logo
National Guard arrives in LA on Trump's orders to quell immigration protests

National Guard arrives in LA on Trump's orders to quell immigration protests

National Guard troops began arriving in Los Angeles on Sunday on orders from US president Donald Trump, in response to clashes in recent days between federal immigration authorities and protesters seeking to block them from carrying out deportations.
Members of California's National Guard were seen mobilising at the federal complex in central Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Centre, one of several sites that have seen confrontations involving hundreds of people in last two days.
The troops included members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a social media post from the Department of Defence that showed dozens of National Guard members with long guns and an armoured vehicle.
Mr Trump has said he is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests, which he called "a form of rebellion".
The deployment was limited to a small area in central Los Angeles. The protests have been relatively small and limited to that area. The rest of the city of four million people is largely unaffected.
Their arrival follows clashes near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles.
As protesters sought to block Border Patrol vehicles, some hurling rocks and chunks of cement, federal agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls.
Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100.
A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.
On Sunday, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said the National Guard would "keep peace and allow people to be able to protest but also to keep law and order".
In a signal of the administration's aggressive approach, defence secretary Pete Hegseth also threatened to deploy active-duty marines "if violence continues" in the region.
The move came over the objections of governor Gavin Newsom, marking the first time in decades that a state's national guard was activated without a request from its governor, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice.
In a directive on Saturday, Mr Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is "a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States".
Mr Newsom, a Democrat, said Mr Trump's decision to call in the National Guard was "purposefully inflammatory".
He described Mr Hegseth's threat to deploy marines on American soil as "deranged behaviour".
In a statement on Sunday, assistant homeland security secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused California's politicians and protesters of "defending heinous illegal alien criminals at the expense of Americans' safety".
"Instead of rioting, they should be thanking Ice (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers every single day who wake up and make our communities safer," Ms McLaughlin added.
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders said the order by Mr Trump reflected "a president moving this country rapidly into authoritarianism" and "usurping the powers of the United States Congress".
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.
Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in central Los Angeles, including a detention centre, where police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Musk 'regrets' posts about Trump, saying they 'went too far'
Musk 'regrets' posts about Trump, saying they 'went too far'

RTÉ News​

time38 minutes ago

  • RTÉ News​

Musk 'regrets' posts about Trump, saying they 'went too far'

Billionaire Elon Musk has said he regrets some of the posts he made last week about US President Donald Trump as they went "too far". Mr Trump and Mr Musk began exchanging insults last week on social media, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO describing the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination." Mr Trump said on Saturday their relationship was over but has since said that he would not have a problem if Mr Musk called and wished him well. "I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far," Mr Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X. I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025 He did not say which specific posts he was talking about. Tesla shares in Frankfurt were up 2.44% after Mr Musk's post. Since the dispute began, Mr Musk has deleted some social media posts critical of Mr Trump, including one signaling support for impeaching the president. Sources close to Mr Musk had said his anger has started to subside, and that they believe he may want to repair his relationship with Mr Trump. Mr Musk's expression of regret came just days after Mr Trump threatened the tech billionaire with "serious consequences" if he sought to punish Republicans who vote for a controversial spending bill. Their blistering break-up was ignited by Mr Musk's harsh criticism of Mr Trump's so-called "big, beautiful" spending bill, which is currently before Congress. Some politicians who were against the bill had called on Mr Musk - one of the Republican Party's biggest financial backers in last year's presidential election - to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation. "He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," Mr Trump, who also branded Mr Musk "disrespectful," said on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be.

90-year-old Irish priest on streets of riot-torn LA to 'stand with' immigrants
90-year-old Irish priest on streets of riot-torn LA to 'stand with' immigrants

Irish Daily Mirror

time39 minutes ago

  • Irish Daily Mirror

90-year-old Irish priest on streets of riot-torn LA to 'stand with' immigrants

A 90-year-old Irish priest has told how he took to the streets during riots in Los Angeles to "stand with" immigrant families. Fr Peter O'Reilly, who has been based in California for decades, was one of several clergymen and women who demonstrated against an ICE crackdown on illegals ordered by US President Donald Trump. The retired cleric, who is originally from Co Longford, said ministers from various faiths had originally planned to have a prayer vigil on the steps of LA's City Hall. He told RTE: "The meeting had been cancelled because of the fear of violence so I felt maybe the thing to do was maybe just mingle with the people and wearing my Roman collar, I thought that would be the best thing to do. "To bear witness. To say, 'we stand with you'. "The mood was serious. It was animated. People were talking to each other. Maybe about 15 yards away were the group who set up the barriers, street barriers, which I found out were to be used to protect them from the rubber bullets fired by the police. "They were firing them. I was not near the front, maybe 15 to 20 yards away. "The police were firing them maybe as a warning, do not riot. I had a feeling too because of what the mayor of Los Angeles had said, that this was not an insurrection. "This is a manufactured thing from Washington, to create confusion and bring about violence rather than peace. "With the Irish experience of being discriminated against for many years and knowing the discrimination here in this country against the Irish. I felt there was something personal about where I was, some of these communities and knowing how many of them were marginalised because of the colour of their skin. "These were hardworking family-oriented people, that we needed to stand with them and let them know we were with them and for them."

Elon Musk says he ‘regrets' some posts he made about Donald Trump
Elon Musk says he ‘regrets' some posts he made about Donald Trump

Irish Times

timean hour ago

  • Irish Times

Elon Musk says he ‘regrets' some posts he made about Donald Trump

Billionaire Elon Musk has said he regrets some of the posts he made last week about US president Donald Trump , in a message on his social media platform X . 'I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far,' Mr Musk wrote. The two men began exchanging insults last week on social media, with the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive describing the US president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a 'disgusting abomination.' Mr Musk called for Mr Trump to be impeached, suggested his trade tariffs would cause a US recession, threatened to decommission SpaceX capsules used to transport Nasa astronauts and insinuated the president was associated with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. READ MORE Mr Musk's post comes days after Mr Trump said his relationship with the world's richest man was over. I regret some of my posts about President — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store