What happened during three days of protests over immigration raids in downtown L.A.

A man accused of assaulting a federal officer at an immigration protest in Paramount has been added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted list.

The FBI is seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who allegedly threw rocks at a law enforcement vehicles on Alondra Boulevard around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, injuring a federal officer and damaging government vehicles. A reward of up to $50,000 is offered for information leading to his arrest.

“Anyone who deliberately impedes the efforts of law enforcement agents and officers who are carrying out lawful warrants will be subject to federal prosecution, to include spending time in federal prison,” said Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. “There will be no tolerance for anyone who interferes with the law enforcement mission and in doing so, puts law enforcement or the community in harm’s way.”

Protests erupted in Paramount — a working-class, predominantly Latino suburb south of downtown Los Angeles — following reports of a possible immigration raid at the Home Depot on Alondra Boulevard on Saturday morning.

Although border patrol agents were spotted gathering near the store around 9 a.m., a raid never took place. News of their presence, however, traveled like wildfire over social media, drawing a large crowd of protesters to the neighborhood.

The result was a tense clash between demonstrators and law enforcement with episodes of violence that escalated as day turned to night.

So-called less-lethal projectiles, tear gas and flash-bang grenades were used to try to disperse protesters.

Demonstrators lobbed bottles and rocks at L.A. County sheriff’s deputies and set at least three fires in the area including a car that burned in the middle of the intersection.

Sunday night, Los Angeles police posted on social media that the entire downtown Los Angeles area had been declared an unlawful assembly.

“You are to leave the Downtown Area immediately,” said the X post.

The announcement followed a day of scattered violence as protesters continued to gather in the downtown area to decry the recent surge in immigration raids.

Starting shortly after 3 p.m., the LAPD declared a series of unlawful assemblies at various protest hot spots, including the 101 Freeway downtown and the streets around City Hall.

The declaration of an unlawful assembly is a necessary precursor for arresting those who refuse to leave a protest.

As of 8 p.m., 27 protesters had been arrested; 17 of them were detained as the California Highway Patrol worked to clear the 101 Freeway, according to the LAPD. The remaining 10 arrests were made by L.A. police on suspicion of throwing a Molotov cocktail at an officer and driving a motorcycle into a line of police, among other alleged offenses.

L.A. Police Capt. Raul Jovel said at 8 p.m. that he expected police would make several more arrests Sunday evening as they worked to disperse the remaining protesters.

“We’re trying to get into that posture where we’re able to make arrests right now,” he said. “Our officers are really under attack.”

An hour after Jovel’s statement, all of downtown L.A. was declared an unlawful assembly, and protesters began to move south toward the L.A. Live area, blocking all lanes of traffic on Figueroa and 11th streets, according to the LAPD.

At 9:40 p.m., police said the protesters had turned around and were heading back north into downtown L.A., with “reports of fights within the group.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom clapped back at threats made by President Trump’s “border czar,” who has said he would not rule out arresting Newsom for obstructing immigration enforcement.

“Come after me, arrest me, let’s just get it over with, tough guy,” Newsom said on MSNBC on Sunday evening. “I don’t give a damn, but I care about my community.”

Tom Homan told NBC News on Saturday that ICE would continue to aggressively go after anyone who interfered with its operations in Los Angeles.

“Every day in L.A., we’re going to enforce immigration law,” he told MSNBC. “I don’t care if they like it or not.”

When asked whether this would include elected officials such as Mayor Karen Bass or Newsom, he did not back down.

“I’ll say it about anybody,” Homan said. “You cross that line, it’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job.”

Newsom issued a steely response, telling Homan to come after him and leave hardworking immigrants alone.

“Lay your hands off of 4-year-old girls that are trying to get educated,” he said. “Let your hands off of off these poor people just trying to live their lives, paying their taxes, [have] been here 10 years.”

Twenty-seven arrests were made at immigration protests in downtown L.A. on Sunday on suspicion of throwing a Molotov cocktail at an officer and driving a motorcycle into a line of police, authorities said.

Seventeen of the arrests were made by the California Highway Patrol as officers worked to clear protesters from the 101 Freeway, while L.A. police made 10 arrests amid clashes downtown.

Sunday’s tally is on top of 29 arrests made at Saturday’s protests, police said.

L.A. Police Capt. Raul Jovel said he expected police would be making several more arrests Sunday evening as they worked to disperse the remaining protesters.

“We’re trying to get into that posture where we’re able to make arrests right now,” he said at an 8 p.m. news conference. “Our officers are really under attack.”

Three Los Angeles Police Department officers were injured Sunday but none seriously enough to require hospitalization, Jovel said.

L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonnell said further arrests would be made in the days to come as the department investigated who was responsible for various acts of vandalism and violence.

“The numbers of arrests we’ve made pale in comparison to what will be made,” he said.

McDonnell warned perpetrators that the department would “very aggressively” analyze all available videos of incidents and hold whomever they could accountable.

This includes those responsible for setting multiple Waymo taxis on fire, he said.

McDonnell said violence in the city had only escalated since protesters clashed with officers Friday outside a federal detention center in downtown L.A.

“These past few nights, we’ve seen a level that disgusts every good person in this city,” he said.

McDonnell said he spoke with L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna on Sunday about potentially implementing a curfew, but they decided it wasn’t necessary.

The chief said he also spoke with Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, who has promised to prosecute people who have attacked officers and damaged property.

McDonnell demurred when asked if the city needed National Guard troops, whom President Trump deployed over the wishes of the governor and mayor.

“Do we need them? Well, looking at tonight, this thing has gotten out of control,” he said.

Still, McDonnell said he needed to know more about how the troops could help maintain order before he decided if their presence was necessary.

Trump quickly responded to McDonnell’s comments, posting on Truth Social: “BRING IN THE TROOPS.”

“Jim McDonnell, the highly respected LAPD Chief just stated that the protesters are getting very much more aggressive, and that he would ‘have to reassess the situation,’ as it pertains to bringing in the troops,” Trump wrote. “He should, RIGHT NOW!!!”

McDonnell noted Guard troops helped the LAPD after the Palisades fire.

“The people who are here,” he said, “they’re tremendous Americans trying to do their service.”

McDonnell responded to a claim made Saturday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons that L.A. police took more than two hours to respond to multiple calls for help from federal agents facing off with a crowd of angry demonstrators.

He denied that the LAPD delayed its response.

The LAPD responded in 38 minutes, he said, with a specially trained group of officers drawn from throughout the city.

“If we were to send one unit, a couple units, into a riotous scene, they’d be surrounded and the outcome would not be good,” he said.

Sunday’s demonstrations caused major disruptions in public transit, with train service shut down on the A and B lines downtown near the protests and several busy bus lines rerouted away from downtown Los Angeles.

Bus shuttles replaced the A Line trains running north at Chinatown and south at 7th/Metro, as service shut down at 6:15 p.m. There was no service to Union Station from the B Line or between Civic Center/Grand Park and North Hollywood — one of the most frequently used routes on the system.

Beginning at 7 p.m. officials rerouted bus service in the central part of downtown, west of Soto Street north of 7th Street, east of Figueroa Street and south of Cesar Chavez Avenue. Bus lines will detour via Beaudry Avenue, 7th, Mission Road or Soto.

On Saturday, the agency temporarily shut down Metro A and E lines after protesters entered the rail tunnels downtown, making it dangerous to run the trains.

There was no sign of the National Guard in downtown L.A. on Sunday evening as several hundred protesters continued to gather around City Hall despite law enforcement having declared an unlawful assembly in the area.

The California Highway Patrol remained stationed on the southbound lanes of the 101 Freeway as protesters hurled rocks and insults from the overpass above. Earlier in the afternoon, demonstrators spilled onto the freeway, forcing a road closure in both directions.

CHP officers managed to clear protesters from the freeway and get northbound traffic flowing again. However, the Los Angeles Police Department announced at 7:30 p.m. that the southbound lanes would remain closed until further notice due to protesters throwing objects onto the road and damaging multiple police vehicles.

A few blocks over, LAPD officers and protesters faced off at Main and Temple streets as officers fired rubber bullets into a crowd on the other side of the street.

The firing only let up so cars could pass down Main Street. Protesters sheltered behind a makeshift barricade of constructions signs, trees and pink chairs they’d grabbed from nearby Gloria Molina Grand Park.

Several sported bright red welts they said they’d gotten from officers’ foam bullets.

As the sun slipped behind the city skyline, lines of LAPD officers, some on horseback and others gripping green and black riot guns, herded protesters away from City Hall.

Earlier in the day, an LAPD helicopter circled City Hall’s columned observation deck, a voice blaring over a loudspeaker, “I have all of you on camera, I’m going to come to your house!”

The standoff between police and protesters came to a head at the intersection of Temple and Main streets when a masked person lobbed an M80 firework behind the police line.

Officers clutched their ears, then opened fire with rubber and foam rounds. They paused as a stream of cars drove down Main Street. A round smacked against the side of the Prius that paused in the intersection.

“They’re innocent!” one demonstrator yelled.

“We’re all innocent!” another said.

Jonas March was standing about 20 feet from the firing line, filming the protests as an independent journalist, when someone in the crowd behind him lobbed a water bottle at the officers.

March, 21, said he dropped to the ground and started to crawl away as the officers opened fire.

“As soon as I stood up,” he said, “they shot me in the ass.”

The rubber round left a stinging, tennis-ball-sized welt and broke March’s skin. He sprinted across the Los Angeles Mall as officers fired into the fleeing crowd, shells clanging on the city streets as they ejected them from their riot guns.

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis says she anticipates that California leaders will file a federal lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration over the federalization and deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles.

“I believe that we are likely going to see a lawsuit tomorrow recognizing that [Trump] did not have the authority to call in the National Guard for 400 people protesting in a way that local law enforcement could clearly handle it,” Kounalakis said on CNN Sunday evening.

In an interview with The Times on Sunday, Kounalakis declined to elaborate on the potential litigation, but she compared President Trump’s actions to those of Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban when she was the U.S. ambassador to that nation under President Obama.

“It seems to me what Trump is doing is intentionally escalating this. There’s no reason to send in the National Guard other than to show a flex of strength,” Kounalakis said.

“Typically, that is one of the ways things will start to escalate,” she added. “So my conclusion is that he announced sending in the National Guard not because there was a need, but because he wanted to take the opportunity of the protests to have a demonstration of his own strength and ruthlessness.”

Kounalakis stressed that burning cars and other nonpeaceful protests were not appropriate but said local law enforcement had the situation “under control.”

She noted that the National Guard had not been deployed in this manner, without a state’s consent, in modern history.

“I am also really concerned about what his overall objectives are,” the lieutenant governor said of Trump.

“If they go into every kitchen, manufacturing plant, every hotel and start rounding people up because they are profiled as someone who does not have their papers, it’s very concerning where this might go next,” said Kounalakis, who is running to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom next year.

“I hope that they’ll recognize this is not good for anybody,” she said. “It’s cruel. ... And the implications could be very significant on the economy for everyone in the country.”

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla blasted the Trump administration on Sunday, saying its crackdown on immigrant communities and mobilization of National Guard troops was a diversion from what he called a “devastating” congressional bill, and he encouraged local demonstrators to continue protesting peacefully.

“Keep protesting because Donald Trump would love for everybody to sit back quietly while he continues to overreach, to bring cruelty to every corner of America and violate the law,” the California Democrat said.

“What he is doing is classic Donald Trump. He is trying to deflect and distract,” Padilla said of Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”

“They have this devastating bill coming through Congress that would cut healthcare for so many Americans, raise costs on working families and underwrite tax breaks for billionaires. Trump doesn’t want people talking about that, so he goes back to demonizing immigrants and trying to thump his chest for being a tough guy.”

Padilla blamed some of the violence on agitators taking advantage of the situation, but he said they are not immigrant advocates or organizers and he called on the National Guard to pull back.

“Let local law enforcement do their job,” he said.

The Trump administration should not be surprised by the protests after “extremely cruel” immigration enforcement activities, he said.

The protests that have roiled the city for two days began Saturday after protesters showed up at a staging area in Paramount for immigration enforcement operations. Many believed it was the site of a raid.

Anger has been boiling in some communities as children and families have become increasingly caught up in the Trump administration’s ramped-up enforcement actions.

“Long gone are the days when he said he was only going to focus on violent criminals. It may have started that way, but when you hear story after story of a working mother, a working father, a 4-year-old undergoing lifesaving treatment that is notified that they’re getting deported, when federal agents show up at elementary schools to talk to children without parental permission,” he said.

Padilla, the son of a Mexican-born housekeeper and short-order cook, said the protests reminded him of when he returned to California after graduating from MIT and found the state embroiled in anti-immigrant sentiment.

“I can’t help but take this personally, because I remember those days. I remember coming home from college with my mechanical engineering degree ... and being welcomed by ads on television from then-Gov. Pete Wilson saying that the state was going downhill and it was the fault of people like my parents and communities like the one I grew up in. It’s offensive.”

As protesters and law enforcement officers clashed in downtown Los Angeles, an L.A. Police Department helicopter flew over a crowd on 1st Street, announcing, “I have all of you on camera. I’m going to come to your house.”

Earlier, around 4:30 p.m., a few hundred people at Alameda and Temple streets marched from the crowded intersection toward City Hall. Several protesters complained about being struck by beanbag rounds.

A man who identified himself only as Jesse showed reporters a bloody circular welt on his stomach. He said he was shot by LAPD officers who fired what looked like beanbag rounds into a crowd.

Despite his injury he felt the need to stick around at the protest. “We have to take it. We don’t quit. I’ll come back the next day and the next day,” he said, adding that he was protesting for his children’s future. “I don’t want this future for my kids.

“They’re citizens,” he added, “but it doesn’t matter. ... They’re still going to pick on them.”

By shortly after 5 p.m., as vandalized Waymos burned on Los Angeles Street, police had dispersed much of the crowd at Alameda and Temple streets, until only a few dozen protesters remained.

Chaos escalated on Los Angeles Street in downtown L.A. on Sunday afternoon as a group of people attacked five Waymos, setting three of the self-driving taxis on fire.

Tires were slashed, windows smashed, and anti-ICE messages spray-painted over the cars.

Plumes of black smoke billowed from the vehicles as protesters swarmed around the Waymos, tearing the doors off and stomping on the windshields.

The horns started honking in a coordinated cacophony, punctuated by the chants of protesters against the ongoing immigration raids in L.A. County.

Around 5:30 p.m., some people were seen throwing Lime electric scooters into the burning cars, while others stood back.

The Waymos were besieged in the Civic Center area, where an unlawful assembly was earlier declared and protesters ordered to disperse.

The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the vehicle fires.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called on protesters to continue expressing their outrage over the federal government’s immigration enforcement actions — but to do so peacefully — during a news conference Sunday evening.

“If people get violent, if people break the law, they will be subject to arrest and they will be held accountable,” she said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Bass called Los Angeles a “city of immigrants” and pushed back on the federal government’s assertion that immigration officials had targeted criminals and violent individuals during the raids at workplaces in recent days.

It’s unclear whether additional immigration actions are planned in the city in the coming days. The uncertainty, she said, has spread fear throughout the community.

“What we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration,” the mayor said. “When you raid Home Depot and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you cause fear and you cause panic.”

Bass noted that she had tried to encourage federal officials not to deploy the National Guard, calling it a “dangerous escalation,” but was not successful. She called on federal officials to remove the troops from the city.

“We need to be real about this. This is about another agenda,” she said. “It’s not about public safety. There’s clearly no plan.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon to help, he said, oversee the state’s response to the ongoing immigration raids and protests.

The governor’s staff announced that he was on the ground around 4:30 p.m. and would be briefed by law enforcement.

Newsom, who did not authorize the National Guard deployment, has been outspoken in his criticism of both the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and President Trump’s decision to call in the troops to address protesters — a move the governor called “a serious breach of state sovereignty.”

Newsom issued a formal request Sunday for the Trump administration to rescind the order that deployed the troops in L.A. County and return them to his command.

He has further lambasted the president for “inciting and provoking violence,” “creating mass chaos” and “militarizing cities.”

He has urged Californians to remain peaceful at protests and not give Trump “what he wants.”

“Do not use violence and respect the law enforcement officers that are trying their best to keep the peace,” said Newsom in a statement on X.

Sunday’s protests against President Trump’s immigration raids spilled onto the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles around 3:30 p.m., prompting the closure of the northbound and southbound lanes and the detainment of people blocking traffic, authorities said.

At 3:45 p.m., the 101 Freeway was closed in both directions between Alameda Street and the 110 Freeway, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Protesters bearing Mexican flags and signs with messages such as “F— ICE” and “Full rights for all immigrants” faced off against dozens of officers, who lined up under the bridge on Los Angeles Street in front of the cars that had been traveling south before traffic ground to a halt.

The California Highway Patrol entered the southbound lanes of the 101 Freeway around 4 p.m. in an attempt to disperse demonstrators, according to Los Angeles police. CHP officers announced that an unlawful assembly had been declared and ordered protesters to clear the area.

Dozens of protesters then sat down on the freeway, while some protesters standing on the bridge overhead chucked water bottles at the LAPD officers gathered below.

At least nine people were detained by CHP officers shortly before 5 p.m. Hundreds of people who had been pushed off the freeway with tear gas and flash-bangs cheered as the handcuffed protesters were led away by CHP officers.

As of 4:30 p.m., the 101 Freeway off-ramps were closed at Alameda and Los Angeles streets, as was the express lane on-ramp at Alameda Street, according to the CHP.

Police advised residents to avoid the 101 Freeway between the 110 Freeway and the 5/10 Freeway interchange.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday asked the Trump administration to rescind the “unlawful deployment” of National Guard troops in California as tensions between police and protesters escalated on the streets of downtown L.A.

“We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved,” Newsom said on X, where he posted his administration’s letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The letter acknowledges that the president can call in the National Guard to repel an invasion by a foreign nation, suppress a rebellion, or execute the laws of the U.S. when the president is unable to do so with regular forces. But Newsom challenged Trump’s authority to act alone.

Title 10 of the U.S. Code states that “orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of these States,” according to the letter.

Scores of Democratic leaders criticized Trump’s mobilization of the National Guard in California, while government experts called the move chilling.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, when asked about Newsom’s demand Sunday during a CNN interview, also said the troops are not needed.

“I absolutely agree with the governor,” said Bass.

Describing Los Angeles as a “city under siege” by federal authorities, Bass confirmed that the Los Angeles Police Department is coordinating with federal officials to protect U.S. property in downtown Los Angeles and the Westside.

But Bass also argued that the federalization of the state’s National Guard was incendiary.

“I don’t think that is a way to bring peace in Los Angeles. I think that our law enforcement officers can handle this situation,” Bass said.

“But I just have to repeat again, it’s a feeling here of intentional chaos in a situation that had not broken out to violence, short of a few people. And there’s nothing unusual about that, and our Police Department can manage that.”

Bass added that the workplace raids by ICE have created “a depth of fear” in the city, with parents worried about attending their children’s graduations in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday evening.

“There is a sense of chaos and fear, and it’s just the last thing that Los Angeles needs right now, at this point in time,” she said. “This is not helpful.”

Los Angeles police were locked in a standoff Sunday afternoon with hundreds of protesters in downtown Los Angeles.

The confrontation was occurring around 3:30 p.m. near Alameda and Temple streets after officers had pushed a crowd away from the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Officers in riot gear shoved people back with batons, and the sound of flash-bangs echoed through the area. Some protesters scaled a fence on Alameda Street to get away from the officers, climbing onto the nearby Blue Line tracks.

A Los Angeles Police Department helicopter could be heard overhead with an officer ordering people to leave the area or face arrest.

Some among the crowd, many of whom were waving Mexican flags or hybrid Mexican American flags, had thrown water bottles at the officers and chanted “F— ICE, leave L.A.” while some continued to insist they would “hold the line.”

A black unmarked law enforcement vehicle forced its way through the crowd at one point, running over a Mexican flag. It didn’t appear that anyone was struck. Protesters hurled bottles and other objects at the car, shattering its back window.

At around 3:40 p.m., people were forced back farther as LAPD officers ran into the crowd, triggering a stampede. A large firework went off amid the fracas, its origin unclear.

At least two people on motorcycles rode into the intersection, revving their engines and drawing cheers from the crowd. One bike crashed as they got near the skirmish line and they were both taken away by police. Meanwhile, at least one officer raised his launcher, used for firing rounds meant to be less lethal, and aimed directly at protesters. Other officers could be seen pushing people to the ground apparently unprovoked. One officer grabbed a protester’s sign and swung a baton into their leg.

Protests in Los Angeles over the weekend amounted to a bad riot that could have gotten worse, but did not constitute an insurrection, President Trump told reporters on Sunday.

The president defended his decision to send the National Guard into the Los Angeles area over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, warning that state and local officials in California who “stand in the way of law and order” could face federal charges.

“I think it was a riot. I think it was very bad,” Trump said. “We’re going to have troops everywhere. We’re not going to let this happen to our country.”

Asked whether the L.A. protests were an insurrection — a term used by his staff and vice president that could justify invocation of the Insurrection Act — Trump said no.

“No, no, but you have violent people,” he said. “And we’re not going to let them get away with it.”

Yet, roughly an hour later, Trump used the term himself to describe the protesters in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.

“A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,” Trump wrote. “Now violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try to stop our deportation operations – But these lawless riots only strengthen our resolve.”

The president has the authority under the Insurrection Act to federalize the National Guard units of states to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy” that “so hinders the execution of the laws” that any portion of the state’s inhabitants are deprived of a constitutional right and state authorities are unable or unwilling to protect that right.

Trump ordered the National Guard to deploy to Los Angeles after demonstrators clashed with police on Friday and Saturday, protesting raids around the county by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The president said he would still consider sending active-duty military service members to the city, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the additional deployment was under consideration.

“If we see danger to our country and to our citizens, we’ll be very very strong in terms of law and order. This is about law and order,” Trump said. “We’re going to see what we need. We’ll send whatever we need to make sure there’s law and order.”

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday he had received little communication from federal authorities about what National Guard troops deployed to the county had been tasked with doing. He called their deployment against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state leaders “different and unprecedented.”

Luna said the situation on the ground calmed down overnight. But he has yet to be informed about what the Guard members, who began arriving Sunday morning, have been ordered to do.

“Communication probably hasn’t been as good as I would like it to be,” he said in a Sunday phone interview from the department’s operation center. “I want to know what their mission is, I want to know their capabilities, what equipment they’re carrying and what training they have. That way we can interact better with them on their mission.”

Luna said sheriff’s deputies would not assist federal agents in civil immigration enforcement. But, he added, his department will enforce the law if it is called on to respond to violence against federal agents. Two people were arrested Saturday for alleged assault on a peace officer after deputies were struck and sustained minor injuries from a Molotov cocktail thrown their way, the department said.

Luna said the Sheriff’s Department was “not involved” with the process that led to the National Guard being deployed “because we didn’t ask for them” to be sent.

“Since I don’t know how they’ll be utilized or what they’ll be doing,” he said, “I can’t answer that question of whether I’m happy they’re here.”

Richard Pippin, president of the Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, said in an emailed statement Saturday night that “elected officials are grandstanding again as our deputies are left to clean up a mess that has arisen from a lack of anything remotely resembling political leadership.”

“Hours after federal officers left the scene, protesters have continued to throw rocks and bottles at deputy sheriffs, who don’t even enforce immigration laws,” Pippin said. “That’s not activism; it’s lawlessness for the sake of lawlessness. I’m angry, and the public should be too.”

Asked about the controversial immigration raids U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have led in communities across L.A. County and Southern California in recent days, Luna said that though “they usually will not let us know where the raids are going to be,” he does support some such enforcement.

“If they’re going after individuals that have committed violent crimes or serious crimes, that will help our community be safer,” Luna said. “If they are rounding up gardeners and cooks and nannies and people that are out there minding their own business, that is extremely disruptive and not helpful in regards to keeping community trust.”

California National Guard troops and Department of Homeland Security personnel used smoke and pepper spray to disperse protesters outside a federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles.

Scores of protesters were moved from the vehicle entry point for the Metropolitan Detention Center to clear a path for a caravan of DHS, Border Patrol and military vehicles to enter the facility.

President Trump and his allies have spent the weekend painting Los Angeles as a city consumed by violent protest and even “insurrection” over immigration raids.

On Saturday evening, Trump insisted the unrest — scattered clashes across the county — was out of control. He bypassed Gov. Gavin Newsom and called in the National Guard. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton might need to be deployed to the streets next.

To hear our national leaders tell it, Los Angeles is in chaos and our governor and mayor are out to lunch with the police, blissfully ignoring reality as the city burns.

“These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED,” President Trump wrote on social media, shortly after ordering the National Guard onto our streets.

Jessica Juarez walked along Paramount’s Alondra Boulevard with a trash bag full of spent gas canisters Sunday, the day after area residents clashed with federal immigration officials.

Her voice was hoarse as she helped other parents and neighbors clean up the neighborhood. An acrid odor lingered in the air the day after law enforcement fired gas canisters and flash bang grenades at protesters.

“I’m proud of our community, of the strength we showed,” said Juarez, 40. “It’s like they put so much fear into Paramount and for what? These guys didn’t even clean up after themselves.”

Scorched asphalt near a Home Depot told the tale of Saturday’s events. Multiple police agencies had responded to the city and by Sunday morning, a group of camouflaged National Guard troops were stationed in a business park with armored vehicles where a Department of Homeland Security office is located.

Union organizers and local residents Ardelia Aldridge and Alejandro Maldonado helped organize a cleanup effort in the neighborhood. “It’s solidarity Sunday,” Aldridge said.

The images of Paramount shrouded in smoke and flanked by police in riot gear are unusual for this community of about 50,000 residents. Federal officers fired an untold number of smoke canisters at protesters near the business park, and that putrid green smoke descended into nearby neighborhoods.

“What else do you call it but an attack on Paramount and the people who live here?” Maldonado said. “People in the community were standing up to unjust immigration policies.”

Aldridge agreed. “It really does seem like they wanted to pick a fight with the little guy.”

President Trump’s decision to send California National Guard troops to Los Angeles County was widely condemned by California politicians, who called on protesters to remain peaceful.

Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta called the move “unnecessary and counterproductive.”

“To follow it with a threat to order additional active duty Marines to the city is an inflammatory escalation,” Bonta said.

“To all those who are outraged with the conduct of the Federal Administration and moved to exercise your right to peaceful protest, I urge you to do so peacefully and safely.”

Rep. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who represents cities in Orange County, urged residents to stop throwing rocks at federal agents.

“Clearly, Trump is trying to escalate this situation into violence, but responding in kind with lawlessness and chaos is unacceptable.

“I urge those who are protesting to remain peaceful, to obey the law, and to do all they can to de-escalate this situation, even in the face of Trump’s flagrant and outrageous attacks on our rule of law and Constitution.”

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said that L.A. “will always stand with everyone who calls our city home.”

“Deploying federalized troops on the heels of these raids is a chaotic escalation. The fear people are feeling in our city right now is very real — it’s felt in our communities and within our families and it puts our neighborhoods at risk. This is the last thing that our city needs, and I urge protestors to remain peaceful.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X that the troops are being sent to L.A. County “to manufacture a crisis.”

“He’s hoping for chaos so he can justify more crackdowns, more fear, more control,” Newsom wrote. “Stay calm. Never use violence. Stay peaceful.”

Assemblymember Mark González (D-Los Angeles), whose district includes Los Angeles, Commerce, Montebello and Vernon, called on federal lawmakers to “uphold due process and keep Donald Trump accountable.”

“The latest attempt to seize control of California’s National Guard and provoke unrest is not about public safety — it’s about destroying communities. California will not be complicit in the deportation of our undocumented community.”

Former L.A. City Councilmember and Senate President Emeritus Kevin de León told protesters not to “play into Trump’s hands.” De León authored the state’s 2017 sanctuary law, which vastly limits whom state and local law enforcement agencies can hold, question and transfer at the request of federal immigration authorities.

“Donald Trump loathes our city. He loathes our values. And he will exploit every opportunity to dismantle our progress. Donald Trump and his right-hand man, Stephen Miller, are not responding to a crisis — they’re orchestrating one.”

“This isn’t about public safety. It’s about chaos, control, and cruelty. Trump is a master manipulator who manufactures disorder to justify authoritarian overreach. And make no mistake — his next move is clear: escalate the violence, then invoke martial law.”

It began as another Saturday morning at the Home Depot in Paramount, a working class, predominantly Latino suburb south of downtown Los Angeles.

Typically, the store that is nestled along the Los Angeles River bed would be filled with weekend warriors tackling home improvements, workers collecting supplies and immigrants in search of work.

Speaking outside the Metropolitan Detention Center on Alameda Street, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters addressed National Guard soldiers, whose presence she called an escalation of tensions by the Trump administration.

“Who are you going to shoot?” she asked the two dozen soldiers. “If you’re going to shoot me, you better shoot straight.”

Waters (D-Los Angeles), an outspoken critic of the president, called the deployment of National Guard troops an unnecessary escalation of tensions as multiple immigration operations occurred in the county.

“Why are they out here with guns?” she said.

Waters said she was at the detention center to inquire about SEIU California President David Huerta, who was detained Saturday.

“This is an escalation,” she said. “The president is working to impose martial law.”

Waters also defended the protests that arose Saturday as ICE agents were deployed across the county.

At times, Waters coughed as remnants of tear gas used during protests Saturday drifted to the area.

“Trump hates us, he hates sanctuary cities,” Waters said. “He’s trying to make an example out of us.”

Waters attempted to gain access to the federal building to talk to someone in command but was turned away. She told reporters outside that she’s concerned President Trump is trying to use this as a pretext for declaring martial law and called on protesters to keep taking to the streets and make clear to the Trump administration that the deployment of guardsmen is unnecessary.

“I want the crowds to grow and grow and grow. We learned a lot during the civil rights movement,” she said, adding that Trump should be “ashamed of himself.”

Outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A., about two dozen California National Guard troops armed with rifles and wearing helmets with riot masks could be seen in front of military vehicles.

They found themselves largely staring at assembled media, as opposed to demonstrators. Grafitti reading “F— Ice,” “F— LAPD,” “Here for my family” and “The Revolution Starts With You” could be seen scrawled on walls along Alameda Street.

California Highway Patrol officers could also be seen stationed along entrance and exit ramps to the 101 Freeway. The ramps often are closed during demonstrations to prevent protesters from entering the freeway and blocking traffic.

WASHINGTON — When racial justice protests roiled cities across America at the depths of the pandemic, President Trump, then in his first term, demonstrated restraint. Threats to invoke the Insurrection Act and to federalize the National Guard never materialized.

This time, it took less than 24 hours of isolated protests in Los Angeles County for Trump, more aggressive than ever in his use of executive power, to issue a historic order.

Following President Trump’s announcement that he would be sending National Guard troops into Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass called the action “unnecessary.”

“We tried to talk to the administration and tell them that there was absolutely no need to have troops on the ground here in Los Angeles,” she told The Times on Sunday morning. “The protests that happened last night in L.A. were relatively minor, about 100 protesters. Los Angeles has been completely peaceful all day long.

“This is posturing,” the mayor said. “This is completely disruptive to a city that has already gone through so much in the first six months of the year.”

On Saturday, the president’s border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News the National Guard would be deployed, and Trump signed a memorandum authorizing the action.

“Numerous incidents of violence and disorder have recently occurred and threaten to continue in response to the enforcement of Federal law by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions and supporting the faithful execution of Federal immigration laws,” the order stated.

Bass stressed, however, that “the city is not out of control. The protesters that vandalized since last night, that is unacceptable, and I’m sure they will be arrested and held accountable to the full extent of the law, but to say that the city is out of control, I don’t know what city they’re talking about.”

VIDEO | 00:39

The National Guard gather near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles

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Videos shows some National Guard troops arriving in L.A. on Sunday morning.

More are expected to arrive through the day. President Trump says 2,000 will eventually be here to assist in immigration raids.

KABC-TV showed troops gathering along Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles. Video also showed some guard units driving through Paramount.

KTLA-TV also showed video of National Guard troops at a federal building in downtown L.A.

The Trump administration is sending 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles after two days of isolated clashes between federal immigration agents and protesters.

Officials say the Guard will assist in operations related to Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Many questions remain unanswered, but here is what we know:

Military vehicles.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

The National Guard has come to L.A. before, but mostly for major and widespread civil unrest or natural disasters. The Trump administration sending troops to the city is unusual because it involved some violent but isolated clashes between protesters and authorities after immigration raids on local businesses.

• In 2020, widespread criminal acts in the wake of the George Floyd murder prompted then-Mayor Eric Garcetti to seek National Guard troops from Gov. Gavin Newsom. Garcetti asked for 1,000 troops. Guardsmen toting M4 rifles could be seen patrolling streets between Skid Row and Bunker Hill. In combat gear, they stood guard outside shattered storefronts and graffiti-tagged buildings, where windows had been shattered and the street strewn with trash. Humvees and military trucks were present in the city.
  
• In 1994, after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake left more than 1,000 buildings destroyed and 20,000 residents homeless, the Guard was brought in. Convoys rumbled through the San Fernando Valley, patrolling mini-malls and parks to deliver water, deter looters, direct traffic and raise tent cities for 6,000 displaced residents.
  
• In 1992, thousands of National Guard and U.S. military troops patrolled L.A. amid the riot after the Rodney King trial. Mayor Tom Bradley requested the help when the LAPD could not quell the unrest.
  
• In 1965, 13,000 troops were sent to L.A. amid the Watts riots.

Mayor Karen Bass expressed doubts about President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and said she believes local police can handle immigration protests.

” I do not believe that it’s called for because I am confident LAPD and other law enforcement in Los Angeles can handle things in Los Angeles,” she told ABC7.

She stressed protesters have 1st Amendment rights but decried violence and vandalism. “Under no circumstances is violence acceptable and when violence happens it’s going to be dealt with,” she said.

Tensions flared in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night as a group of protesters gathered at around 8 p.m. outside a federal detention facility on Temple Street, according to footage posted to social media.

Video showed flash-bang grenades and tear gas were deployed by law enforcement soon after the start of the protest. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department congregated outside the building, forming a skirmish line, holding up shields to create a barrier.

Police declared an unlawful assembly, and around 10 p.m., half a dozen protesters were seen being detained by officers, according to KCAL-9 News.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Saturday evening that it had arrested two people as protests raged against a series of immigration enforcement raids that have roiled communities across L.A. County.

The arrests were on suspicion of assault on a peace officer, according to a spokesperson for the department who added that three deputies were struck and sustained minor injuries from a thrown Molotov cocktail.

“We are planning for long-term civil unrest and collaborating with our law enforcement partners,” the spokesperson said on Saturday.

Sheriff’s deputies joined U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in a clash with some of the protesters who had gathered Saturday near a Home Depot in the city of Paramount where day laborers often gather to seek work.

Federal agents deployed flash-bangs and pepper spray during the incident, which prompted the Trump administration to say it would send 2,000 National Guard troops to L.A.

“We will protect your right to peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate violence or destruction of property,” said a statement issued by the sheriff’s department Saturday evening. “I urge the community to approach the situation peacefully, as we do not want anyone to be harmed.”

The department added that “the Sheriff’s Department was not involved in any federal law enforcement operations … When federal authorities come under attack and request assistance, we will support them and provide aid. However, this does not mean that we are assisting with their immigration actions or operations.”

It was “normal operations” at the county’s jails, a department spokesperson said Saturday evening.

“We do not take people in custody for solely for federal charges nor do we take people in for civil detainers. If anyone is booked on a felony state charge we may take them into our custody. Typically, no one who was arrested as part of immigration enforcement would come to our jail.”

VIDEO | 00:22

LASD shooting tear gas at protesters

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On Saturday night, there was a standoff between dozens of protesters and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies near the Alondra Boulevard exit ramp of the 710 Freeway.

The deputies used flash-bang grenades and tear gas on the group. Some demonstrators threw rocks, bottles and shot fireworks at deputies.

At least two drivers used vehicles to scare deputies, prompting them to respond again with less-lethal weapons.

VIDEO | 00:11

LASD use flash bang grenades and tear gas at protesters

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The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, said two days of protests had not slowed federal enforcement in the region, and he warned that federal authorities were investigating protesters.

“We’ve got lots of video online and both surveillance videos. We have FBI teams working around the clock; we will identify you. We’ll find you, and we’ll come get you,” he told KCAL-9 News on Saturday night.

On Friday federal officials arrested Service Employees International Union California President David Huerta on suspicion of interfering with federal officers.

“They appear to be highly coordinated and sophisticated,” Essayli said of the protesters. “We saw union activists and organizers be involved in these efforts to resist our operations.”

Immigrant advocates have created a raid response network and have been going out to actions, often offering legal services and observing during protests.

Following news that the Trump administration was deploying National Guard troops to L.A., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday evening that he might choose to send active-duty U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton “if violence continues.”

Hegseth wrote in a social media post: “Under President Trump, violence & destruction against federal agents & federal facilities will NOT be tolerated. It’s COMMON SENSE. The @DeptofDefense is mobilizing the National Guard IMMEDIATELY to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles. And, if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert.”

This spurred a strong reaction from California’s governor, who said it constituted “deranged behavior.”

Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School, said Saturday that the Trump administration calling up the National Guard is in no way “routine.” It’s usually done in concert with the state, she said — “There is an emergency and we need more people to help us put out a fire or rebuild from an earthquake.”

“Certainly there have been instances of civil unrest historically,” she said, but such deployments are “extremely rare” and occur when “the ability of the federal government to enforce federal laws is truly being undermined.”

After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it would be possible that Marines from Camp Pendleton would be called on, Levinson said: “What we see is Hegseth saying is the full weight of the military will come down on Los Angeles if in their view there is unrest and the inability of ICE to carry out its job.”

“I just think it’s worth repeating that this is a historic moment. I think it’s worth repeating the president is embracing a very broad view of executive power. I think it’s worth repeating there are laws on the books that give presidents broad power. I think where we’re going to see are big legal battles in the next hours, days and weeks about whether or not those broad grants of authority can be used given these circumstances.”

The Trump administration announced Saturday that National Guard troops were being sent to Los Angeles — an action Gov. Gavin Newsom said he opposed. President Trump is activating the Guard by using powers that have been invoked only rarely.

Trump said in a memo to the Defense and Homeland Security departments that he was calling the National Guard into federal service under a provision called Title 10 to “temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions.”

The Trump administration said it would send 2,000 National Guard troops into Los Angeles after a second day in which protesters confronted immigration agents during raids of local businesses.

The move marks a major escalation in Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and came amid concerns from some officials in California.

A series of surprise U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in downtown Los Angeles on Friday prompted fierce pushback from protesters and officials who decried the actions as “cruel and unnecessary” and said they stoked fear in the immigrant community.

Tensions remained high in downtown into the evening. The Los Angeles Police Department declared an unlawful assembly and ordered about 200 protesters who remained gathered by the Los Angeles Federal Building to disperse around 7 p.m.

Immigration raids Friday led to the arrests of dozens of people and caused hours of chaos in downtown L.A.

Here is what we know so far:

Unions in California are different from those in other places.

More than any state in our troubled country, their ranks are filled with people of color and immigrants. While unions have always been tied closely with the struggles of civil rights, that has become even more pronounced in the years since George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis.

Fallout from aggressive U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in Los Angeles continued Saturday, with fierce pushback from protesters, open sparring between L.A. leadership and federal officials and the Trump administration vowing to send the National Guard to the city to assist with operations.

Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News the Guard would be deployed Saturday night to help with operations. It’s unclear how many Guard members would arrive and exactly what their role would be.