LONG BEACH : 100 File Claims Against City Over Looting During Riots
More than 100 people, most of them Korean-American business owners, have filed claims alleging that police failed to protect their businesses from being looted and burned during last spring’s riots.
The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday forwarded the claims to the city attorney’s office. Each claim seeks compensation for losses of more than $10,000.
Most of the claims included a statement that accuses the Long Beach Police Department of deploying its forces in a discriminatory manner that neglected the businesses of Korean-Americans. The Assn. of Korean American Victims of the L.A. Riot, which is based in Los Angeles, produced the statement and helped many of the Long Beach merchants file their claims within six months of the riots, the legal deadline.
Long Beach officials have acknowledged that police were sometimes overwhelmed. But Assistant City Atty. Robert E. Shannon denied the allegation of racism.
Shannon added that many of the claims were vague and he did not see any “reasonable possibility” the city would pay damages.
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