Tensions in Los Angeles escalated on Sunday, with thousands of protesters taking to the streets in response to President Donald Trump Extraordinary deployment of the National GuardWhen law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs to control crowds, it blocked a major highway and burned self-driving cars.
In the evening, many protesters spread out, and the police declared it an illegal parliament, a pioneer in police coming in and arresting people who did not leave. Some of them left behind threw objects at police from behind a temporary obstacle that spanned the width of a street, while others were parked at California Highway Patrolmen and their vehicles on the closed Southbound Highway 101. The officer ran to cover under the overpass.
The protests in Los Angeles Sunday were a sprawling city of 4 million people centered on several blocks of downtown. It was the third and most intense day against Trump’s crackdown on immigration in the region, with the arrival of about 300 guards igniting anger and fear among many residents.
The guard was deployed specifically to protect federal buildings, including downtown detention centers where protesters were concentrated.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the rest of the protesters were “overwhelmed”. He said they included regular mixers and they appeared in the demonstrations to cause trouble.
Dozens of people were arrested during protests throughout the weekend. One person was detained Sunday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police officers and another was detained for hitting a motorcycle into a group of officers.
Trump responded to McDonald’s Truth Social, telling him to arrest protesters with masks.
“The troops brought in Los Angeles look really bad!!” he wrote.
Conflict escalates when National Guard arrives
From the morning, the troops stood on their shoulders, carrying long spears and riot shields, and protesters shouted “shame” and “go home.” After close proximity to the defender members, another group of uniformed officers advanced on the group, shooting smoke-filled cans into the streets.
Minutes later, the Los Angeles Police Department fired numerous crowd-controlled ammunition to disperse protesters who said they were gathering illegally. Most of the team then moved traffic off Highway 101 until state patrol officers cleared them out of the driveway late afternoon.
Nearby, at least four self-driving Waymo cars caught fire, and as the electric car burned, a large amount of black smoke entered the sky, exploding intermittently. By night, police issued an illegal rally order that closed several blocks of downtown Los Angeles.
Flash Bangs echo every few seconds.
The governor said no
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom asks Trump to evacuate guard membersletterOn Sunday afternoon, they called the deployment a “serious violation of national sovereignty.” He met with local law enforcement and officials in Los Angeles.
The deployment seems to be the first time in decades to activate the state’s National Guard without the request of its governor, a major escalation for those trying to hinderAdministrative mass deportationeffort.
Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed increasingly radical protests after Trump decided to deploy guards, calling it a move aimed at avoiding tensions. Both of them urged protesters to remain peaceful.
“What we’re seeing in Los Angeles is the chaos caused by the government,” she said in an afternoon press conference. “It’s about another agenda, it’s not about public safety.”
But LAPD chief MacDonald said the protests followed a similar pattern of civil unrest, with situations growing on the second and third day.
He opposed the Trump administration’s claim that LAPD failed to help federal authorities when protests broke out on Friday after a series of immigration raids. He said his department responded as soon as possible and had not been notified before the raid, so there was no advance protest.
Meanwhile, Newsom repeatedly stated that California authorities were under control. Before the troops even arrived in Los Angeles, he mocked Trump for posting congratulatory messages to the guards on social media and said on MSNBC that Trump never floated to deploy the guards on Friday’s phone call. He called Trump a “stone liar.”
These warnings did not stop the government.
“It’s a bald lie for President Trump’s involvement, Los Angeles has no problem in Los Angeles,” White House spokesman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
Deployment is a day of protest
The National Guard arrived after two days of protests that began Friday in downtown Los Angeles before spreading to Paramount on Saturday, the city’s Latino city, Paramount, andNearby Compton.
Federal agents arrest immigrants in Los Angeles Fashion District Home Depot Friday parking lot and several other locations. The next day they staged at the Homeland Security Department near another home warehouse in Paramount, which pulled out protesters suspected of another raid. Federal authorities later said the Home Depot had no law enforcement activities.
Federal authorities say the week-long arrests of immigration climbed more than 100 times in the Los Angeles area. During the protests, more people were arrested, including a prominent union leader who was accused of obstructing law enforcement.
The protests have not reached the scale of past demonstrations that brought the National Guard to Los Angeles, includingwattandRodney King riots,In protests against police violence in 2020, the news agency asked for assistance from federal forces.
According to the Brennan Justice Center, the last time the National Guard was activated without the governor’s permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect civil rights marches in Alabama.
Trump said there will be “very strong law and order”
existinstructOn Saturday, Trump introduced a legal provision that would allow him to deploy federal service personnel when “the insurgency or insurgency creates rebellion or danger to the mandate of the U.S. government.” ”
He said he had authorized the deployment of 2,000 National Guard members.
Trump told reporters as he was preparing to board Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey on Sunday that there were “violent people” in Los Angeles, “and they won’t get rid of it.”
Ask him ifPlans to send US troops to Los AngelesTrump replied: “We will have troops everywhere. We will not let this happen in our country.” He did not elaborate.
About 500 Marines stationed on Twenty-Nine Palm Trees were stationed on Sunday afternoon in “ready to deploy identities” about 125 miles (200 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, according to U.S. Northern Command.
This story was originally fortune.com
