As it happened: National Guard on ground at Los Angeles immigration protests
California National Guard arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday (US time),
deployed by President Donald Trump after two days of protests
by hundreds of demonstrators against immigration raids carried out as part of Trump's hardline policy.
It's the first time 55 years that a president has deployed a National Guard without a request by a state governor.
Look back at what happened during the day with RNZ's liveblog:
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RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
What are rubber bullets? What other crowd control methods are used in the Los Angeles ICE protests?
Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet while reporting on protests against US immigration enforcement in Los Angeles this week. Photo: Screengrab from 9News Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet while reporting on protests against US immigration enforcement in Los Angeles this week. The Nine News journalist said she was "a bit sore but OK" after the incident. Firing rubber bullets is just one of the crowd control tactics being used by authorities at the demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. Here's what we know about the methods authorities use to control crowds. The LAPD has launched an investigation after #9News U.S. Correspondent Lauren Tomasi was hit with a rubber bullet during protests. MORE: The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) authorised officers to use what it calls "less lethal munitions" in the protests over the weekend. The word "munitions" can mean weapons but, in this context, it refers to ammunition - so, things like bullets. LAPD officers shoot rubber bullets at protesters in front of the City Hall in Los Angeles, California. Photo: AFP / APU GOMES According to Los Angeles police training documents, these include: These are the kind of ammunition people might call "rubber bullets". It's a projectile that's softer than a traditional metal bullet. And they're not fired from a rifle or a handgun. Instead, they're fired from what the Los Angeles police call "Less Lethal Launchers" in another set of training documents. That depends on the type of bullet being used. The Los Angeles police use the following "less lethal" bullets, which they call "rounds": The 37mm rounds look like mini hockey pucks. They weigh about 14 grams, with a height and diameter of 3.3 centimetres. They're made from rubber, according to the manufacturer. Before they're fired, the 40mm rounds look a bit like roll-on deodorant cans. These rounds are 6.7 centimetres high and 4 centimetres wide. They have a plastic body and a foam tip, according to the manufacturer, and weigh 30 grams. "Less lethal munitions may cause pain and discomfort," the LAPD wrote in a post on X. The severity of the pain and injury really depends on where a person is hit. Reuters spoke to Isaac Siova, who was hit by a rubber bullet at the protest in Los Angeles on Saturday. He was hit on the hip. "It didn't really hurt," he told Reuters about first being hit. But he said it started aching after about 20 minutes and showed a sizeable welt to journalists at the scene. Law enforcement fire less-lethal munitions at protesters during clashes outside the federal building in Los Angeles, California. Photo: ETIENNE LAURENT Tomasi, an Australian journalist for 9News, was shot in the leg from behind while filming a piece to camera. She said she was "a bit sore" but "OK" after being shot. Tomasi filed a report later that night, local time, standing in an empty street in Los Angeles. She wasn't the only journalist to be shot by a rubber bullet. British news photographer Nick Stern was covering the protests on Sunday when a three-inch "plastic bullet" tore into his thigh. Speaking with the BBC, Mr Stern said he was standing in the middle of the road when he was struck. "I suddenly got this terrific pain on my leg," he told the BBC's Three Counties Radio. "There was something hard sticking out of the back of my leg and then it was getting wet from blood." The journalist has since undergone emergency surgery and is recovering at Long Beach Memorial Medical Centre. No - they're designed to cause pain. When using the 40mm round, officers are supposed to aim for around a person's belly button. They're prohibited from firing at a person's head, neck, chest, groin or kidneys, "due to potential for serious injuries", training documents say. Tear gas Tear gas is a chemical compound that can render people temporarily unable to function by irritating the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that "riot agents" like tear gas can cause blurred vision, difficulty swallowing, skin burns, nausea and vomiting. It's usually fired in a canister. It is prohibited to use any form of tear gas in war under the Chemical Weapons Convention. However, police around the world use it during times of civil unrest. One of the more notable times US authorities used tear gas was during the 2020 demonstrations against police brutality, sparked by the killing of George Floyd. Flashbang grenades A flashbang is an explosive device that emits an extremely loud noise and bright lights to disorient people. They can cause temporary blindness and shifts in hearing, typically lasting a few seconds, according to a paper in the American Journal of Operations Research. US federal agents in tactical gear threw flashbang grenades to disperse an angry crowd near downtown LA on Friday as they conducted an immigration raid on a clothing wholesaler. Law enforcement clashes with demonstrators outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, MDC, in downtown Los Angeles, California. Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN Pepper balls Pepper balls are very similar to paintballs. But instead of paint, they are filled with an oily, organic resin called oleoresin capsicum (OC), which is derived from chillies - which are called peppers in the US. It's the same irritant used in pepper spray and comes in powder or liquid form. With a range of up to 99 metres, they break on impact and release an irritant that causes a person's eyes to water and nose to run, as well as inducing coughing. Police used pepper balls outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles on Monday after telling people to "clear the area" on a loudspeaker, CNN video showed. In some cases, pepper balls can be extremely dangerous. In 2004, American journalism student Victoria Snelgrove died after being shot in the eye with a pepper ball as Boston police sought to clear a crowd of revellers following the baseball World Series. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Victoria Police were forced to use a range of non-lethal weapons including pepper ball rounds and OC foam canisters to try and disperse crowds in Melbourne CBD. Batons Batons are essentially hand-held clubs. Police officers use batons for crowd control primarily as a less-lethal tool for defensive purposes, according to Amnesty International. Authorities could be seen swinging batons and striking members of the crowd in a video published by the New York Post. A demonstrator holding flowers walks past police officers as protesters clash with law enforcement in the streets surrounding the federal building during a protest following federal immigration operations in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP / RINGO CHIU Yes. These kinds of weapons used to be called "non-lethal incapacitating weapons" by the United Nations (UN) back in the 1990s. But it doesn't use the term "non-lethal" anymore, instead opting for the phrasing "less lethal". "This term is rarely used today … because it is accepted that such weapons are not non-lethal in practice - they can, and do, kill," the UN Office of Drugs and Crime says. - ABC
RNZ News
10 hours ago
- RNZ News
Trump's border czar defends decision to deploy hundreds of Marines to quell LA protests
By Donald Judd , CNN White House border czar Tom Homan. Photo: AFP/ANDREW HARNIK President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan argued on Monday that it was necessary to deploy hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles to quell immigration protests that are happening in the city - despite local officials saying it's unclear why they are there or what they are doing. "Yes, it all depends on the activities of these protesters - I mean, they make the decisions. I keep hearing reports that they're rioting because President Trump sent National Guard here, it's just ridiculous," Homan told CNN's Kaitlan Collins. "We don't know what's going to happen tonight - it seems like at night, the crowds get bigger, the violence peaks. So, we want to be ahead of the game. We'll be well prepared for the military here to protect government property and protect officers' lives," he said. Homan declined to say what standard the Trump administration was using to decide if mobilising the Marines would be necessary. "They're not reinforcing immigration law - we're doing that, we're immigration officers," Homan said. "Their job is protection of property and protection of our agents and their lives and their wellbeing, along with the public's wellbeing." Over the weekend, Trump became the first president in decades to call in the National Guard without a request from a governor - doing so without invoking the Insurrection Act, the 1807 law that allows the president to deploy American soldiers to police US streets in extreme circumstances. Trump ordered the Department of Defence to deploy an additional 2,000 California National Guard members to the Los Angeles area on Monday evening, according to the Pentagon. Protesters kneel in the street facing a row of police in riot gear during a protest in response to federal immigration operations in the Little Tokyo neighbourhood of downtown Los Angeles, on June 9, 2025. Photo: AFP/FREDERIC J. BROWN On Monday, the administration mobilised more than 700 Marines based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Centre in California to respond to the protests in Los Angeles. Homan said there were conversations "every day" within the administration about deploying military domestically, but he said he had not been personally involved in conversations about invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow for the use active-duty military to quell protests. "No - again, I'm here running a Title 8 immigration operation, I was - I'm not involved in discussions, but I do know every day a conversation happens with the leadership of DOJ, DHS and DOD on a decision going forward," he said. "I think decisions on deployment of the National Guard and any other deployment of DOD is a decision being made by the White House, along with the Department of Justice, DOD - I know those calls are happening every day." But pressed if Americans should expect to see military deployed to other US cities where protests against ICE operations pop up, the border czar said, "I hope not." "I hope it's not the new normal - I hope people go out there and protest peacefully, but to attack law enforcement officers who are simply enforcing the laws that Congress enacted," he said. "So, if you want to hate, you want to protest, go to Congress and protest them. ICE is just doing their job." Homan also acknowledged that Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom has not done anything to warrant arrest after Trump said if he were Homan, he would have him arrested. "Governor Newsom has not done anything to warrant an arrest in your view right now, correct?" Collins asked. "Not at this time - absolutely not," he said. Homan told CNN that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would continue operations in Los Angeles - and across the country - to enforce immigration law. "They'll continue every day, not only in California, Los Angeles, they're gonna continue every city across the country - we have teams throughout the country that are out there looking for those in the country," Homan said. "We're in every city and country, and ICE is going to be out every single day and will continue to be there regardless what's happening in LA." - CNN
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- RNZ News
LA demonstrations roll on as political tensions ramp up
Street demonstrations in Los Angeles are rolling on as political tensions ramp up. The city's mayor has said LA is being used as a 'test case' for the federal government to take over from local and state authorities. Now more troops are on their way. About 700 marines have been mobilised and the Pentagon has said the US President is deploying another two thousand National Guard Troops to the area after the initial order this weekend. LA correspondent Toni Waterman spoke to Lisa Owen. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
