US Marines arrive in Los Angeles as mayor imposes downtown curfew
Hundreds of US Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday under orders from US President Donald Trump, as the city's mayor declared a curfew for parts of the downtown area and police arrested 197 people in a fifth day of street protests.
Trump has also activated 4,000 National Guard troops to quell protests in the city despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom that the deployments were unnecessary, illegal and politically motivated.
The city has seen five days of public protests since the Trump administration launched a series of immigration raids on Friday, with police arresting 197 people on Tuesday and Mayor Karen Bass announcing a curfew for 2.5 sq km (1 square mile) of downtown Los Angeles that will last several days.
Even so, state and local officials have called Trump's response an extreme overreaction to mostly peaceful demonstrations.
Police, members of the California National Guard and demonstrators in downtown Los Angeles. Photo: Reuters
About 700 Marines were in a staging area in the Seal Beach area about 50km south of Los Angeles, awaiting deployment to specific locations, a US official said.
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