George Floyd protest: Retailers clean up after Sunday demonstration in Walnut Creek as police brace for more looting
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KGO) -- Walnut Creek police appear to be gearing up for more looting Monday. Officers have closed some streets and are urging residents to avoid downtown Monday after looting Sunday evening caused widespread damage and one woman was shot.
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The police department is also suggesting that businesses not open Monday and that stores and residences take steps to prevent property damage, such as removing items that could be used to break windows or cause destruction.
These warnings came as retail workers and volunteers worked to clean up the mess left behind from Sunday's violence.
"The looting, the vandalism, it's just really sad," said Teri Frangie of the Women's March Contra Costa County.
She and others from her group, along with individuals from the community, showed up with their own brooms and dustpans to sweep up all the shattered glass.
"I lived through the '68 riots in Detroit and I never thought this would happen again in my lifetime," Frangie said.
Several stores were hit last night. The Ray-Bans store hardly has any sunglasses left inside, while the floor is covered with shattered glass. Victoria's Secret, H&M, Macy's, Banana Republic, The Gap all had broken glass and lost merchandise.
"No it was not a protest at all. It was just a bunch of looters," said Dan Scott who witnessed the looting.
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Scott and other witnesses describe an organized attack on the shopping center. The view from SKY 7 showed groups of people running with arm loads of clothing. At one point the looters even fought with each other over the stolen goods.
Reggie Oden of Walnut Creek said he was picking up dinner when the restaurant employees said he had to go, they were being told to shut down. He saw the groups of thieves moving in on the stores. He said it did not look like a protest.
"It's like there's all this injustice going on in regards to racism in the black community, it's just terrible. But I think there are other ways to get your message across rather than coming in just to loot which is what they did," Oden said.
Walnut Creek police say they made a number of arrests and that more are likely as investigations continue. Witnesses say police did their best to contain the situation.
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"They (police) took over downtown, they blocked it off. They couldn't do anything else. There were about 200 people. They just hit everything at full speed," said Dan Scott.
The police department said Monday there are several calls on social media for more looting and vandalism. The city has implemented a curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. They say parking will be extremely limited and any cars parked illegally will be towed.
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