In an intense turn of events, Los Angeles saw a surge in protests on Sunday as Presidential decisions sparked discontent among thousands. An unprecedented mobilization of the National Guard by President Donald Trump was the cause of this unrest that observed protestors taking extreme measures such as blocking-off main highways and setting autonomous vehicles on fire. The discordance was met with a response of tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bangs by the local law enforcement to manage the crowd. To add to the scene, police on horseback and in riot gear formed a line behind deployed Guard troops, guarding federal buildings including a detention center where immigrants were recently held.
This demonstration marked the third day of public outcry against the President’s tightened immigration stance. The deployment of about 300 federal soldiers became a catalyst for anger and fear in the minds of local residents. By the time it was noon, a growing crowd had assembled outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, the same location where people were detained following immigration raids.
Protestors, filled with vitriol, directed shouts of ‘shame’ and ‘go home’ towards the National Guard personnel. Positioned in an intimidating formation with their riot shields and long guns, the Guard members were significantly outnumbered. A close encounter with protestors led another section of uniformed officers to advance, releasing smoke-filled canisters onto the street in an attempt to control the situation.
Reacting to the protestors who they deemed were gathered unlawfully, the Los Angeles Police Department discharged crowd-control munitions to disperse the crowd. Most of the protestors then relocated, choosing to obstruct traffic on freeway 101 until they were driven away by the California Highway Patrol officers later in the afternoon.
Governor Gavin Newsom attempted to deescalate the situation by writing a formal letter to President Trump, stating that the presence of the Guard was ‘inflaming tensions’ in the city. He further argued that the deployment of Guard members constituted a ‘serious breach of state sovereignty’ and formally requested their withdrawal.
The Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, while addressing an afternoon press meet, remarked that the turmoil in the city was a result of provocations by the Trump administration. She added, ‘This is about another agenda, this isn’t about public safety.’
President Trump defended his actions by arguing that the National Guard deployment was required in the light of state Democrats, including Newsom, unable to curb recent protests against immigration agents. The deployment marked a monumental escalation against those resisting the administration’s mass deportation efforts – it was the first activation of a state’s National Guard in decades without the state governor’s request.
Preceding the unrest surrounding the arrival of the National Guard, two days of protests were observed that initially began in downtown Los Angeles on Friday and later spread into Paramount, a prominent Latino city to the south, and nearby Compton on Saturday.
Amidst heightened tensions, a controversial staging area was set up by federal agents near a Home Depot in Paramount. Demonstrators responded by blocking Border Patrol vehicles, some even resorting to throwing rocks and chunks of cement. Federal agents, decked out in riot gear, retaliated with tear gas, flash-bang explosives, and pepper balls.
The events followed closely after immigration authorities made a series of sweeps, intensifying the situation as the weekly tally of immigrant arrests went above 100. It’s important to note that these recent protests didn’t quite reach the scale of past events leading to the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, such as George Floyd demonstrations of 2020, and the Watts and Rodney King riots.
Last time the National Guard was activated without a governor’s request happened in 1965 when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in troops to secure a civil rights march in Alabama. President Trump, invoking a similar privilege on Saturday, deployed 2,000 National Guard members claiming rebellion or danger of rebellion against US Government’s authority.
While preparing to board Air Force One, President Trump coined the protesters in Los Angeles as ‘violent people’, adding they ‘won’t get away with it.’ The President didn’t hold back when asked about the prospect of deploying U.S troops to Los Angeles, responding, ‘We’ll have troops all over. We can’t let our country tear itself apart like it did under Biden.’ Without elaborating further, he also mentioned the possibility of charges against California officials who obstruct deportations.
In spite of conflicting reports about the actual timing when the Guard arrived, Trump praised them for a ‘job well done.’ Speaking shortly after, Mayor Karen Bass claimed that the troops hadn’t yet arrived in the city. Assistant Homeland Security Secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, instead criticized California’s politicians and protesters for endangering American safety while defending ‘heinous illegal alien criminals.’ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth didn’t shy away from threatening further escalations, indicating the possibility of active-duty Marine deployment if violence continues. The situation instigated responses from Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Kamala Harris, who voiced their concerns about rising authoritarian tendencies and a calculated campaign to cause panic and division, respectively.