Panorama City Mall was scheduled to reopen for in-store shoppers on Monday but was forced to postpone due to protests taking place near the property. Arturo Sneider, chief executive of Primestor, the developer that owns the mall, told the Business Journal, “We’re about to have a really massive protest that could turn ugly at the property. LAPD notified us and the county’s office that (attendees) are going to be looting and hitting the property today, and probably making their way north through the San Fernando Valley on Van Nuys (Blvd.). We had to kill our plans to reopen.” Los Angeles Police Officer Rosario Cervantes of the Media Relations Section confirmed there was a protest in Van Nuys near the courthouse. The Daily News reported that the protest was the first such event to take place in the Valley after a week of protests in downtown Los Angeles and throughout the country sparked by the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died May 25 after his arrest in Minneapolis by white police officers, one of whom has been charged with second-degree homicide, third-degree homicide and second-degree manslaughter. Farther south, shop owners in Studio City and Sherman Oaks boarded up their windows on Monday to avoid damage in case of protests. The city of Los Angeles has instituted a 6 p.m. curfew for Monday evening.
Valley Retailers Prepare for Protests
