernando Valley, said LAPD Valley Bureau Cmdr. Alan Hamilton.

“The bottom line is without people being in stores and on the streets, they’re going to break in and loot until we arrest them,” he said.

The looting is reflective of well-known organized crime tactics in which individuals take advantage of police focusing on protesters to then “bring in your carload of looters and hit the area,” the LAPD commander added.

The owner of Don Larry Watch & Jewelry was trying to make the best of a bad situation.

“I’m OK. I don’t have insurance,” Contreras said of his 20-year-old business. “But we have trust in God, we have peace inside. I make repairs of watches, some jewelry. The thing I worry about most is the items from the customers.”

He said looters stole some 60% of the store’s total inventory, which included collectibles, family heirlooms and gold to make repairs. His daughter Cindy said Contreras is a pastor at a nearby community church and runs this business on the side.

“This is a big hit for us,” said Cindy Torres. “He doesn’t have retirement funds or a 401k, anything like that. I’m so grateful that everyone is here.”

Nearby, carpenters from the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters Local 661 in Sylmar helped board up businesses, and other community members picked up trash and scrubbed graffiti. Most businesses in the area were boarded up or closed, some begging to be spared via “Black Lives Matter” signs in the window.

Monday’s demonstration, which drew hundreds in Van Nuys, was one of the many that have swept through Los Angeles and cities across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis. It began at 8 a.m. at the Van Nuys Civic Center, and many protesters remained past the citywide 6 p.m. curfew.

Los Angeles protesters, a mix of Black Lives Matter members and other groups, have distanced themselves from looters and warned that looting and property damage distracts from their fight against institutional racism.

Riding his bike on the street, a Van Nuys resident who goes by the nickname Day Day suggested that the aim of protesters is being swept under the rug by looting and its effects.

“We continue to be blind to the fact of racism,” Day Day said. “Regardless of who’s looting, it ain’t about looting — it’s about cops killing blacks.

“I’m black and Mexican, and there’s racism in this community,” he said. “All the sudden everyone want to do ‘Blackout Tuesday,’ but we’ve been oppressed this whole time.”

Further south on Van Nuys Boulevard, managers of the X Spot adult store were also cleaning up glass. They anticipated looting after hearing about a protest in the area Monday, but they were confident the business’ corporate ownership would pay for the damage.

“Protest in a peaceful way, but this is just vandalism,” said one of the managers. “And they’re not just affecting corporations, they’re affecting low-income people here. Replacing a door costs thousands of dollars.”

As natives to the area now attending local colleges, three young women walking the neighborhood with plastic bags and gloves know all too well how a night of vandalism and looting can affect a community. They protested Monday and believe in the need to advocate for change. But they don’t want to see their friends and family get hurt.

“We’re part of the community,” said Dixie Zapeta. “When I saw the looting it broke my heart because this is a lower income area.”

Her friend Fatima Nasser said that while she’s cleaning up, she also sees reasons behind the vandalism, despite not being a looter or vandal herself.

“I think it’s kinda worth it in the end. We’ve done enough to try to get the word out peacefully, and it doesn’t achieve anything.”