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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Trump deploys National Guard after second day of Los Angeles | |
immigration protests | |
By Karina Tsui, Zoe Sottile, Dalia Faheid, CNN | |
Updated: | |
11:30 PM EDT, Sat June 7, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
President Donald Trump has signed a presidential memorandum deploying | |
2,000 National Guardsmen to Los Angeles to disperse protests that began | |
in response to immigration raids, the White House said in a statement | |
Saturday night. | |
Immigration authorities and demonstrators have clashed for two days in | |
the Los Angeles area, with unrest beginning Friday after dozens of | |
people were detained by federal immigration agents across different | |
locations. The arrests come amid Trump’s , which has involved waves | |
of raids and deportations across the country. | |
Law enforcement in riot gear deployed tear gas and flash bangs to | |
disperse crowds in downtown Los Angeles and the city of Paramount over | |
the two days, with authorities reporting multiple arrests Saturday. | |
“These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion | |
of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this | |
violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely | |
abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens,” White | |
House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. | |
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the deployment of troops | |
“purposefully inflammatory” and warned it would only escalate | |
tensions. | |
“This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust,” Newsom | |
said. | |
Officials from the Trump administration described protesters as | |
“lawless rioters.” The Los Angeles Police Department, meanwhile, | |
said Saturday’s demonstrations within the city “remained | |
peaceful” and “events concluded without incident.” | |
Elsewhere in Los Angeles County, a crowd of protesters in Paramount | |
became “increasingly agitated, throwing objects and exhibiting | |
violent behavior toward federal agents and deputy sheriffs,” the Los | |
Angeles Sheriff’s Department said in an Saturday night. In response, | |
the department requested additional resources countywide and deployed | |
additional deputies. | |
In nearby Compton, a vehicle was set on fire where protesters began to | |
gather, video from CNN affiliate showed. On Friday, video showed | |
several projectiles being thrown at officers equipped with body armor | |
and protective shields outside a Los Angeles federal detention center. | |
Leavitt argued that Trump called in the guardsmen to “address the | |
lawlessness that has been allowed to fester” and “violent mobs | |
attacked ICE Officers and Federal Law Enforcement Agents.” | |
Trump invoked his authority under Title 10, which allows the president | |
to call in the National Guard as necessary to repel invasion, suppress | |
rebellion or execute laws. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth active | |
duty marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized if the unrest | |
continues. | |
Protesters face off with police | |
The White House’s move is facing criticism from some in law | |
enforcement. Many see the deployment of the National Guard as an | |
overreaction that may backfire and only provoke additional agitators, | |
one senior law enforcement source involved in responding to the Los | |
Angeles protests said. | |
Dozens of potentially violent demonstrators were observed by law | |
enforcement around Los Angeles as of Saturday evening and law | |
enforcement officers were actively working to bring them under control, | |
according to the source. | |
Videos of the scene Friday show law enforcement officers in riot gear, | |
wielding batons, holding shields and throwing smoke bombs into the | |
crowd. Protesters chanted “Free them all” and held signs with | |
messages including “Full Rights for All Immigrants” and “Stop the | |
Deportations.” Video shows several officers in riot gear pinning at | |
least one person to the ground. | |
Other videos show the detention center sprayed with anti-ICE graffiti, | |
with some protesters blocking LAPD vehicles close by. | |
Further investigations | |
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Saturday the bureau was | |
investigating alleged instances of demonstrators obstructing | |
immigration enforcement operations. | |
“Insurrectionists carrying foreign flags are attacking immigration | |
enforcement officers, while one half of America’s political | |
leadership has decided that border enforcement is evil,” Vice | |
President JD Vance said in a on X Saturday night. | |
Mayor Karen Bass said many in Los Angeles County are fearful following | |
recent federal immigration enforcement actions. She added that reports | |
of “unrest” are “deeply concerning.” | |
“We’ve been in direct contact with officials in Washington, D.C., | |
and are working closely with law enforcement to find the best path | |
forward,” Bass said in a statement Saturday night. “Everyone has | |
the right to peacefully protest, but let me be clear: violence and | |
destruction are unacceptable, and those responsible will be held | |
accountable.” | |
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it was working to | |
ensure the safety of the public by managing traffic and controlling | |
crowds. | |
The response to the protests drew a conflict between ICE and the Los | |
Angeles Police Department. | |
“Our brave officers were vastly outnumbered, as over 1,000 rioters | |
surrounded and attacked a federal building,” ICE said in a statement, | |
saying LAPD took two hours to respond. | |
But the LAPD said it mobilized personnel and acted “as swiftly as | |
conditions safely allowed.” | |
Sowing a ‘sense of terror’ | |
Bass, the Los Angeles mayor, characterized the immigration arrests as | |
“mass chaos,” according to CNN affiliate KABC. The mayor said she | |
hadn’t been told about the raids in advance. “It sows a sense of | |
terror throughout the community,” she said. “ICE was literally | |
chasing people down the street.” | |
The Associated Press reported at least 44 people were arrested by | |
federal immigration agents. Immigration and Customs Enforcement | |
officers executed search warrants at three locations, according to a | |
spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations. | |
The federal law enforcement activity came on the same day multiple | |
sources the Trump administration is preparing for “large-scale” | |
cancellation of federal funds for California. | |
CNN has reached out to DHS for further information. | |
One of the Friday raids was in the city’s Fashion District, where | |
agents served a search warrant after a judge determined a business was | |
allegedly using fictitious documents for some of its workers, US | |
Attorney’s office spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy told CNN. | |
Bass said Friday’s immigration arrests were different from previous, | |
more organized actions. | |
“I’ve been really worried about this from the beginning, and as far | |
as I know, this is the first time this has happened in our city like | |
this,” she told KABC. “We know ICE has been here, but it’s been | |
for targeted arrests; this was just mass chaos.” | |
“It sows a sense of chaos in our city, and a sense of terror, and | |
it’s just unacceptable.” | |
The American Civil Liberties Union called on “elected officials to | |
uphold their commitment to all Angelenos — immigrants and | |
non-immigrants alike — by taking all action necessary to grind this | |
oppressive and vile paramilitary operation to a halt and keep our city | |
safe and whole” in. | |
Union leader arrested | |
David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International | |
Union California, was arrested by federal agents after allegedly | |
attempting to obstruct their access at a worksite, US Attorney for the | |
Central District of California Bill Essayli said in . | |
“Let me be clear: I don’t care who you are—if you impede federal | |
agents, you will be arrested and prosecuted,” Essayli said. | |
After being treated for injuries from his arrest, Huerta condemning the | |
citywide raids. | |
“Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, | |
are being treated like criminals,” he said. “We all collectively | |
have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is | |
injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.” | |
“No one should ever be harmed for witnessing government action,” | |
Newsom said responding to Huerta’s arrest, describing the union | |
president as a “respected leader, a patriot and an advocate for | |
working people.” | |
‘Eroding trust’ | |
Protesters gathered outside the Federal Building in downtown Los | |
Angeles at roughly 4 p.m. Friday, reported. At one point, hundreds of | |
activists began marching toward a detention facility on Temple Street. | |
Families and friends who had loved ones taken by immigration | |
authorities visited the detention center to learn more about their | |
status, KABC reported. | |
A young woman who spoke with the outlet said she went to the building | |
in tears after her father was taken by federal agents. | |
The LAPD declared an unlawful assembly around 7 p.m. and warned | |
demonstrators were subject to arrest if they remained in the area. | |
Aerial footage from KABC shows law enforcement throwing smoke bombs on | |
a street to disperse people so they could make way for SUVs and | |
military-style vehicles. | |
“While the LAPD will continue to have a visible presence in all our | |
communities to ensure public safety, we will not assist or participate | |
in any sort of mass deportations, nor will the LAPD try to determine an | |
individual’s immigration status,” Police Chief Jim McDonnell said | |
in a statement about the immigration enforcement activities. | |
“I want everyone, including our immigrant community, to feel safe | |
calling the police in their time of need and know that the LAPD will be | |
there for you without regard to one’s immigration status.” | |
Newsom said in a Saturday statement, “Continued chaotic federal | |
sweeps, across California, to meet an arbitrary arrest quota are as | |
reckless as they are cruel.” | |
“Donald Trump’s chaos is eroding trust, tearing families apart, and | |
undermining the workers and industries that power America’s | |
economy,” the governor said. | |
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