Chaos in Los Angeles as Governor pledges to take Trump to court
Protests are intensifying in Los Angeles following the deployment of 2,000 members of the National Guard as ordered by US President Donald Trump.
Cars were set alight and protestors chained themselves to furniture in a bid to put Los Angeles at a standstill as the violence entered a third day overnight.
On Sunday, the White House confirmed Trump had signed an order to deploy the National Guard with Californian Governor Gavin Newsom hitting out at the President, stating he wanted a 'spectacle.' Cars were set alight and protestors chained themselves to furniture in a bid to put Los Angeles in a standstill as the violence entered a third day overnight. Pic: RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump hit back at the Democratic governor as well as the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
On Sunday, rioters were seen setting fire to Waymos driverless cars, and celebrating the havoc by dancing on the roofs of cars, waving Mexican flags and chanting, 'burn, burn, burn.'
The siege has resulted in the self-driving car company halting all services in and around the area. On Sunday, rioters were seen setting fire to Waymos driverless cars, and celebrating the havoc by dancing on the roofs of cars, waving Mexican flags and chanting, 'burn, burn, burn.' Pic: Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The Daily Mail report that each self-driving robo-taxi is worth an estimated $150,000 (€131,000).
As the protests continue, so does the war of words between the US President and Californian Governor, with Governor Newsom stating that Trump 'wants chaos and [has] instigated violence.'
Taking to X, Newsom warned: 'Those who assault law enforcement or cause property damage will risk arrest. Stay peaceful. Stay focused. Don't give him the excuse he's looking for.'
Los Angeles: don't take Trump's bait.Trump wants chaos and he's instigated violence. Those who assault law enforcement or cause property damage will risk arrest.
Stay peaceful. Stay focused. Don't give him the excuse he's looking for.
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Irish Examiner
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RTÉ News
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'Bring in the troops', says Trump as LA anti-ICE protests spread to San Francisco
Police have declared all of downtown Los Angeles to be an unlawful assembly area and ordered protesters to go home after a third day of violence hit demonstrations against President Donald Trump's immigration policy. National Guard troops - deployed by Mr Trump at the weekend to help quell the protests in a move that California Governor Gavin Newsom called unlawful - guarded federal government buildings yesterday. The unrest in Los Angeles has become a major flashpoint in Mr Trump's signature effort to clamp down on illegal immigration. About 60 people were also arrested in San Francisco, police said, after demonstrators in the northern Californian city gathered to protest against the immigration raids. San Francisco police "declared an unlawful assembly," they said on social media platform X. "Approximately 60 people were arrested, including juveniles." The Republican president has pledged to deport record numbers of people who are in the country illegally and to lockdown the US-Mexico border, setting the border enforcement agency ICE a daily goal of arresting at least 3,000 migrants. California state and local officials, mainly Democrats, accuse Mr Trump of inflaming initially small-scale protests by mounting a federal response. He calls the protesters insurrectionists. Several self-driving cars from Alphabet's Waymo were set ablaze on a downtown street yesterday evening. Los Angeles police said some protesters had thrown concrete projectiles, bottles and other items at police. Police declared several rallies to be unlawful assemblies and later extended that to include the whole downtown area. Police on horseback tried to control the crowds. Demonstrators shouted "Shame on you!" at police and some appeared to throw objects, video images showed. One group blocked the 101 Freeway, a major downtown thoroughfare. City Police Chief Jim McDonnell told a media briefing that people had a right to protest peacefully but the violence he had seen by some was "disgusting" and the protests were getting out of control. I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command. We didn't have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while… — Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) June 8, 2025 Police said they had arrested 10 people last night and 29 the previous night, adding arrests were continuing. California Governor Newsom, a Democrat, said he requested the Trump administration to withdraw its order to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles County, calling it unlawful. Mr Newsom said in an interview with MSNBC he planned to sue the administration over the deployment, adding that Mr Trump "has created the conditions" around the protests. He accused the president of trying to manufacture a crisis and of violating California's state sovereignty. Asked if the National Guard was needed, Chief McDonnell said police would not "go to that right away," but added, "Looking at the violence tonight, I think we've got to make a reassessment". In a social media post, Mr Trump called on Chief McDonnell to do so. "Looking really bad in LA, bring in the troops," Mr Trump said. "He should, right now!!!" Mr Trump added. "Don't let these thugs get away with this. Make America great again!!!" The White House disputed Mr Newsom's characterisation, saying in a statement, "Everyone saw the chaos, violence and lawlessness." Earlier yesterday, about a dozen National Guard members, along with Department of Homeland Security personnel, pushed back a group of demonstrators outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, video showed. 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Irish Times
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LA protests: Trump tests limits of presidential authority by sending in the troops
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He endorsed a post that called for mass deportations no matter 'what it costs', and which concluded: 'Nothing else matters if this isn't handled.' An injured protester is carried away from clashes in Los Angeles. Photograph:On Fox News, border tsar Tom Homan suggested the department of justice investigate Democratic lawmakers – including House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries – who called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents not to conceal their faces behind masks when conducting raids. Justifying the deployment of troops in Los Angeles, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem claimed that Ice agents were merely going after the 'worst of the worst' – criminal aliens embedded in otherwise law-abiding communities. But rounding up day labourers who gathered at Home Depot looking for work, as Ice agents did in Los Angeles on Friday, would appear to suggest otherwise. 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'Each of these actions cracks the foundation of our democracy just a little bit more.' For now, public support for Trump's immigration crackdown appears to be holding up. A YouGov poll for CBS, conducted before the Los Angeles protests, found that 54 per cent of the country was in favour of the scheme. That figure dropped though when people were asked if they supported going after those who are not dangerous criminals. In contrast to Trump's first term, when then defence secretary Mark Esper refused to send the military to quash Black Lives Matter protests, there has been no real opposition to the military deployment from members of the administration, or from Republicans in Congress. For his part, Trump on Sunday did not see any reason to de-escalate. 'We're going to have troops everywhere,' he told reporters. 'We're not going to let this happen to our country. We're not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden.' – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
