What happened at LA's Lakewood Mall? Police say looting reports false, Internet says 'nothing to steal there'
Lakewood Mall started trending on Twitter on June 26 after many on social media suggested that people were looting the Lakewood Center Mall in Lakewood, Los Angeles. However, officials from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said that while the mall was closed on Friday afternoon following a sizable fight involving teens, there was no looting involved. Officials closed the mall to the public and it was not yet clear when it would reopen.
Deputies responded to a call of a large fight involving an unknown number of juveniles at the mall’s food court, according to the department. Details on the reason for the fight were not yet available.
Many had taken to social media to react on what they thought was ongoing looting as others wanted to find out what was going on. A user tweeted, "Idk what’s going on at the Lakewood mall but they really got us Locked in the store." Another wrote, "To those asking what happened at Lakewood Mall: A fight broke out in the mall and since security went over there to check it out, kids started running everywhere and took the opportunity to try to loot Macy’s. Smh."
Many users admitted confusion as to why there was looting going on at the mall. A user tweeted, "there ain’t nothing at Lakewood mall for y’all to steal lmfao y’all ain’t got nun better to do huh." Another wrote, "WHY YALL LOOTING THE LAKEWOOD MALL? WHAT YALL STEALING? A CANDLE FROM BATH AND BODY WORKS? LIKE BRO THERES NOTHING WORTH STEALING THERE." Another user tweeted, "Bruv, I know I don’t see people looting Lakewood Mall. What is even there, of all places, to loot??"
Once the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department confirmed that reports of looting were false, a user tweeted, "Interesting that the same people talking about Lakewood Mall being looted are also the people that scream "fake news" multiple times a day. Whoops."
This is not the first time this year that the Lakewood Center Mall has been in the news. In May 2020, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department arrested 13 people who attempted to loot the mall. After reports of the attempted looting, troops from the National Guard were stationed at the Lakewood Center in order to protect the mall from possible looters.
At the time of the attempted looting in Lakewood Mall, in Santa Monica, looters spent hours in the city’s upscale business district stealing items and setting several fires. In Long Beach, an outlet mall and some downtown shops were hit as protesters screamed at looters and begged them to stop. Caltrans closed westbound lanes of the 10 Freeway at Bundy Drive to prevent people from coming into Santa Monica. Hundreds were arrested.
In Long Beach, hundreds of people began looting stores at the Pike Outlets. People smashed windows with hammers and trash can lids. A mob also stormed into Forever 21, slipping on clothes scattered on the floor. At G by Guess, a man used a hammer to smash the store's door before another man intervened and asked him to stop.