Santa Monica official pledges solidarity to protesters and support for business

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Peaceful marches followed by lawless looting and vandalism in Santa Monica over the weekend led to over 400 arrests. According to the Santa Monica Police Department, 95% of those arrested were not city residents. Luckily, no one was seriously injured but many local merchants suffered property damage.

Tuesday morning on Good Day LA, Santa Monica City Council member and business owner Greg Morena spoke with anchor Dan Cohen about what comes next.

Already, clean up is underway in the city, as volunteers from all over the Southland join in to help with the aftermath. Morena says the city is working with businesses to support their recovery, in an area already hit hard by the coronavirus.

He says though, that the property damage and graffiti can be erased and repaired, "but the real issue is the killing of black lives."

He said he himself participated in peaceful protests over the weekend and stands in solidarity with the organizers of protests on behalf of addressing injustice. 

As far as the criminals whose actions distract from the message, "we'll find the people who perpetrated the violence and the looting."

Morena says that residents are being asked to send any images that might help police investigations to info@santamonica.gov.

He says moving forward, his message as a city leader is "we hear you, we're here for you and we're here to fix the system."