Graffiti covering deserted high rise divides opinion in LA

An abandoned high-rise development in downtown Los Angeles has become a magnet for graffiti artists and parachutists, leaving city officials furious.

- Lois Beckett

"This isn't art. It's a crime," the Los Angeles police chief, Michel Moore, warned this week, saying officers were staying at the site of the half-built tower "as the city mobilises resources to remove the graffiti and fortify the location".

A social media video that appeared to show someone parachuting off part of the development went viral last week, prompting condemnation from the city's mayor.

"I'm terrified someone's going to fall or be pushed," Karen Bass told NBC Los Angeles. "There are people who are parachuting off of the building." Arrests have already been made at the site, located just across from the Crypto.com arena, where the Grammy awards were held earlier this month.

The Los Angeles police were providing security "in an effort to avoid a tragic fall or other calamities", Moore wrote on X on Monday.