Los Angeles police order immigration protesters in downtown to go home
LOS ANGELES: Police declared all of downtown Los Angeles to be an unlawful assembly area and ordered protesters to go home on Sunday night after a third day of violence hit demonstrations againstPresident Donald Trump's immigration policy.
National Guard troops - deployed by Trump at the weekend to help quell the protests in a move that California Governor Gavin Newsom called unlawful - guarded federal government buildings on Sunday.
The unrest in Los Angeles has become a major flashpoint in Trump's signature effort to clamp down on illegal immigration.
The Republican president has pledged to deport record numbers of people who are in the country illegally and to lock down the U.S.-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 Trump of inflaming initially small-scale protests by mounting a federal response. He calls the protesters insurrectionists.
Several self-driving cars from Alphabet's GOOGL.O Waymo were set ablaze on a downtown street on Sunday 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 on Sunday evening 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.
Police said they had arrested 10 people on Sunday 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.
Newsom said in an interview with MSNBC he planned to sue the administration over the deployment, adding that 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, the police 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, Trump called on McDonnell to do so.
"He should, right now!!!" Trump added. "Don't let these thugs get away with this. Make America great again!!!"
The White House disputed Newsom's characterization, saying in a statement, "Everyone saw the chaos, violence and lawlessness."
Earlier on Sunday, 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.
The US Northern Command said 300 members of the California National Guard had been deployed to three spots in the Los Angeles area.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS program "Face the Nation" that the National Guard would provide safety around buildings to people engaged in peaceful protest and to law enforcement.
In a social media post on Sunday, Trump called the demonstrators "violent, insurrectionist mobs" and said he was directing his cabinet officers "to take all such action necessary" to stop what he called riots.
Despite Trump's language, he has not invoked the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that empowers a president to deploy the U.S. military to suppress events like civil disorder.
Asked on Sunday whether he was considering doing so, he said, "It depends on whether or not there's an insurrection."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Saturday the Pentagon is prepared to mobilize active-duty troops "if violence continues" in Los Angeles, saying Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were on high alert.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed the Trump administration for inciting tension by sending in the National Guard. She also condemned protesters who became violent.
"I don't want people to fall into the chaos that I believe is being created by the administration completely unnecessarily," she told a press conference.
Vanessa Cardenas, head of the immigration advocacy group America's Voice, accused the Trump administration of "trumping up an excuse to abuse power, and deliberately stoke and force confrontations around immigration." - Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
an hour ago
- Arab Times
US Embassy in Kuwait fully staffed
KUWAIT CITY, June 12: The US Embassy in Kuwait has announced that there has been no change in its staff and the embassy is operating at full capacity. This clarification comes after the US administration announced a reduction in the size of its diplomatic mission in Iraq. The Embassy's statement noted that President Donald Trump remains committed to the safety of American citizens and routinely reviews conditions at all US embassies. As a result of such assessments, the decision was made to downsize the mission in Iraq. Late Wednesday, Trump confirmed moving American personnel from the Middle East amidst report the Israeli occupation may launch a strike against Iran, as Washington and Tehran get ready for a 6th round of nuclear talks. US personnel 'are being moved out because it could be a very dangerous place,' Trump told reporters. 'We have given notice to move out and we will see what happens,' he said. The Israeli occupation and Iran exchanged military strikes last year amidst heightened tension in the region because of the Israeli occupation's genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza Strip, as well as attacks on Syria and Lebanon. An Iraqi government official confirmed Tuesday non-essential staffers of the US Embassy in Baghdad were evacuated as part of safety procedures related to the US presence not only in Iraq but in some countries of the Middle East region. The US Embassy in Kuwait affirmed Wednesday night that no changes have been made to its staffing levels and that it continued to operate normally. The United States is drawing down the presence of staffers who are not deemed essential to operations in the Middle East and their loved ones due to the potential for regional unrest, the State Department and military said. The State Department said it has ordered the departure of all nonessential personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad based on its latest review and a commitment 'to keeping Americans safe, both at home and abroad.' The embassy had already been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel. The department, however, also is authorizing the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait. That gives them the option of leaving those countries at government expense and with government assistance. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 'has authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations' across the region, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. The command 'is monitoring the developing tension in the Middle East.' Speaking at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump said, 'They are being moved out, because it could be a dangerous place, and we'll see what happens. We've given notice to move out, and we'll see what happens.' Tensions in the region have been rising in recent days as talks between the U.S. and Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program appear to have hit an impasse. The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions that the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. The next round of talks - the sixth - had been tentatively scheduled for this weekend in Oman, according to two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic matters. However, those officials said Wednesday that it looked increasingly unlikely that the talks would happen. Trump, who has previously said Israel or the U.S. could carry out airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations failed, gave a less-than-optimistic view about reaching a deal with Iran, telling the New York Post's 'Pod Force One' podcast that he was 'getting more and more less confident about' a deal. 'They seem to be delaying, and I think that's a shame. I'm less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them,' he said in the interview recorded Monday and released Wednesday. Iran's mission to the U.N. posted on social media that 'threats of overwhelming force won't change the facts.' 'Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon, and U.S. militarism only fuels instability,' the Iranian mission wrote. Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh separately told journalists Wednesday that he hoped talks with the U.S. would yield results, though Tehran stood ready to respond. 'If conflict is imposed on us, the opponent's casualties will certainly be more than ours, and in that case, America must leave the region, because all its bases are within our reach,' he said. 'We have access to them, and we will target all of them in the host countries without hesitation.' Meanwhile, the Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency was potentially set to vote on a measure to censure Iran. That could set in motion an effort to snap back United Nations sanctions on Iran via a measure in Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that's still active until October. Trump withdrew from that agreement in his first term. Earlier Wednesday, a statement from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, a Mideastbased effort overseen by the British navy, issued a warning to ships in the region that it 'has been made aware of increased tensions within the region which could lead to an escalation of military activity having a direct impact on mariners.' It urged caution in the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz. It did not name Iran, though those waterways have seen Iranian ship seizures and attacks in the past. The top U.S. military officer for the Middle East, Gen. Erik Kurilla, was scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, but that testimony has now been postponed, according to the committee's website. The Pentagon has not commented on the postponement. Meanwhile, Iraq's state-run Iraqi News Agency said in a statement attributed to an unnamed government official that the evacuation of some nonessential employees from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was part of 'procedures related to the U.S. diplomatic presence in a number of Middle Eastern countries, not just Iraq' and that Iraqi officials 'have not recorded any security indicators that warrant an evacuation.' 'We reiterate that all security indicators and briefings support the escalating assessments of stability and the restoration of internal security,' the statement said.
Arab Times
9 hours ago
- Arab Times
US GOP senators grill Pentagon chief on Ukraine conflict
OUSTON, June 12, (Xinhua) : In a rare public split within the Republican Party on foreign policy, Veteran GOP Senator Mitch McConnell slammed US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Wednesday over the Trump administration's approach to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. "It seems to me pretty obvious that America's reputation is on the line," McConnell said when opening a Senate budget hearing. He is the former Senate majority leader and now leads the Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee in the US Senate. "We don't want a headline at the end of this conflict that says Russia wins and America loses," McConnell told Hegseth during the hearing. When McConnell asked who was the aggressor, Hegseth replied, "Russia is the aggressor." But when asked which side he wants to win, Hegseth, arguing for an "America First" approach, only said that U.S. President Donald Trump is committed to peace."Vladimir Putin knows that President Trump is strong," Hegseth said. "He knows his word means something, and as a result, a negotiated peace in Ukraine makes America look strong, makes us look like we understand the state of the world." In comparison, McConnell said US allies are "wondering whether we're in the middle of brokering what appears to be allowing the Russians to define victory. I think victory is defined by the people who have to live there -- the Ukrainians." Veteran Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, also challenged Hegseth during the hearing. McConnell is one of three Republican senators who opposed Hegseth's confirmation in January. Enditem
Arab Times
10 hours ago
- Arab Times
Trump's travel ban fuels despair and disgust with politics among Arab Americans in Michigan
DEARBORN, Mich, June 12, (AP): The ban on travel from certain countries that took effect Monday - reminiscent of President Donald Trump's first-term restrictions that became known to many as the " Muslim ban ' - is once again souring relationships among Arab American voters in the key battleground state of Michigan, a group that Trump sought to make inroads with during the 2024 election. It came as a particular shock to many Yemeni Americans in the Dearborn area, who were surprised to find their country on Trump's new list banning travel to the US by citizens of 12 different countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East. "This is the reward to the community that defied everybody else?" asked Wali Altahif, a local activist who advocates for Yemeni and other immigrant communities. "That said, 'No, we're going to support you, we going to vote for you'?' The new proclamation, which Trump signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. While it may not elicit the same protests as 2017, many Yemeni and Arab Americans in the all important battleground state see it as yet another offense contributing to enormous dissatisfaction with both major political parties in the US. The aim of the new ban, the Trump administration said, is to "protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.' Altahif described it as "selective discrimination' and "collective punishment.' Michigan is home to one of the largest Arab American populations in the US, largely concentrated in the Detroit metropolitan area. The state was an epicenter of anger at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the administration's support of Israel's offensive in Gaza, which has resulted in a worsening humanitarian crisis and sparked a historic shift away from the Democratic Party.
