California Lawsuit Accuses Trump Of 'Unprecedented Power Grab' In LA
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On Monday, California filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its order to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles without Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's approval.
The move has sharply escalated tensions between the federal government and the Democratic-led state amid the ongoing ICE protests in southern California.
The lawsuit states, "President Trump has repeatedly invoked emergency powers to exceed the bounds of lawful executive authority. On Saturday, June 7, he used a protest that local authorities had under control to make another unprecedented power grab, this time at the cost of the sovereignty of the State of California and in disregard of the authority and role of the Governor as commander-in-chief of the State's National Guard."
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
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Newsom calls out Trump for ‘theatrics' in Los Angeles
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Hamilton Spectator
26 minutes ago
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Los Angeles imposes downtown curfew as protests against Trump's immigration crackdown continue
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles leaders imposed a downtown curfew through Wednesday morning to deal with protests against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, while the governor accused him of drawing a 'military dragnet' across the nation's second-largest city with his escalating use of the National Guard. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom asked a court to put an emergency stop to the military helping federal immigration agents, with some guardsmen now standing in protection around agents as they carried out arrests. He said it would only heighten tensions and promote civil unrest. The judge chose not to rule immediately, giving the administration several days to continue those activities before a hearing Thursday. The change moves troops closer to engaging in law enforcement actions like deportations as Trump has promised as part of his administration's immigration crackdown . The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers but any arrests ultimately would be made by law enforcement. Trump has activated more than 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines over the objections of city and state leaders, though the Marines have not yet been spotted in Los Angeles and Guard troops have had limited engagement with protesters. They were originally deployed to protect federal buildings. As the curfew went into effect Tuesday night, a police helicopter flew over downtown federal buildings that have been the center of protests and ordered people to leave the area. Riot police on horses and foot surrounded a group of a few hundred that had gathered in the area, shouting: 'Move!' Most of the protesters scattered, with some regrouping and refusing orders to disperse. Officials said the curfew was necessary to stop vandalism and theft by agitators looking to cause trouble. Demonstrations have spread to other cities nationwide, including Dallas and Austin, Texas, Chicago and New York, where a thousand people rallied and multiple arrests were made. In Texas, where police in Austin used chemical irritants to disperse several hundred demonstrators Monday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's office said Texas National Guard troops were 'on standby' in areas where demonstrations are planned, Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said Tuesday evening. Guard members were deployed to San Antonio, according to assistant police chief Jesse Salame. He said he did not know how many were sent or details on the deployment. LA mayor puts curfew in place Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency on the fifth day of protests and said the curfew will run from 8 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. She said it was expected to last for several days. 'We reached a tipping point' after 23 businesses were looted, Bass said during a news conference Tuesday. The curfew covers a 1 square mile (2.5 square kilometer) section of downtown that includes the area where protests have occurred since Friday. The city of Los Angeles encompasses roughly 500 square miles (nearly 2,300 square kilometers). The curfew doesn't apply to residents who live in the designated area, people who are homeless, credentialed media or public safety and emergency officials, according to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. McDonnell said 'unlawful and dangerous behavior' had been escalating since Saturday. 'The curfew is a necessary measure to protect lives and safeguard property following several consecutive days of growing unrest throughout the city,' McDonnell said. Trump says he's open to using Insurrection Act Trump left open the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the U.S. to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. It's one of the most extreme emergency powers available to a U.S. president. 'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see,' he said from the Oval Office. Later the president called protesters 'animals' and 'a foreign enemy' in a speech at Fort Bragg ostensibly to recognize the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth . In a public address Tuesday evening, Newsom called Trump's actions the start of an 'assault' on democracy. 'California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next,' he said. Newsom warned people against inciting violence, but urged them to stand up to the president's actions. 'What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence. To be complicit in this moment,' he said. 'Do not give it to him.' The protests began Friday after federal immigration raids arrested dozens of workers in Los Angeles. Protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire over the weekend, and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. The demonstrations have been mostly concentrated downtown in the city of 4 million. Thousands of people have peacefully rallied outside City Hall and hundreds more protested outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids. Despite the protests, immigration enforcement activity has continued throughout the county, with city leaders and community groups reporting ICE present at libraries, car washes and Home Depots. School graduations in Los Angeles have increased security over fears of ICE action and some have offered parents the option to watch on Zoom. McDonnell said that police had made 197 arrests on Tuesday, including 67 who were taken into custody for unlawfully occupying part of the 101 freeway. Several businesses were broken into Monday, though authorities didn't say if the looting was tied to the protests. The vast majority of arrests have been for failing to disperse, while a few others were for assault with a deadly weapon, looting, vandalism and attempted murder for tossing a Molotov cocktail. Seven police officers were reportedly injured, and at least two were taken to a hospital and released. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested Tuesday that the use of troops inside the U.S. will continue to expand . The Pentagon said deploying the National Guard and Marines costs $134 million. ___ Baldor and Copp reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Dorany Pineda and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, Hallie Golden in Seattle, and Greg Bull in Seal Beach, California, contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. 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Yahoo
29 minutes ago
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Newsom Warns ‘Other States Are Next' in Speech Against Trump
California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivers an address on June 10, 2025. Credit - Office of the California Governor via AP 'What's happening right now is very different than anything we've seen before,' Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, said in a speech Tuesday night that was seemingly addressed as much to his own state's residents as to the nation. 'This isn't just about protests here in Los Angeles. When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation,' Newsom said amid days of unrest in southern California after the President mobilized troops to quell violence and vandalism that had broken out during demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids—an escalation Newsom called a 'brazen abuse of power' that 'inflamed a combustible situation.' 'This is about all of us. This is about you,' Newsom said. 'California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next.' Newsom lambasted Trump, calling him a President who 'wants to be bound by no law or constitution, perpetuating a unified assault on American traditions.' And he repeated his assertion that Trump was 'fanning the flames' in Los Angeles 'on purpose.' Newsom claimed that California could have managed the criminal behavior on its streets with its own law enforcement. 'The situation was winding down and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown,' Newsom said. 'But that—that's not what Donald Trump wanted. He again chose escalation. He chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety.' Newsom said the deployment of National Guard and Marine forces was done 'illegally and for no reason' and pointed to a legal challenge filed by the state against the Trump Administration. 'These are the men and women trained for foreign combat, not domestic law enforcement. We honor their service, we honor their bravery, but we do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces—not in L.A., not in California, not anywhere.' Newsom, whose second and final term ends in 2027 and is considered to be a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, focused much of his less-than-10-minute speech on pushing back against Trump's mass deportation effort, which the California Governor linked to a broader slide toward authoritarianism. 'California is no stranger to immigration enforcement, but instead of focusing on undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records and people with final deportation orders, a strategy both parties have long supported, this Administration is pushing mass deportations, indiscriminately targeting hard working immigrant families regardless of their roots or risk,' Newsom said. He spoke of the fear undocumented residents feel, saying that the Trump Administration is 'pulling a military dragnet' across Los Angeles. 'We're seeing unmarked cars in school parking lots, kids afraid of attending their own graduation. … His agents are arresting dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers, and seamstresses. That's just weakness, weakness masquerading as strength. Donald Trump's government isn't protecting our communities. They're traumatizing our communities. And that seems to be the entire point.' 'If some of us could be snatched off the streets without a warrant, based only on suspicion or skin color, then none of us are safe,' Newsom added. 'Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves, but they do not stop there. Trump and his loyalists—they thrive on division because it allows them to take more power and exert even more control.' The 57-year-old Democrat who has been criticized by some for earlier this year appearing to take a more moderate tack as his national ambitions grow also outlined a list of criticisms of Trump that extend beyond immigration, including the firing of government watchdogs; attacking news organizations, universities, law firms, and the judicial branch; and holding a military parade on Saturday, 'forcing them to put on a vulgar display to celebrate his birthday, just as other failed dictators have done in the past.' 'Democracy is under assault before our eyes,' Newsom said, charging Trump with taking 'a wrecking ball' to the principle of three co-equal branches of government. 'There are no longer any checks and balances. Congress is nowhere to be found. Speaker Johnson has completely abdicated that responsibility. The Rule of Law has increasingly been giving way to the Rule of Don.' Trump, who has nicknamed Newsom 'Newscum' on social media and called for the Governor to be arrested earlier this week, did not immediately respond to Newsom's remarks on Tuesday night. Newsom ended the speech with a call to action. 'The Founding Fathers—they didn't live and die to see this kind of moment. It's time for all of us to stand up,' he said. 'If you exercise your First Amendment rights, please, please do it peacefully. I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress, and fear, but I want you to know that you are the antidote to that fear and that anxiety. What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.' Contact us at letters@
