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Tag: downtown l.a.

  • Anti-Trump protesters join ‘Free America’ walkout in downtown L.A. and across SoCal

    On Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of protesters walked out of school and off the job to march in downtown Los Angeles and decry President Trump’s actions during his first year back in office.

    The “Free America Walkout” at Los Angeles City Hall was among dozens of rallies taking place across Southern California and the nation. The event was coordinated by the Women’s March and intended to demonstrate opposition to violent ICE raids, the increased presence of military personnel in cities, families harmed by Trump’s immigration policies and escalating attacks on transgender rights.

    Hundreds of protesters marched along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. Among the slogans on their signs: “Democracy doesn’t fear protest, dictators do” and “We choose freedom over facism.” Meanwhile, similar marches took place in Burbank, Long Beach and Santa Monica. Scores of students at Garfield and Roosevelt high schools in East L.A. ditched class to join the downtown rally.

    “I just don’t know if he’s [Trump] actually done anything that is positive,” downtown protester Mario Noguera told ABC7 News. “Everything’s been about depleting everything: resources, rights. I just don’t feel like we’re getting anywhere.”

    The walkout took place on the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, an event he commemorated with a nearly two-hour news conference in which he called his first year in office “an amazing period of time” where his administration accomplished more than any other in history.

    “We have a book that I’m not going to read to you, but these are the accomplishments of what we’ve produced, page after page after page of individual things,” Trump said, holding up a thick stack of papers. “I could sit here, read it for a week, and we wouldn’t be finished.”

    Among the list of accomplishments he touted were his tariffs, his immigration crackdown, the economy and his actions in Gaza and Venezuela.

    The Free America Walkout began at 2 p.m. local time in cities across the U.S. and was designed to differ from mass weekend actions such as the No Kings protests by deliberately taking place during the workday.

    Organizers said that, whereas protests demonstrate collective anger, walkouts demonstrate collective power.

    “A walkout interrupts business as usual,” stated organizers. “It makes visible how much our labor, participation, and cooperation are taken for granted — and what happens when we withdraw them together.”

    In downtown L.A., protesters condemned the effects of ICE raids locally as well as in Minneapolis, where a federal agent recently shot and killed wife and mother Renee Good.

    Earlier this month, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Los Angeles as part of the “ICE Out for Good” weekend of action, a national protest movement in response to Good’s killing.

    Roxanne Hoge, chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, criticized the stream of local anti-Trump protests on Tuesday.

    “Their boring, predictable tantrums are now part of the L.A. landscape, much like the dilapidated RVs and dangerous encampments that their policies result in,” Hoge told the LA Daily News. “We are interested in good governance and public safety, and wish our Democrat friends would join us in advocating for both.”

    Clara Harter

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  • Trump’s top federal prosecutor in L.A. faces challenge over ‘acting’ status

    A federal judge heard arguments Tuesday to decide whether maneuvers used by the Trump administration to install Bill Essayli as acting United States attorney in Los Angeles are improper — and, if so, what should be done about it.

    During a Tuesday hearing in downtown L.A., Senior Judge J. Michael Seabright — who flew in from Hawaii for the proceeding — wondered how to proceed after defense attorneys sought to dismiss indictments against three clients and to disqualify Essayli “from participating in criminal prosecutions in this district.”

    Essayli, a former Riverside County assemblyman, was appointed as the region’s interim top federal prosecutor by U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi in April.

    His term was set to expire in late July unless he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate or a panel of federal judges. But the White House never moved to nominate him to a permanent role, instead opting to use an unprecedented legal maneuver to shift his title to “acting,” extending his term for an additional nine months without any confirmation process.

    Seabright was selected from the District of Hawaii after L.A.’s federal judges recused themselves from the proceedings. He questioned the consequences of dismissing any charges over Essayli’s title.

    “If I did this for your client, I’ll have to do it for every single defendant who was indicted when Mr. Essayli was acting under the rubric of acting U.S. attorney, correct?” Seabright said to a deputy federal public defender.

    “I don’t think you will,” replied James A. Flynn. “This is a time-specific, case-specific analysis and the court doesn’t need to go so far as to decide that a dismissal would be appropriate in all cases.”

    “Why not? You’re asking for a really draconian remedy here,” Seabright said, before questioning how many indictments had been made since Essayli was designated acting U.S. attorney at the end of July.

    “203, your honor,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Alexander P. Robbins responded.

    In a court filing ahead of the hearing Tuesday, lawyers bringing the challenge against Essayli called the government’s defense of his status a handbook for circumventing the protections that the Constitution and Congress built against the limitless, unaccountable handpicking of temporary officials.”

    During the nearly two-hour hearing, Flynn cited similar legal challenges that have played out elsewhere. A federal judge ruled in August that Alina Habba has been illegally occupying the U.S. attorney post in New Jersey, although that order was put on hold pending appeal. Last month, a federal judge disqualified Nevada’s top federal prosecutor, Sigal Chattah, from several cases, concluding she “is not validly serving as acting U.S. attorney.”

    The judges who ruled on the Nevada and New Jersey cases did not dismiss the charges against defendants, instead ordering that those cases not be supervised by Habba or Chattah.

    Flynn argued that the remedies in other states “have not been effective to deter the conduct.”

    “This court has the benefit of additional weeks and has seen the government’s response to that determination that their appointments were illegal and I submit the government hasn’t gotten the message,” Flynn said.

    Flynn said another option could be a dismissal without prejudice, which means the government could bring the case against their clients again. He called it a “weaker medicine” than dismissal with prejudice, “but would be a stronger one than offered in New Jersey and Nevada.”

    The hearing grew testy at times, with Seabright demanding that Assistant U.S. Atty. Robbins tell him when Essayli’s term will end. Robbins told the judge the government believes it will end on Feb. 24 and that afterward the role of acting U.S. attorney will remain vacant.

    Robbins noted that Essayli has also been designated as first assistant U.S. attorney, essentially allowing him to remain in charge of the office if he loses the “acting” title.

    Bondi in July also appointed him as a “special attorney.” Robbins told the judge that “there’s no developed challenge to Mr. Essayli’s appointment as a special attorney or his designation as a first assistant.”

    “The defense challenge here, the stated interest that they have, is Bill Essayli cannot be acting,” Robbins said. “But they don’t have a compelling or strong response to Bill Essayli is legitimately in the office and he can be the first assistant … he can supervise other people in the office.”

    Seabright asked both sides to brief him by Thursday on “whatever hats you believe [Essayli’s] wearing now” and “whether I were to say he wasn’t legitimately made acting U.S. attorney … what hats does he continue to wear.”

    “If I understand the government’s proposed remedy correctly … it would essentially be no remedy at all, because they would be re-creating Mr. Essayli as the acting United States attorney, he’d just be wearing a first assistant hat,” Flynn said.

    A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    When asked by a Times reporter last month about the motion to disqualify him, Essayli said “the president won the election.”

    “The American people provided him a mandate to run the executive branch, including the U.S. attorney’s office and I look forward to serving at the pleasure of the president,” he said during a news conference.

    Since taking office, Essayli has doggedly pursued Trump’s agenda, championing hard-line immigration enforcement in Southern California, often using the president’s language verbatim at news conferences. His tenure has sparked discord in the office, with dozens of prosecutors quitting.

    Brittny Mejia

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  • Protester found not guilty of assault despite top Border Patrol official’s testimony

    U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino — the brash agent who led a phalanx of military personnel into MacArthur Park this summer — was called as a witness Wednesday in a federal misdemeanor assault case against a protester, who allegedly struck a federal agent.

    Bovino, one of the faces of President Trump’s immigration crackdown that began in Los Angeles and is now underway in Chicago, took the stand to testify that he witnessed an assault committed by Brayan Ramos-Brito in Paramount on June 7.

    But a jury acquitted the defendant early Wednesday afternoon after a little over an hour of deliberations. The not guilty verdict came shortly after Bovino was questioned by the defense about previous comments he made referring to undocumented immigrants as “scum.”

    During the two-day trial a number of videos were displayed showing a Border Patrol agent shove Ramos-Brito, but none clearly illustrated his alleged attack on the agent.

    Outfitted in his green Border Patrol uniform, Bovino was the lone Border Patrol agent to testify that he witnessed Ramos-Brito drag his arm back and strike an agent with an open palm in the chest.

    Ramos-Brito and his attorneys declined to comment after the verdict, but were seen celebrating the acquittal in the downtown federal courthouse. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

    The case could prove to be an ominous bellwether for embattled U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, who has struggled to win indictments against those charged with committing crimes while protesting the president’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Southern California.

    Prosecutors originally brought felony charges against Ramos-Brito, which were reduced to misdemeanors. Charges against a man arrested alongside him were dismissed earlier this year.

    The incident that ended in Ramos-Brito’s arrest occurred during a skirmish between federal law enforcement agents and locals frustrated by Trump’s immigration policies.

    On a cross-examination, federal public defender Cuauhtemoc Ortega questioned Bovino about being the subject of a misconduct investigation a few years ago and receiving a reprimand for referring to undocumented immigrants as “scum, filth and trash.”

    Bovino denied referring to undocumented immigrants that way and said he was referring to “a specific criminal illegal alien” — a Honduran national who he said had raped a child and reentered the United States and had been caught at or near the Baton Rouge Border Patrol station.

    “I said that about a specific individual, not about undocumented peoples, that’s not correct,” he said.

    Ortega pushed back, reading from the reprimand, which Bovino signed, stating that he was describing “illegal aliens.”

    “They did not say one illegal alien,” Ortega said. “They said you describing illegal aliens, and or criminals, as scum, trash and filth is misconduct. Isn’t that correct?”

    “The report states that,” Bovino said.

    Ortega said that Bovino was warned if he committed any instance of misconduct again, “you could be fired.”

    Since June, more than 40 people have been charged with a range of federal offenses, including assaulting officers and interfering with immigration enforcement, at either downtown protests or the scene of immigration raids throughout the region this summer, the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A. said this week.

    Ramos-Brito’s case was the first to go to trial.

    In closing arguments, Ortega accused the Border Patrol agent at the center of the case of lying and Bovino of “trying to cover up for him.” He cited Bovino’s past reprimand as evidence that he harbors bias.

    But prosecutors pushed back on that, with Asst. U.S. Atty. Patrick Kibbe arguing that the defense “wants you to believe that there’s some grand conspiracy against the defendant Mr. Ramos Britos. These officers don’t know him.”

    Kibbe acknowledged that Bovino’s prior statements were unprofessional.

    “Does it have anything to do with what he saw on June 7? No,” Kibbe said. “This is not about immigration enforcement… it’s about whether the defendant struck Agent Morales.”

    The case centers around a protest outside the Paramount Business Center, across the street from Home Depot.

    Already tensions were high, with federal officials raiding a retail and distribution warehouse in downtown L.A. in early June, arresting dozens of workers and a top union official.

    At the Paramount complex, which houses Homeland Security Investigation offices, protesters began arriving around 10 a.m on June 7. Among them was Ramos-Brito.

    Several videos played in court Tuesday showed Ramos-Brito and another man cursing at Border Patrol agents and stepping inches from their faces with balled fists. At one point, Ramos-Brito approached multiple Border Patrol agents who appeared to be Latino and said “you’re a f—ing disgrace if you’re Mexican.”

    Kibbe said that while many protesters were “passionately” demonstrating, Ramos-Brito crossed a line by striking U.S. Border Patrol Agent Jonathan Morales.

    “There’s a constitutional right to protest peacefully. It is a crime to hit a federal officer,” Kibbe said.

    Federal public defender M. Bo Griffith, however, said Ramos-Brito was the victim of an assault, not the other way around.

    Both social media and body-worn camera footage played in court clearly show Morales shove Ramos-Brito first, sending him flying backward into the busy intersection of Alondra Blvd. While footage shows Ramos-Brito marching back toward the agent with his fists balled, no angle clearly captures the alleged assault.

    Aside from Morales, three other agents took the stand Tuesday, but none said they saw Ramos-Brito hit Morales. None of the agents who testified were outfitted with body-worn cameras that day, according to Border Patrol Asst. Chief Jorge Rivera-Navarro, who serves as chief of staff for “Operation At Large” in Los Angeles.

    Some of the Border Patrol agents swarming L.A. in recent months come from stations that don’t normally wear body-worn cameras, according to Navarro. He testified that he has since issued an order that led to cameras being distributed to agents working in L.A.

    The clash that led to the assault charge started when Ramos-Brito stepped to U.S. Border Patrol Agent Eduardo Mejorado, who said he repeatedly asked Ramos-Brito to move to the sidewalk as the protest was blocking traffic. Video shows Mejorado place his hand on Ramos-Brito’s shoulder twice, and the defendant swatting it away.

    At that point, Morales, a 24-year veteran of the Border Patrol, said he thought he needed to step in and de-escalate the situation between his fellow agent and Ramos-Brito. He did so by shoving Ramos-Brito backward into the intersection, according to video played in court. Morales said Ramos-Brito then charged at him while cursing and threw a punch at the upper part of his chest and throat.

    On cross-examination, Griffith confronted Morales and Mejorado with inconsistencies between descriptions of the event they previously gave to a Homeland Security Investigations officer and their testimony in court. It was not the first time such a discrepancy affected the case.

    Federal prosecutors previously dropped charges against Jose Mojica, the other protester who was arrested alongside Ramos-Brito, after video footage called into question the testimony of an immigration enforcement agent.

    According to an investigation summary of Mojica’s arrest previously reviewed by The Times, Mejorado claimed a man was screaming in his face that he was going to “shoot him,” then punched him at the Paramount protest. The officer said he and other agents started chasing the man, but were “stopped by two other males,” later identified as Mojica and Ramos-Brito.

    Video played in court Tuesday and previously reported by The Times shows that sequence of events did not happen. Ramos-Brito and Mojica were arrested in a dogpile of agents after Ramos-Brito allegedly struck Mojica. There was no chase.

    Questioned about Mojica’s case in July, a Homeland Security spokesperson said they were unable to comment on cases “under active litigation.”

    Defense attorneys said Ramos-Brito sustained multiple contusions on his face, neck and back and had cuts and scrapes on his body from being dragged across the pavement later.

    According to his attorneys, Ramos-Brito’s only prior interaction with law enforcement was for driving without a license.

    On Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson had to remove 21 potential jurors from the pool, several of whom said they could not be impartial due to their views on immigration policy.

    Many of the potential jurors said they were first or second generation immigrants from the Philippines, Colombia, Bulgaria, Jamaica and Canada.

    “I believe that immigrants are part of this country and I’m kind of partial with the defendant,” said one man, a landscaper from Lancaster.

    Brittny Mejia, James Queally

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  • Bonta ‘disappointed’ by Supreme Court ruling on L.A. immigration raids

    California’s top law enforcement official has weighed in on Monday‘s controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling on immigration enforcement.

    Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta condemned the decision, which clears the way for immigration agents to stop and question people they suspect of being in the U.S. illegally based solely on information such as their perceived race or place of employment.

    Speaking at a news conference Monday in downtown L.A., Bonta said he agreed with claims the ACLU made in its lawsuit against the Trump administration. He called indiscriminate tactics used to make immigration arrests a violation of the 4th Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.

    Bonta said he thinks it is unconstitutional “for ICE agents, federal immigration officers, to use race, the inability to speak English, location or perceived occupation to … stop and detain, search, seize Californians.”

    He also decried what he described as the Supreme Court’s increasing reliance on its emergency docket, which he said often obscures the justices’ decision-making.

    “It’s disappointing,” he said. “And the emergency docket has been used more and more. You often don’t know who has voted and how. There’s no argument. There’s no written opinion.”

    Bonta called Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s opinion “very disturbing.”

    The Trump-appointed justice argued that because many people who do day labor in fields such as construction or farming, engagement in such work could be useful in helping immigrant agents determine which people to stop.

    Bonta said the practice enables “the use of race to potentially discriminate,” saying “it is disturbing and it is troubling.”

    Connor Sheets, Sandra McDonald

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  • New 51-story apartment tower in downtown L.A. gets city nod

    A residential skyscraper has been approved in the South Park neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, though it’s unclear how soon construction will begin.

    The City Council last week signed off on a proposed 51-story apartment tower at 11th and Olive streets, a few blocks east of Crypto.com Arena and the L.A. Live entertainment district.

    New York developer Mack Real Estate Development declined to talk about the planned tower, but documents filed with the city show a tall tower with 536 rental units and ground floor spaces for bars, restaurants and other retail uses. It would have parking for 581 vehicles both underground and above ground.

    The site at 1105 S. Olive St. is now a surface parking lot.

    When asked when construction of the project might begin, a representative for Mack Real Estate said the company had no comment.

    Even though demand for housing is high in Los Angeles, it’s challenging to construct ground-up multi-unit housing in the current financial climate, urban development consultant Hamid Behdad said.

    Costs have risen and grown more unpredictable on multiple fronts, Behdad said, raising uncertainty for developers about whether they will be able to rent or sell new units profitably after completing them.

    Top hurdles include high interest rates for borrowing money to finance construction. New tariffs are driving up the cost of imported construction materials while raising uncertainty about how long the tariffs may last or what new ones may arise.

    Labor costs have also been increasing in recent years, Behdad said, and the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids have added a destabilizing effect on the construction labor pool.

    Some developers who have downtown projects approved but not built are trying to sell them to other developers or investors, he said.

    “Nothing is easy,” Behdad said.

    South Park, though, is one of downtown’s most vibrant neighborhoods where thousands of new residences have been built in recent years, said Nick Griffin, executive director of the privately funded Downtown Center Business Improvement District, a nonprofit coalition of more than 2,000 property owners.

    There is “a demonstrable underlying demand for housing more across the city and region, but specifically in downtown with the occupancy rate at a pretty steady 90% or so,” he said.

    The location of Mack Real Estate’s planned project has already proved desirable to developers, Griffin said.

    “There have already been several significant projects built along that stretch and there are another four large-scale projects within a couple of blocks, so you’re you’re talking about a significant residential hub” that stands to attract new residents and more development, he said.

    Griffin said he hopes developers like Mack Real Estate are getting their projects ready for market conditions to change in the next six months to two years.

    “Financial conditions are going to align themselves at some point in the not too distant future,” he said, “and they want to have their projects teed up and ready to go.”

    Roger Vincent

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  • Bisexual boss moves

    Bisexual boss moves

    Ysabel Jurado, 34, a lifelong community member of Highland Park, and openly out candidate, is running against current Councilmember Kevin De Leon for Council District 14, the most powerful city council in Los Angeles County. 

    Her campaign slogan is ‘Ysabel For The Community.’

    Earlier this year, Jurado made history in the primary, using her perspective as a historically underrepresented person in the hopes of bringing new leadership to the district after De Leon was called to resign in 2022, following a scandal. 

    The live voting results earlier this year highlighted Ysabel Jurado at 24.52%, with 8,618 votes, while De Leon fell behind by nearly 400 votes, with 23.39% in the primary. 

    Jurado is a tenants rights lawyer and housing justice advocate from Highland Park who has built her reputation in the community with support from social activist Dolores Huerta,  L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez and L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis. 

    “I’m the daughter of undocumented immigrants, a public transit rider, a former teen mom, and a working class Angeleno who has navigated the challenges of poverty. I have held the line on countless strikes and defended truck drivers against the same wage theft my father faced,” said Jurado in her candidate statement.  

    De Leon secured the second spot and will go head-to-head against Jurado in November. Jurado rose to the top of the polls, while her opponents spent more money on their campaigns, including De Leon. Miguel Santiago raised the most money for his campaign and also spent the most to secure support. De Leon came in second with both money spent and money raised. While Jurado came in fourth in the amount of money spent and raised for her campaign. 

    Jurado is running to become the first queer, Filipina to represent CD-14. Among the list of issues she aims to tackle while in office are; homelessness, climate action, safer streets and economic justice that uplifts small businesses. 

    “I will bring the institutional knowledge of a legal housing expert and the lived experience of a queer, immigrant-raised, working class, woman of color – a battle-tested representative for and from the community,” said Jurado. 

    Though this is her first time running for office, she has already made it as far as political pioneer Gloria Molina in 2015. 

    De Leon might be facing an uphill climb after he was caught saying homophobic, racist and anti-sematic remarks in a leaked audio recording that rocked his political career. Even President Joe Biden called for his resignation. 

    The conversation that rocked L.A politics is said to have started because of redistricting plans and gerrymandering. According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, De Leon had his hopes set on running for mayor of Los Angeles. Since the audio was leaked, protests erupted, calling for his resignation. De Leon continued in his position after an apology tour and is now running against Jurado on the November ballot. 

    The recording of a conversation between De Leon, Ron Herrera, Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo. 

    Jurado’s statement on her campaign website calls out the leaders of CD-14 that betrayed the communities in the district. 

    “Between FBI raids, backroom gerrymandering, racist rants, and corruption charges, our needs have been chronically ignored,” says the statement. “City government has failed us. We deserve better.”

    If she wins, she would join a progressive bloc of leaders in city council that include Nithya Raman, Hugo Doto-Martinez and Councilmember Hernandez. The leadership would have a pendulum swing toward city affairs that has not been seen before. 

    CD-14 covers Eagle Rock, El Sereno, Boyle Heights and parts of Lincoln Heights and downtown L.A., which includes skid row and other points of interest. 

    Those points of interest make CD-14 seats particularly difficult when it comes to dealing with polarizing issues like homelessness and street safety measures. 

    According to the latest demographic data by L.A City Council, 61% of the population is Latin American, while the second highest population is white, at 16%, followed by Asian, at 14% and Black at 6%. 

    If elected, Jurado aims to tackle homelessness in a district that has one of the highest unhoused populations in the city. 

    Jurado is now gearing up for the November election by continuing to campaign at various events across Los Angeles, including ‘Postcarding with Ysabel,’ at DTLA Arts District Brewing and The Hermosillo.

    Gisselle Palomera

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  • Former Ace Hotel in downtown L.A. reopens as ‘Airbnb on steroids’

    Former Ace Hotel in downtown L.A. reopens as ‘Airbnb on steroids’

    The former Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, which helped lead an economic revival on a historic stretch of Broadway a decade ago, has reopened as a minimal-service operation akin to Airbnb, following a strategy that has become increasingly common for struggling hotels in recent years.

    Now called Stile Downtown Los Angeles by Kasa, the 1920s-vintage hotel tower has resumed limited operations after shutting down nearly six months ago. Downtown hotels were particularly hard-hit by the pandemic, and some have changed owners or operators.

    Ace Hotel Group had operated the 182-room hotel near Broadway and Olympic Boulevard since it opened in 2014, even as its ownership changed twice over the years. The chic brand made the Ace a destination for travelers as well as local residents who patronized its buzzy rooftop bar and restaurants.

    South Korea-based AJU Continuum, which bought the hotel in 2019, announced last week that it had brought in Kasa Living Inc. to operate the property.

    Kasa, which is based in San Francisco and has a national presence, “offers the consistency of a major hotel chain with the convenience and character of a modern short-term rental,” AJU Continuum said in a statement.

    Ace Hotel said upon its departure that the Broadway hotel would be operated in the future as “a limited-service, rooms-only operation, managed via a tech platform.”

    The limited-service model under which guests typically receive codes to get into their rooms via their phones is “basically an Airbnb on steroids,” said Donald Wise, a hotel investment banker at Turnbull Capital Group. “You’re not going to someone’s house or a condo, but to a box that has no more or less service than an Airbnb would have.”

    The independent United Theater on Broadway, which is connected to the hotel, will continue to operate as an open venue hosting concerts, performances and special events, AJU Continuum said. The hotel will have a rooftop wine bar but no restaurants.

    The site has had multiple identities since it was built in 1927. Constructed with backing from film luminaries Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith, it originally was meant in part to provide a theater for the United Artists movie production company they founded.

    The Spanish Gothic theater was designed by C. Howard Crane and the tower by Walker & Eisen, the team behind other local landmarks including the Fine Arts Building downtown and the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills. It held offices for rent and a theater where United Artists pictures premiered, starting with Pickford’s film “My Best Girl.”

    Other prominent occupants of the property through the years include California Petroleum Corp., Texaco and flamboyant preacher Gene Scott, whose broadcasts were heard nationally. He died in 2005.

    The opening of the Ace in 2014 was a pivotal point in the residential renaissance of downtown that helped spur growth nearby, said Nick Griffin, executive vice president of DTLA Alliance, formerly the Downtown Center Business Improvement District.

    “It was evocative of that particular moment in downtown, arriving as a kind of a hipster paradise,” he said. “That area of Ninth and Broadway was a particularly hip area with fashion and hotels at the intersection of the Historic Core, the fashion district and the downtown center.”

    Two other boutique hotels created in historic buildings followed the Ace to the neighborhood: the Hoxton Downtown LA and Downtown L.A. Proper. Both are also on Broadway.

    Short-term rentals in former traditional hotels and apartment buildings have been popping up downtown as business owners work to find financial equilibrium, Griffin said.

    “The new model of short-term rentals is sort of indicative of this moment in downtown as we continue to evolve and innovate coming out of the pandemic.”

    Griffin’s improvement district reported that average downtown hotel occupancy, which plunged during the pandemic, has reached nearly 69%, up a percentage point from a year ago. That’s close to what is usually considered a healthy rate but down from late 2019 when occupancy was closer to 80% and average room rates were higher.

    “The downtown Los Angeles market is still lagging, hasn’t recovered fully to the numbers that were pre-COVID,” said consultant Alan Reay of Atlas Hospitality Group. “We are definitely starting to see more distress among owners.”

    Challenges for hotel owners include a reduction in business travelers to downtown offices as more people work from home. They also face high interest rates on their loans and rising labor costs.

    Limited service hotels such as Stile may produce more profit for their owners while also lowering rates for guests who don’t mind having fewer services, Reay said.

    Roger Vincent

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  • Downtown L.A. Recording Studio Sees Shots Fired In Early Morning, One Person Arrested

    Downtown L.A. Recording Studio Sees Shots Fired In Early Morning, One Person Arrested

    The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating an overnight shooting at a downtown Los Angeles recording studio. 

    Police went to the studio at 9th and San Pedro streets just before 3 a.m. after receiving a call that shots were fired inside a recording studio, which was not identified.

    Police said at least 20 people were inside the studio at the time of the incident. The building was cleared and occupants exited with hands up. Multiple people were handcuffed and one person was taken into custody and one firearm was confiscated.

    No motive has been established in the incident.

    Bruce Haring

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  • Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down 101 Freeway in downtown L.A.

    Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down 101 Freeway in downtown L.A.

    Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters briefly shutdown the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Monday afternoon.

    The protesters blocked traffic as they held Palestinian flags and signs reading “Stop the Genocide” and “End the Occupation Now!” and chanted “Eyes on Rafah!” according to video posted to social media, including by journalist Ben Camacho.

    The protest came a day after what appeared to be one of the deadliest attacks in Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas.

    On Sunday, an Israeli strike on a tent camp housing displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah killed dozens. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday described the strike as a “tragic mistake” that was under investigation.

    Tens of thousands of people — many civilians — have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war on Hamas after an assault by Hamas fighters in Israel in October. Large portions of Gaza have been destroyed and cut off from aid, spurring months of protests around the world and across the U.S., including on many college campuses.

    The United Nations’ top court ordered Israel to halt its assault on Rafah last week.

    A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said Monday that officers were called to monitor a protest downtown about 3 p.m.

    “We responded to some protesters walking through the immediate downtown area,” LAPD Officer Jeff Lee said. “Initially they started blocking traffic, but then they were up on the sidewalk obeying traffic laws — and that’s when they went down onto the freeway.”

    California Highway Patrol Sgt. Alejandro Rubio said that LAPD alerted the CHP that about 50 protesters had moved onto the freeway near Alameda Street at 4:48 p.m.

    However, by the time CHP officers arrived at the scene around 5 p.m., there were no longer any protesters on the freeway, Rubio said.

    “They were all on the surface streets,” he said.

    Lee said LAPD officers continued to monitor protesters in the downtown area afterward.

    “We’re just going to ensure public safety and the well-being of all individuals,” he said.

    Kevin Rector

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  • Girl grabs deputy’s gun, shoots herself in lobby of L.A. County sheriff’s station, officials say

    Girl grabs deputy’s gun, shoots herself in lobby of L.A. County sheriff’s station, officials say

    A girl in her late teens died in the lobby of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department station late Sunday after, officials say, she got hold of a deputy’s gun and shot herself.

    The department has not released the girl’s name, and officials said late Sunday that it was unclear how she was able to take the deputy’s weapon.

    The incident happened around 7:40 p.m., when the teen walked into the lobby of the sheriff’s station at 150 N. Hudson Ave. in the city of Industry, according to a news release.

    Officials said she did not have a weapon when she entered the building, and that at some point she caused a commotion, making noise and banging on glass.

    Then, the girl allegedly got into “some kind of altercation” with a deputy, took the deputy’s gun and used it to kill herself, officials said.

    Authorities said the incident may have stemmed from a family disturbance nearby.

    No deputies were injured, officials said. It was not immediately clear whether anyone else was in the lobby at the time.

    The incident is under investigation.

    Keri Blakinger

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  • Woman arrested in theft of French bulldog that left victim clinging to hood of car

    Woman arrested in theft of French bulldog that left victim clinging to hood of car


    Authorities have arrested a woman on suspicion of stealing a French bulldog in downtown Los Angeles last month in an incident that gained attention when onlookers filmed the victim clinging to the hood of a car as it sped away with her dog, Onyx, inside.

    Police arrested Sadie Slater, 21, of Los Angeles, in connection with the crime, according to a news release from the Los Angeles Police Department.

    Onyx was not recovered as of Saturday afternoon, but detectives were still conducting interviews, police said.

    Ali Zacharias’ heartbreak began Jan. 18 when she was on a lunch break with Onyx at the Whole Foods on Grand Avenue near 8th Street, she told The Times in an interview. Onlookers were watching the 44-year-old interact with her dog: a black-and-white-speckled French bulldog a little over a year old with different colored eyes, the left blue and the right green.

    The next thing Zacharias knew, she said, a woman had picked up Onyx and was walking away with him.

    Onyx, a French bulldog with one blue eye and one green eye, was stolen from his owner in downtown L.A. on Jan. 18.

    (Ali Zacharias)

    Zacharias said she attempted to follow the woman into a car — a white Kia Forte that held four people — before being pushed out. That’s when she stood in front of the car in an attempt to stop it, then fell onto the hood as it drove forward, she said.

    She rode atop the hood for a short way before the car swerved and she rolled off. She was bruised and cut but not badly hurt, she said.

    Video of the ordeal was posted on Instagram and widely shared.

    French bulldogs are one of the most popular small-breed dogs in the world, according to the American Kennel Club, “especially among city dwellers.” They’re known for their square heads, “bat” ears and charming disposition. Expensive and in high demand, the dogs have been a favorite target of thieves in recent years in the L.A. area.

    Two of Lady Gaga’s French bulldogs were stolen in February 2021, and her dog walker was shot and wounded during the heist. The woman who recovered them and later sued — trying to claim the $500,000 reward — was found to be involved with the dognappers. More recently, thieves stole 12 purebred French bulldogs, including a 10-month-old show dog named Roll X, from a Gardena pet shop.

    Slater was taken into custody late Friday in Inglewood by members of the LAPD gang and narcotics division and U.S. Marshals’ fugitive task force, according to investigators. She was booked on suspicion of robbery and remained jailed Saturday in lieu of $70,000 bail, jail records state.

    Zacharias has offered a reward for her beloved pet’s safe return.

    Reward poster for Onyx, a French bulldog with one blue eye and one green eye.

    Onyx, a French bulldog with one blue eye and one green eye, was stolen from his owner in downtown L.A. on Jan. 18.

    (Ali Zacharias)



    Alex Wigglesworth, Amy Hubbard

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  • LAPD on the hunt for man suspected of shooting and killing a 4-month-old puppy

    LAPD on the hunt for man suspected of shooting and killing a 4-month-old puppy

    Los Angeles Police Department detectives are searching for a man who is suspected of shooting and killing a 4-month-old puppy.

    The Los Angeles Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating David Sumlin, a man suspected of domestic violence and of killing the victim’s pet.

    (Los Angeles Police Department)

    The suspect, David Sumlin, 32, shot the dog near downtown L.A. on Jan. 2 after an intense verbal exchange with the dog’s owner, according to police.

    The LAPD said that Sumlin stated, “It’s either you or the dog,” before he held a pillow over the dog and shot two rounds into the puppy. Police officials arrived on the scene and transported the dog to a local animal shelter where it later died.

    “The investigation is ongoing and the suspect has not been found yet,” LAPD Officer Roman John said.

    Detectives released a photo of the suspect, whom police described as a Black man with black hair and brown eyes. He is 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. Sumlin is a transient who frequents the area of 7th Street and Stanford Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, according to police. The firearm used remains outstanding. Anyone who spots Sumlin is asked to call 911.

    Roberto Reyes

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  • Two killed, eight wounded in New Year's Day shooting in downtown L.A.

    Two killed, eight wounded in New Year's Day shooting in downtown L.A.

    Two people were killed and eight others were wounded in a shooting at an underground New Year’s Eve celebration in downtown Los Angeles early Monday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

    Shortly before 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day, officers received a radio call of a shooting in the area of 15th Street and Santa Fe Avenue. When they arrived at the cross streets they heard gunshots coming from nearby Porter Street and Santa Fe Avenue. A large crowd was fleeing the area, and several wounded people were lying on the street and sidewalk, police wrote in a news release.

    A man and woman were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Authorities initially reported three people had been wounded early Monday, but in an afternoon update said eight were injured in addition to the two who were killed. The wounded individuals were treated at hospitals, but police did not provide an update on their conditions.

    The shooting victims were attending a New Year’s Eve party in the 2300 block of Porter Street. Authorities believe a dispute between people at the gathering led to the shooting. No information on any suspects was immediately available.

    Authorities are asking anyone with information to call Det. Justin Howarth at (213) 996-4143. Anonymous tips can be directed to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS or www.lacrimestoppers.org.

    Hannah Fry

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  • Jewish protesters demanding Gaza cease-fire shut down 110 Freeway in downtown L.A.

    Jewish protesters demanding Gaza cease-fire shut down 110 Freeway in downtown L.A.

    Dozens of protesters organized by a progressive Jewish activist group calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip blocked the southbound 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles for over an hour on Wednesday morning, bringing traffic to a standstill.

    Police were notified about the protest just after 9 a.m., according to California Highway Patrol Officer Roberto Gomez. All six southbound lanes were blocked, Gomez said.

    Shortly after 10 a.m., CHP officers were detaining the protesters, leading them to over two dozen police cruisers on the freeway. Behind them, a miles-long traffic jam snarled the morning commute through downtown, south of the interchange with the 101 Freeway.

    A protester with his arms bound behind his back said “Free Palestine” when asked for comment as officers led him away.

    A tow truck was called to remove vehicles left by protesters and blocking traffic on the 110. By around 10:30 a.m., the last protester had been led away and two lanes of traffic had been reopened.

    Authorities arrested 75 protesters for failure to comply with a dispersal order, and the freeway was expected to be fully reopened by noon, according to the CHP.

    In videos posted by organizers IfNotNow, the protesters stretched across the freeway wearing black shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Not In Our Name” on the front and “Jews Say Cease Fire now” on the back.

    American Jews and allies calling for a cease-fire in Gaza block the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles with a seven-foot menorah.

    (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

    They sang “cease-fire now” and lighted a seven-foot menorah as cars waited helplessly behind them.

    In a statement to the media, the group wrote that its members “demand an end to the financial support of Israel’s occupation and documented war crimes.”

    In helicopter video from KCAL News, several angry drivers were seen skirmishing with protesters before law enforcement arrived. A man pinned a protester up against the hood of a car while others yelled. They grabbed and pushed protesters, throwing some of their signs across the freeway.

    The protest is one in a string of actions in favor of ending Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in the two months since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

    Another protest organized by the group shut down a Hollywood intersection in mid-November, and during President Biden’s visit to Los Angeles last week, over 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at Holmby Park, across from the site of a fundraiser.

    Nathan Solis, Terry Castleman

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  • L.A. City Council to vote on digital signs for Convention Center

    L.A. City Council to vote on digital signs for Convention Center

    The Los Angeles City Council will vote Wednesday on a plan to allow large-scale digital signs on the city-owned Convention Center in downtown L.A., a plan embraced by politicians eager for new revenue streams and opposed by foes of the blinking displays.

    Under the ordinance, bright digital signs and other types of advertisements could rise inside and outside the Convention Center. The displays would be allowed in a 68-acre site bounded by Chick Hearn Court, Figueroa Street, Venice Boulevard and the 110 Freeway.

    The vote follows the council’s approval last week of more than 70 digital billboards across L.A. as part of a revenue-sharing agreement with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

    The new ordinance for the Convention Center would allow animated digital signage along Figueroa Street and Chick Hearn Court, as well as digital signage with non-moving images along the back of the Convention Center facing the 110 Freeway, according to the city’s Planning Department.

    Money raised by the digital signs on the Convention Center will help pay for renovations to the center, city officials said.

    Doane Liu, the city’s chief tourism officer, told The Times that one estimate predicted $14.8 million in annual revenue from the signage. He didn’t provide details about when the estimate was completed or who performed it.

    Councilmember Curren Price, whose district includes the Convention Center and L.A. Live, expressed support for the signs in a Dec. 5 letter to the city’s Planning and Land Use Commission.

    “The new sign district will allow us to receive enough revenue to complete the future renovations and expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center prior to the 2028 Olympics,” he wrote.

    Price’s letter references a separate city initiative to potentially overhaul the Convention Center in time for the 2028 Games. Costs remain an issue, however, and city leaders haven’t made a decision on whether to go forward with a renovation.

    Either way, table tennis and other sports may be played at the Convention Center during the 2028 Olympics, according to city officials.

    More broadly, city leaders want to make L.A. competitive with other major cities that draw big conventions and bring in more tourism dollars.

    Angelina Valencia, a Price representative, said the accurate value of the digital signs at the Convention Center hasn’t been assessed yet.

    Barbara Broide, co-president of the Coalition for a Beautiful Los Angeles, called the proposed digital signs at the Convention Center a “terrible visual assault for Angelenos.”

    “It is a dangerous distraction for those who need to be watching the road,” Broide said.

    Historical preservation expert Kim Cooper also expressed concern over driver safety and light pollution for surrounding neighborhoods. “There’s a potential impact on mental health and sleep,” Cooper said.

    Liu, the city’s chief tourism officer, said that convention customers have been clamoring for the signs. He said that digital displays on the outside of the Convention Center could be used in a variety of ways, including to advertise medical scrubs, for instance, at a nursing convention.

    He also pointed to the large-scale blinking displays that some downtown developers have sought for their residential buildings. “It’s only right” that the Convention Center should also have digital billboards, he said.

    Dakota Smith

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  • A fifth hotel has reached a tentative agreement with striking workers

    A fifth hotel has reached a tentative agreement with striking workers

    Unite Here Local 11, the union representing hotel workers in Southern California who have been striking on and off for nearly five months, said it has reached a tentative contract agreement with Le Merigot Santa Monica.

    The contract will — once it’s ratified — raise wages, strengthen pensions and increase investments in healthcare for about 100 employees at Le Merigot,union spokesperson Maria Hernandez said.

    Le Merigot, a Marriott hotel, is the fifth property to reach a deal with the union.

    The first was the Westin Bonaventure, which reached a tentative deal just as contracts were set to expire June 30 for more than 15,000 hotel workers at some 60 properties in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The second was the Biltmore in downtown L.A.’s financial district, which announced a deal in September. Last month, the union announced agreements with Loews Hollywood and Laguna Cliffs Marriott in Dana Point.

    “We have now won standard-setting contracts in downtown L.A., Hollywood, Orange County and Santa Monica. There are no excuses for the rest. Workers deserve to share in the prosperity of the tourism industry,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11.

    The union has declined to give specifics on wages and other economic details of the agreements it has reached thus far, and the contracts have not yet been put to a vote by workers.

    Keith Grossman, an attorney representing a group of more than 40 Southern California hotel owners and operators in talks with the union, did not respond to a request for comment.

    Peter Hillan, spokesperson for the Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles, said Le Merigot was not a member of the hotel group. Santa Monica hotels that are part of the coordinated bargaining group include Fairmont Miramar, Le Meridien Delfina, Courtyard by Marriott, Hampton Inn & Suites and the Viceroy, Hillan said.

    The union held a gathering with faith community leaders Thursday to discuss instances of violence against picketing hotel workers as well as the alleged exploitation of unhoused migrant workers brought in to replace striking workers at Le Meridien Delfina in Santa Monica.

    The event, held at St. Augustine By-the-Sea church in Santa Monica was attended by local leaders including former Los Angeles Councilman Mike Bonin and Santa Monica Human Services Commissioner Luis Barrera Castañón, the union said in a news release.

    The union also sent a letter last week to Santa Monica City Attorney Douglas T. Sloan urging the city to investigate possible violations of local laws by Le Meridien Delfina and other hotels that hired migrants as replacement workers.

    The letter notes potential violations of hourly wages below Santa Monica‘s minimum of $19.73 and failures to provide “panic buttons” for workers’ safety and related training.

    The letter cites reporting by The Times that also prompted an investigation by Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón. In the letter, the union said it has also requested that the California labor commissioner investigate the hotels’ and subcontractors’ compliance with state laws regarding itemized wage statements and lunch and rest breaks.

    Suhauna Hussain

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