California spent $900,000 protecting state buildings during Black Lives Matter protests

The California Department of General Services spent nearly $2 million in preparation and repair costs for state buildings in recent weeks amid protests against police brutality.

A Friday letter to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee detailed a breakdown of these costs and asked to be reimbursed.

The department says it spent just over $900,000 since late May in preparing for the protests — including boarding up windows, repairing granite and removing graffiti.

The rest, it explained, went toward supporting the California Military Department.

The state also spent over $38.2 million in California Highway Patrol overtime costs connected with the protests. And deploying the National Guard in California’s largest cities in recent weeks cost nearly $25 million.

This latest expenditure report adds to a growing list of costs associated with continued protests against police brutality and racial inequality, which were sparked in late May by the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd.

Support for the military department included showers, laundry services and light towers. The department said it spent roughly $1 million on these costs between June 3 and June 8 — a week particularly fraught with demonstrations.

This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "California spent $900,000 protecting state buildings during Black Lives Matter protests."