South Coast Plaza Postpones Reopening Amid OC Looting, Vandalism

NEWPORT BEACH, CA —The sweeping staircases of South Coast Plaza will remain vacant this week. The premier Costa Mesa shopping mall delayed their reopening that was scheduled for Monday. The mall has been shutdown since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, only to emerge in the wake of vandalism and looting that rocked the nation this weekend.

Costa Mesa was under curfew orders, starting at 7 p.m. Monday, until 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. police have readied themselves, in advance of a planned protest for the area later in the evening. If things remain peaceful, they plan on maintaining that peace, Patch was told.

It has been one week since the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck while others held him down for over eight minutes. The videos shared around the nation sparked outrage, and a wave of protests that has hit towns across the country.

"We are saddened by the recent events in our country, and care deeply for the safety and well-being of our entire community," a spokesperson for the mall wrote on social media. Though the reopening date was pushed back, a new date will be released soon, they say.

Over the weekend, malls and shopping districts became the target of looters and vandals. Santa Monica was ransacked, with nine structures burned and multiple windows shattered, goods taken by a faceless mob. The morning after, the helpers arrived with brooms and empathy as they did the day before in West Hollywood's Melrose shopping district.

After protests turned to a destructive bent in Huntington Beach, a curfew was initiated in that city until further notice.

Those responsible for the destruction were not protesters, according to many in the Black Lives Matter movement.

According to Gov. Gavin Newsom in a news conference, Monday, people who are trying to "exploit" protests to engage in looting and other illegal activity, are "exploiting conditions, not advancing the cause of justice."

Newsom says that such actions do not serve the greater good.

"We need to also call that out. The looting, the violence, the threats against fellow human beings— that has no place in this state and in this nation," Newsom said. "We as a society need to call that out."

On Sunday night, Costa Mesa established an 8 p.m. curfew to residents amid growing reports of looting and vandalism across the southland. Though no reports of looting occurred in that area, according to Costa Mesa Police Department spokeswoman Roxi Fyad, police acted in "an abundance of caution."