US: LAPD declares 'unlawful assembly' as protests continue

Thank you for reading and following protests in Los Angeles over the weekend. We're now covering the latest here.

Hundreds of people descended on the streets of Los Angeles to push back against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the area.

With police having declared an unlawful assembly, many left. But those who remained grabbed chairs from a nearby public park to form a makeshift barrier, throwing objects at police on the other side.

Some 300 federal troops arrived in the city after President Donald Trump signed a memo to deploy 2,000 California National Guard.

Protests began Friday. Sunday's protests were centered in several blocks of the downtown area. 

The LAPD has said that at least 39 arrests have been made amid unrest in Los Angeles, warning that more will follow.

At a press conference, the LAPD's Raul Jovel confirmed that 10 people were detained on Sunday. Police chief Jim McDonnell added that 29 people were arrested the previous night.

Jovel said that at least three police officers had sustained minor injuries.

"We're making more arrests as we speak, and we're trying to get into that posture where we're able to make arrests," Jovel said, adding that LAPD officers were still coming "under attack."

After police dispersed a large crowd that had gathered on a downtown freeway in the afternoon, dozens of people remained in the area into the evening — despite police issuing a dispersal order. 

Some officers under an overpass on the freeway became trapped as people threw rocks, fireworks and other objects down onto the freeway.
 
McDonnell promised to "hold people accountable and do what we can to stop this violence."

He said the number of arrests made so far "pale in comparison to what will be made."

The police chief also said that authorities have not ruled out imposing a curfew later on Sunday night.

The Los Angeles Police Department announced that an "unlawful assembly" has been declared for the Civic Center area of downtown LA, calling it a "historic area."

Thousands of people have been protesting in the area following immigration raids that led to dozens of people being detained.

"Demonstrators have halted vehicles on Los Angeles North of Arcadia St and ignited the vehicles," LAPD said, adding that law enforcement personnel were attempting to enter the area to put out the fires.

Police said a number of people were arrested, calling on everyone to stay away from the Civic Center area of downtown LA.

Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has urged protesters to remain peaceful and not "play into [the US President Donald Trump] administration's hands" as she blamed the White House for escalating tensions in the city.

Los Angeles police fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters who had gathered on a freeway in downtown LA.

LAPD confirmed that "a number of people have been arrested" as thousands of protesters continued to demonstrate in the center of the country's second largest city.

The unrest began after dozens of people were arrested in multiple raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal agents on Friday.

Speaking to reporters, mayor Bass said the scenes unfolding in LA were "chaos that is provoked by the [Trump] administration."

The White House has deployed the National Guard and threatened to send in Marines if the unrest continues.

"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, and deploying federalized troops is a dangerous escalation," Bass said.

While she appeared to blame the White House for escalating tensions, she said Los Angeles residents had the right to protest "peacefully" but not "to be violent, to create chaos or vandalize property."

"I call on all Angelenos to continue expressing your right, your anger, your outrage, but to do it peacefully," Bass said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has formally requested that the administration of US President Donald Trump rescind its "unlawful deployment of troops" in Los Angeles.

Newsom posted a copy of a letter he had sent to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, after National Guard troops were deployed to the country's second largest city to quell unrest following immigration raids on Friday.

"We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved," Newsom, a Democrat, said on X.

In the letter, Newsom said the deployment of the National Guard "risks escalating the situation" as he urged Washington to let Californian state authorities deal with the unrest.

"There is currently no need for the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles, and to do so in this unlawful manner and for such a lengthy period is a serious breach of state sovereignty that seems intentionally designed to inflame the situation."

Trump had said Saturday that federal authorities would "step in and solve the problem" if Newsom and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass "can't do their jobs."

On Saturday evening, Newsom accused Trump of creating "a spectacle" by sending in the National Guard instead of leaving state authorities in charge.

Large crowds have turned out in downtown Los Angeles Sunday for the third consecutive day of protests against immigration raids.

US President Donald Trump has sent in the National Guard to quell the unrest, promising to restore "law and order."

Trump's measures have failed to lower the simmering tensions, however, amid protests that have so far remained largely peaceful.

On Sunday, hundreds of protesters faced off with police officers, initially outside a federal building before they moved to a freeway in downtown LA.

Television footage showed crowds of demonstrators in a standoff with police on the 101 freeway.

The Los Angeles Police Department said on X that arrests were being made after bottles, concrete blocks and other objects were thrown at officers, adding that a dispersal order was in effect.

"Demonstrators have walked onto the 101 freeway blocking SB lanes of traffic. All traffic [on] both the NB [Northbound] and SB [Southbound] lanes have been stopped," the LAPD said.

Police warned that anyone "on the Alameda, Los Angeles St, Aliso St, the 101 freeway between Alameda and the 110 freeway are subject to arrest." 

US President Donald Trump has commented again on the Los Angeles protests, saying he has ordered senior government officials to "take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion and put an end to these Migrant riots."

Trump said the order had been sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi, in coordination with all other relevant US departments and agencies.

Writing on his Truth Social network, Trump added: "Order will be restored, the Illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free."

US President Donald Trump said National Guard troops sent to Los Angeles would ensure "very strong law and order," while appearing to leave the door open to deploying soldiers in other cities.

"You have violent people, and we are not going to let them get away with it," he told reporters regarding those protesting raids by immigration agents in California. "I think you're going to see some very strong law and order."

Responding to a question about the potential for invoking the Insurrection Act, Trump said: "We're looking at troops everywhere. We're not going to let this happen to our country."

Earlier Sunday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that the protests by what he called "often paid troublemakers" on the "radical left" would not be tolerated.

The president added that masks would no longer be allowed to be worn at protests.

Trump also said that California officials who stand in the way of the deportations could face charges.

Senator Bernie Sanders has accused US President Donald Trump of rapidly moving the United States towards an authoritarian state.

Sanders made the comments to the US broadcaster CNN after Trump ordered the National Guard to step in and disperse angry protesters, who had rioted in Los Angeles against the president's immigration crackdown.

"This guy [Trump] wants all the power. He doesn't believe in the Constitution. He doesn't believe in the rule of law," Sanders told the broadcaster.

He added that both the state of California and the city of Los Angeles had not requested the mobilization, but Trump thinks "he has the right to do whatever he wants."

Sanders, who is one of the most prominent left-wing politicians in the US, went on to list the many decisions Trump had taken since he returned to office in January.

"He sues media outlets that criticize him. He persecutes law firms that have clients who opposed him. He takes action against universities that teach courses he doesn't like. He threatens to impeach judges who rule against him. And he abuses the power of the United States Congress," the left-leaning senator said.

California's National Guard troops began arriving at the scene of the protests, according to footage from local US broadcaster ABC7.

Previously, the US President Donald Trump ordered 2,000 troops to be deployed to Los Angeles, bypassing the authority of Governor Gavin Newsom.

The US news channel reported that the soldiers began assembling in front of the Hall of Justice, just next to Los Angeles City Hall. ABC7 also reported that the troops drove through the neighborhood of Paramount, in the southern part of the city.

Paramount was the scene of clashes between federal agents and protesters, with tear gas deployed. 

US President Donald Trump bypassed California Governor Gavin Newsom's authority to deploy the state's National Guard troops, assuming federal control in a rare move that overrides typical state oversight.

Governors usually command their state National Guard units, but Trump invoked federal authority to take direct control of California's forces.

Newsom criticized the decision as "purposefully inflammatory," warning that it would only escalate tensions. The Democrat later accused the federal government of seeking a spectacle and urged the public not to respond with violence.

Newsom's office said Trump federalized California's National Guard under what is known as Title 10 authority. This legal provision allows the president to assume command of a state's National Guard if "there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States."

Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, told the Los Angeles Times that by overriding Newsom's authority, Trump "is using the military domestically to stop dissent."

"It certainly sends a message as to how this administration is going to respond to protests. It is very frightening to see this done," he added.

The New York Times reported Trump's decision marks the first time in several decades that a president has activated a state's National Guard without the state governor's request.

Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, noted that the last such instance occurred in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson deployed troops to Alabama to protect civil rights demonstrators.

DW spoke with "The California Report" radio host Saul Gonzalez about the current situation of unrest in the Los Angeles area. Here is what he had to say: 

Protests have died down in Los Angeles County after a day of chaos, with what appeared to have been tear gas having filled the streets in Paramount and downtown Los Angeles, where protesters clashed with security officers over immigration raids.

President Trump's decision to then deploy National Guard troops was met with objections, as California Governor Gavin Newsom called the decision "purposefully inflammatory" and called on demonstrators to "never use violence."

The protests began after federal officials conducted immigration sweeps in the Los Angeles area on Friday. 

US media outlets are reporting that organizers have called for a third day of protests after a day of clashes between protesters and law enforcement officials over immigration raids in Los Angeles.

The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where census data suggests a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump's Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term.