National Guard arrives in LA on Trump's orders to quell immigration protests
US National Guard troops have begun arriving in Los Angeles on orders from President Donald Trump, to stamp out protests that have broken out in recent days against federal immigration authorities seeking to carry out deportations in the region.
The members of California's National Guard were seen mobilising on Sunday at the federal complex in central Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Centre, where confrontations have been taking place over the the last two days.
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Confrontations broke out on Saturday near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles, where federal agents were preparing at a Department of Homeland Security office nearby.
Agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls, and protesters hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol vehicles. Smoke wafted from small piles of burning refuse in the streets.
Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, including in LA's fashion district and at a Home Depot, as the week-long tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.
Despite objections from California governor Gavin Newsom, the White House announced Mr Trump would deploy the Guard to 'address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester'.
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Mr Newsom, a Democrat, said in a post on the social platform X the move is 'purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions'. He later said the federal government wants a spectacle and urged people not to give them one by becoming violent.
Law enforcement in riot gear during a protest in Compton, California (Ethan Swope/AP)
In a signal of the administration's aggressive approach, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to deploy the US military.
'If violence continues, active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized – they are on high alert,' Mr Hegseth said on X.
Mr Trump's order came after clashes in Paramount and neighbouring Compton, where a car was set on fire. Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back.
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Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in central Los Angeles, including a detention centre, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.
Police detain a man during a protest in Paramount (Eric Thayer/AP)
Earlier in Paramount, immigration officers faced off with demonstrators at the entrance to a business park, across from the back of a Home Depot. They set off fireworks and pulled shopping carts into the street, broke up cinder blocks and pelted a procession of Border Patrol vans as they departed and careened down a boulevard.
US attorney Bill Essayli said federal agents made more arrests of people with deportation orders on Saturday, but none were at the Home Depot. The Department of Homeland Security has a building next door and agents were staging there as they prepared to carry out operations, he said on Fox11 Los Angeles. He did not say how many people were arrested Saturday or where.
Paramount mayor Peggy Lemons told multiple news outlets that community members showed up in response because people are fearful about activity by immigration agents.
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'When you handle things the way that this appears to be handled, it's not a surprise that chaos would follow,' she said.
Some demonstrators jeered at officers while recording the events on smartphones.
'ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,' a woman said through a megaphone. 'You are not welcome here.'
A protester throws a rock while surrounded by tear gas from law enforcement during a demonstration in Paramount on Saturday (Eric Thayer/AP)
More than a dozen people were arrested and accused of impeding immigration agents, Mr Essayli posted on X, including the names and mugshots of some of those arrested. He did not say where they were protesting.
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Mr Trump federalised part of California's National Guard under what is known as Title 10 authority, which places him, not the governor, top of the chain of command, according to Mr Newsom's office.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement the work the immigration authorities were doing when met with protests is 'essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States'.
She added: 'In the wake of this violence, California's feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens.'
The president's move came shortly after he issued a threat on his social media network saying that if Mr Newsom and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass did not 'do their jobs', then 'the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!'
Mr Newsom said in his statement that local authorities 'are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment's notice', and that 'there is currently no unmet need'.
The California Highway Patrol said Mr Newsom had directed it to deploy additional officers to 'maintain public safety'.
Ms Bass said: 'We certainly want to make the opportunities available for people to exercise their First Amendment rights, but the minute that things turn to violence… that is not acceptable and people are going to be held accountable.'
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