Hegseth questioned over sending troops to Los Angeles
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was questioned in the House over the administration's decision to send National Guard troops into L.A., to quell protests against ICE raids. The hearing became heated when Hegseth was questioned by Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., over the administration's authority to deploy those troops, with Hegseth saying that Governor Gavin Newsom had "failed to protect" Californians. June 10, 2025
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The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump pulling US personnel from Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran
Donald Trump said he was withdrawing some of the American personnel deployed in the Middle East because it could be a 'dangerous place' amid rising tensions. The State Department said it had ordered the departure of all non-essential personnel and their dependents from its embassy in Baghdad. Simultaneously, a US official said, defence secretary Pete Hegseth had authorised the voluntary departure of military dependents from countries across the region, including Bahrain and Kuwait. American soldiers in the region were not affected by this order, however. The decision comes amid heightened tensions as Mr Trump's push to reach a deal with Iran to halt its nuclear programme is deadlocked and intelligence suggests Israel is making preparations for a strike against Tehran's nuclear facilities. 'They are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place, and we'll see what happens,' Mr Trump told reporters on Wednesday. 'We've given notice to move out.' Asked if anything could be done to de-escalate tensions in the region, particularly with Iran, the president said: 'They can't have a nuclear weapon. Very simple – they can't have a nuclear weapon.' News of the Baghdad evacuation drove oil prices up by more than 4 per cent. Oil futures climbed $3, with Brent crude futures at $69.18 a barrel. The US maintains a military presence across the oil-rich region, with bases in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE. A US official told Reuters that the State Department was 'set to have an ordered departure for the embassy in Baghdad'. 'The intent is to do it through commercial means, but the US military is standing by if help is requested,' the officials said. Iraq 's state news agency reported, citing a government official, that Baghdad hadn't recorded any security indication warranting an evacuation. Sources in Iraqi and US governments did not explain what security risks had prompted the decision, although heightened tensions with Iran were widely speculated to be a reason. The sixth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the US is scheduled to happen over the weekend in Oman, with Tehran expected to hand over a counterproposal after rejecting an offer by Washington. Iran says it does not plan to build a nuclear weapon and is only interested in peaceful use of its nuclear programme. The US, though, wants Tehran to stop uranium enrichment entirely. Speaking on the Pod Force One podcast on Monday, Mr Trump said he was growing 'less confident' about getting a deal with Iran. It wasn't clear, he said, that Tehran would accept the key US demand to stop enriching uranium. 'I don't know. I did think so, and I'm getting more and more – less confident about it,' the president said. Iranian defence minister Amir Aziz Nasirzadeh warned that 'the situation may escalate into conflict' if negotiations with the US failed. 'If a conflict is imposed on us,' he warned on Wednesday, 'all US bases are within our reach, and we will boldly target them in host countries'. Tensions in the Middle East are also rising due to Israel 's war on Gaza. Israel and Iran exchanged fire twice last year – the first direct attacks between the region's most entrenched enemies – with missiles and war drones hurtling across Iraqi airspace. Strategic experts and former officials said Israel could consider taking matters into its own hands if nuclear talks with the US didn't yield a favourable outcome. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly warned that a flawed agreement would be more dangerous than no deal at all. Mr Trump recently revealed he had cautioned Mr Netanyahu against taking unilateral action, such as a military strike, which could jeopardise the ongoing negotiations with Tehran.
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Protest curfews spread to Washington as LA moves to arrest 'bad actors' and unrest continues in NYC and Chicago
Massive anti-ICE riots have spread from coast to coast as Los Angeles tries to crack down on 'bad actors' at fiery protests that continued for a sixth consecutive day on Wednesday. The City of Angels has been reeling since Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents first conducted raids in the city on Friday, sparking viral clashes between officers in riot gear and protesters who set vehicles on fire. Some have even taken advantage of the chaos as they looted more than 20 stores. But in cities across the nation, residents are rallying to show their support for the people of Los Angeles as they hold their own anti-ICE demonstrations - prompting Republicans to investigate who may be behind the uprising. Protests have popped up in cities like New York City and Chicago, and in Spokane, Washington, Mayor Lisa Brown was forced to impose a curfew after large groups of protesters took to the streets and blocked off roads. Officers who responded to the scene were then seen donning gas masks and deploying a device that released smoke into the crowd, causing them to disperse and begin shouting at police, CNN reports. A total of 30 people have since been arrested in the Washington city. It comes just one day after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued her own lockdown from 8pm to 6am, saying she was trying to 'stop bad actors who are taking advantage of the President's chaotic escalation' after President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines to the city. But protesters have remained on the scene, with 17 people arrested on Tuesday for violating the curfew, according to the Los Angeles Times. Even more arrests were made Wednesday, as curfew went into effect for a second consecutive and police quickly drove rioters out. Officers were seen on horseback charging into a crowd at City Hall, causing several demonstrators to fall to the ground. Cops then pushed hundreds of protesters into Gloria Molina Grand Park, where they gathered and began chanting 'Shame.' Yet they seemed to be aware of their situation, as they wrote the number for bail support on their arms. Meanwhile, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced criminal charges against eight people who allegedly attacked police, vandalized building and looted stores since the unrest began. 'If people want to hurl insults, we will protect that,' he said at a news conference Wednesday. 'If people want to engage in crimes, we will prosecute that.' His office said three people were charged with using fireworks and motorcycles to hurt officers, after two were caught on camera slamming their bikes into a police skirmish line. Hochman also announced charges against two people who allegedly joined a break in at a downtown Los Angeles Nike store and felony vandalism charges against people accused of tagging the downtown Hall of Justice - which houses the headquarters for the District Attorney's Office and the Sheriff's Department. More unruly rioters may also find themselves criminally charged in the coming days, LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said. He explained that officers are continuing to review footage from the riots. 'If you didn't get caught in the last couple of nights, there's a lot of evidence,' Luna said. 'You're probably going to have a detective knocking at your door.' Yet detectives are also trying to figure out how to work with members of the National Guard and the Marines, who arrived in the city on Wednesday. 'The role is still not clear, to us, the Marines or the National Guard, other than they're a support entity to protect federal employees and facilities,' Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told CNN's Kaitlan Collins. 'This is unprecedented,' he continued. 'As far as the scope of their responsibilities or their abilities relative to arrest or dealing in a municipal environment, that's not something that they do certainly. 'What their training is, we're not sure of that - either on the Army or the Marines as it relates to crowd management, crowd control in an urban environment.' Attorneys representing President Donald Trump, though, argued in court documents on Wednesday that the military forces in Los Angles were not engaging directly in policing as they hit out at California Gov. Gavin Newsom's lawsuit. The governor and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a suit over the president's deployment of the National Guard and the Marines earlier this week, arguing it was unconstitutional because it violates state sovereignty and federal laws that limit the use of military forces for policing. In a desperate attempt to get the forces out of Los Angeles, Newsom also asked a judge on Tuesday for a temporary restraining order on Trump's deployment - which the judge denied. Lawyers for the Trump administration have since filed a response calling California's request for the restraining order a 'crass political stunt endangering American lives.' If it were to be granted, they said, it would prevent the president 'from exercising his lawful statutory and constitutional power' to ensure federal facilities and personnel are protected and that the nation's immigration laws are adequately enforced. A hearing on the matter is now scheduled for Thursday afternoon. In the meantime, local and federal officials have vowed to investigate who may be funding the massive cross country riots. LA County Sheriff Robert Luna on Wednesday said he found 'evidence' outside agitators or an organized group is behind the riots in the city, and said authorities were 'looking to see if there is a conspiracy of some kind or organization,' Newsweek reports. At the federal level, FBI Director Kash Patel also said the bureau 'is investigating any and all monetary connections responsible for these riots' as reports emerged that Chinese influence could be behind the chaos, according to The Signal. The US-based Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) organized some of last week's protests in response to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that snowballed into violence over the weekend. The Marxist revolutionaries also played a role in last year's anti-Israel protests that roiled Columbia University. PLS has ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through Neville Roy Singham, a Connecticut-born tech entrepreneur who operates from Shanghai. Singham, together with his wife, Jodie Evans, the founder of antiwar group Code Pink, have been investigated by House Republicans for promoting protests, dissent and unrest in the US for their bosses in Beijing. Yet even though there may be financial links between Singham, PSL and the peaceful demonstrations against Trump's immigration crackdown, there is nothing to suggest that those protestors are involved in any of the violence or looting in LA. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has turned the blame on a Los Angeles immigration organization, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, which he said is 'bankrolling' the unrest. In a letter to Angelica Salas, the head of the organization, Hawley wrote that it should 'cease and desist any further involvement in the organization, funding or promotion of these unlawful activities.' 'Credible reporting now suggests that your organization has provided logistical support and financial resources to individuals engaged in these disruptive actions,' wrote Hawley, who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism. 'Let me be clear: bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech. It is aiding and abetting criminal conduct.' Salas, though, has denied the accusations. 'This is trying to take away the spotlight from the pain and suffering that this administration is causing,' she told the LA Times. 'I refuse to make it about anybody else but them.'
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
ICE enforcement in LA triggers alarm among school communities
"We are a melting pot of beautiful, incredible people," Enriquez said to the crowd before wiping a tear from his eye. "This incredible community, all of these students, all of these parents, guardians, friends and family, it is because of you that these young people are here ready to go on to that next step - to that high school life, to represent each of us as an incredible member of society." Some families too afraid to attend the graduation out of fear of increased presence of immigration enforcement officials across the city didn't hear the principal's message. They and many other Angeleno immigrants who live in the sanctuary city are foregoing the chance to witness their young loved ones receive diplomas or advance to the next grade at upcoming school graduation ceremonies out of fear of getting deported. "I've spoken with parents who've told me that their daughter would be the first in their family to graduate high school and they're not going to be there to witness it, because they have a fear of the place of graduation being targeted," said Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, which covers the majority of the city and some surrounding areas of Los Angeles and serves more than a half of a million public school students, during a June 9 news conference. More than one-third of Angelenos are immigrants. ICE detained a Los Angeles fourth grader from Torrance Elementary School and his father in Texas on May 29. They are expected to be deported to Honduras. The young child's deportation has left a wound. "When something like this happens, it shakes all of us in the community," Torrance Elementary PTA volunteer Ria Villanueva told The Los Angeles Times. Homeland security agents attemped to enter two Los Angeles schools in early April, but they were denied entry. Arrests of young people by Immigration and Customs Enforcement are happening nationwide in other targeted American communities, such as Milford, Massachusetts, where an 11th grader's arrest and detention by ICE has heightened anxiety among the area's immigrants, and in New York City, where educations officials say ICE have recently arrested and detained two students. "President Trump is keeping his promise to deport illegal aliens and the law enforcement officers conducting operations do so efficiently and professionally," said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, in response to a question from USA TODAY about the Trump administration's enforcement on immigration at and around schools. "Individuals, like the violent rioters in LA, who try to obstruct or deter operations put law enforcement officers and law abiding citizens at risk." The Trump administration's increased immigration enforcement and related protests around LA Unified schools over the last several weeks have put parents, students and school officials on especially high alert. After law enforcement officers deployed flash-bang grenades against protesters near a Los Angeles Unified elementary school campus, the school community went into lockdown on June 6. The tensions have left the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest district in the nation, at the center of the national battle on immigration deportations and family separations. Ahead of future graduation ceremonies in the district, Carvalho said he said he has directed Los Angeles Unified school police to stand at the front lines and "intervene and interfere with any federal agency who may want to take action during these joyous times that we call graduation." What's happening around Los Angeles Unified schools? The Los Angeles families' anxieties come after a series of Trump administration-led anti-immigrant actions in the city, making it a national battleground for President Donald Trump's long-promised crackdown on illegal immigration. President Donald Trump and his administration have deployed thousands of National Guard members to the nation's second-largest city since June 8. The National Guard entered Los Angeles after citizens who were angry about immigration raids in the city, including one at a Home Depot, launched largely peaceful demonstrations against the administration's enforcement of illegal immigration. How did the LA protests begin? A look at the immigration raids that sparked outrage Chaos and violence have since erupted across Los Angeles, resulting in the detainment of some immigrants, destruction of city property and fear and hiding among immigrant families and children of immigrants who attend school across the region. 'President Trump is keeping his promise' California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vehemently objected against the immigration raids and deployment of federal guards, even filing a lawsuit against Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth alleging they deployed "members of the California National Guard, without lawful authority, and in violation of the Constitution." "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 hardworking, immigrant families regardless of their roots or risk, " Newsom, a Democrat, said in a video posted on Instagram. There's no sign that the immigration raids will end. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on X on June 9 that they will deploy about 700 active duty U.S. Marines to Los Angeles "to restore order." Trump has also threatened to arrest Newsom for challenging the federal government. 700 Marines Heading to LA; Newsom calls move 'deranged fantasy' of Trump Federal immigration activity near school campuses threatens a 'fundamental right' A third-grade elementary school teacher in the district, who asked to remain anonymous because she is worried that her school and her students will be targeted by immigration enforcement officials if she is identified, said she has felt deep fear and constant anxiety in her students about them or their families being detained by ICE officials. She said many kids in her classroom whose parents are undocumented immigrants, some of whom are newcomers from Guatemala, are worried about being deported or separated from their families. Their fears have intensified since immigration raids have occurred close to the school. Attendance was unusually low and many school bus stops were eerily quiet during the last two days of school in her classroom on June 9 and 10, she said. "I try to pretend everything's normal when everything's falling apart outside of the school," she said. Her six-year-old son, who attends the same school where she teaches, found about about the immigration raids through friends and told her, "Mom, I'm glad you have papers so they can't take you." Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Carvlaho said in a statement on June 6 that he is "dismayed" by the recent immigration enforcement activity occurring near district schools. "These actions are causing unnecessary fear, confusion, and trauma for our students and families - many of whom are simply trying to get to and from school and work, and to live with dignity," Carvalho said. The presence of federal immigration activity near school campuses threatens prevents schools from being a "safe haven" where students "can learn, grow, and thrive without fear of being separated from their loved ones," he said. California State Superintendent of Education Tony Thurmond called Trump's military deployment and mass immigration raids "unnecessary," "a betrayal of our American values" and "an assault on all Californians" in a statement on June 9. Thurmond said about half of California kids have at least one immigrant parent. "Innocent children should never be in handcuffs, and families should never be torn apart by our government. Our children deserve to be protected and cared for, not terrified at school or ripped from their families," Thurmond said. "Let's be clear: When the President targets our immigrant families, he harms California's children." California State Superintendent: 'Deeply dangerous for our children' California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Thurmond have called on Trump to end the mass immigration raids and pull back National Guard troops from Los Angeles for the safety of Los Angeles families. "My message to President Trump is very clear: keep your hands off California's kids," Thurmond said on June 9. "The President's unchecked, unnecessary deployment of our nation's military to the city of Los Angeles is deeply dangerous for our children, for our families, and for our country." The officials' sentiments haven't calmed the widespread fear among many of the city's vast immigrant communities. Britt Vaughan, a spokesperson for Los Angeles Unified school district, said that parents and community members have been anxiously calleing into schools to report federal immigration activity in their communities. Enriquez, from Palms Middle School, told students and their families at the commencement ceremony to use the momentum of graduation as an opportunity to stand up to what he called "injustice" against their community. "Be empowered. Injustices exist in the world," he said. "Speak up. Stand up against any injustice anywhere." Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@ Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.
