Newsom Deploys National Guard to Discourage Looters, Curfew in Place in Worst Hit Areas

As I described here on Thursday, at least 20 looters have been arrested in LA County so far, but there are many media reports suggesting the number of looters goes far beyond that. Some reports indicated that caravans of men on cars and scooters were going through neighborhoods under evacuation orders looking for homes they could rob. So many people were experiencing this that some homeowners refused to leave in order to safeguard their homes.

On Friday, the 62-year-old said she has been camped out at her two-bedroom Craftsman after seeing news reports that roving bands of thieves are targeting homes that weren’t leveled and remain unoccupied in evacuation zones around the city…

“No one’s here securing the homes, so these criminals are coming and breaking in,” she said. “Just to add more insult to injury, we have that now. So I’m living in my house right now, with a generator, even though we’re supposed to be evacuated, and basically camping here so we can protect our home and assets. Because the crime is a problem. Nothing here is good.”

It should have been obvious that this would happen but it wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that Gov. Newsom called out the National Guard to show up at evacuation areas.

.@TheCalGuard has arrived to Los Angeles to support local law enforcement.

Taking advantage of evacuated communities is absolutely sick.

Looting will not be tolerated. pic.twitter.com/q72oiVSrAa

— Governor Newsom (@CAgovernor) January 10, 2025

Better late than never I guess. Newsom also put out this video about looting which Elon Musk mocked as clown world.

🤡🌎 https://t.co/1RMuVXOAHH

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 11, 2025

Musk may have had a point:

At the exact moment @GavinNewsom held an impromptu press conference on North Curson about the Sunset Fire, looters were circling on scooters, waiting for him to leave. They have zero respect for his brand of law and order. Resign. pic.twitter.com/4N80A5yTTl

— Norgard (@BrianNorgard) January 10, 2025

In any case, Newsom responded to his jab:

Stop encouraging looting by lying and telling people it’s decriminalized. It’s not.

It’s illegal — as it always has been.

Bad actors will be arrested and prosecuted. https://t.co/EImJwFdyzZ

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 11, 2025

Newsom also announced today that the number of National Guard members in the streets would be doubled.

NEW: We will be doubling the California National Guard on the ground to help fight the Los Angeles fires and keep our communities safe.

We will now have 1,680 service members on the ground. We are grateful for their continued bravery and commitment to be of service to others.

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 11, 2025

There are still indications that suspicious characters are driving around these neighborhoods.

Los Angeles fire victims are forming their own neighborhood watch chats to look out for looters.
Two LA private security companies told me they’re busy — and that “large groups of people are coming out of sprinter vans” and that the looting is “coordinated.” pic.twitter.com/iKq5PqHgsz

— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) January 11, 2025

Mere hours after the neighborhood of Brentwood received mandatory evacuation warnings, looters came trying to break into empty homes to steal their belongings.

This scumbag was caught by police trying to break into a home on Kenter. pic.twitter.com/ISiGaKqegT

— The Persian Jewess (@persianjewess) January 11, 2025

Thieves aren’t the only danger. You may have heard that a group of citizens stopped and held a guy who was allegedly starting fires with a blowtorch. Neighbors believe this guy may have intentionally set the Kenneth Fire.

The arrest happened around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, near the area of Arcos Drive and Galendo Street. Residents say a man was riding around on a bicycle carrying a large blow torch, trying to set multiple old Christmas trees and garbage cans on fire. When the man rode away, neighbors followed him, and eventually stepped in.

There’s video of the confrontation that led to the arrest.

Residents in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles detained a man carrying a blowtorch.

LAPD said that there was not enough probable cause or evidence to charge the suspect with arson, though he was charged with a probation violation.pic.twitter.com/r65bJSSaRi

— The American Conservative (@amconmag) January 10, 2025

Police came and arrested him and initially seemed to believe he was responsible.

Here is a confirmation that the #KennethFire was arson pic.twitter.com/PGzK2XS2rM

— LA Scanner (@LAScanner) January 10, 2025

Yesterday the story changed and police decided they didn’t have probably cause to arrest him for arson but he did get held on felony probation violation.

BREAKING: LAPD says no probable cause for arson regarding suspect arrested with *blow torch* trying to IGNITE FIRES.

His name is still unknown. pic.twitter.com/2hh06kNlny

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 10, 2025

In addition to calling out the National Guard, a curfew has also been put in place in a couple areas.

The curfew will take place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. for two current fire evacuation areas, which include the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire.

More than 100,000 people remain under evacuation orders across LA County.

Meanwhile. the real problem remains. There are still four fires (some reports say six) burning around LA County and containment of the two biggest ones (Palisades and Eaton) remain pretty limited. There’s also renewed concern that winds could pick up again tonight.

With powerful winds set to return to Los Angeles County Saturday night, there’s “a very significant concern” the wildfires currently raging across the area will continue to grow, Cal Fire Battalion Chief David Acuna said.

Current wind conditions are allowing firefighters to use aircraft to perform water and fire retardant drops over wildfires to shore up containment lines, which are still “frail,” Acuna told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield Saturday.

“But when the wind picks up and those embers start flying, that’s where our concern is,” he added.

Winds are forecast to increase again Monday and Tuesday. So, unfortunately, this disaster is not over yet.