What started the LA protests? Immigration raids sparked outrage

Yahoo

a day ago

The protests in Los Angeles County began as a reaction to a handful of immigration raids, including one outside a Home Depot and another at a clothing manufacturer in the city's garment district.
The raids and subsequent outrage came as the Trump administration stepped up its detention and deportation of immigrants including at workplaces, traffic stops and routine legal check-ins.
Protests against these moves have increased, too. While most have remained peaceful, the Department of Homeland Security reported a more than 400% surge in assaults on agents.
After small protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles on June 6, Trump took several swift actions, calling in the 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines, drawing ire – and at least one lawsuit – from California officials who accuse the president of stoking tension and escalating unrest.
Live updates LA police make 'mass arrests' after downtown curfew kicks in
Trump has stood by his actions, saying the deployments were necessary to contain what he described as "violent, instigated riots." About 150 people have been arrested at the protests, which have included flareups of unruly clashes, vandalism and looting, but have remained limited to a few blocks in the city's downtown area.
As authorities brace for another day of protests and Los Angelenos ready themselves for the increased military presence, here's what to know about how the protests began.
On Friday, June 6, the protests began as a reaction to immigration raids that took place in several parts of the city, including outside a Home Depot and a clothing manufacturer in the city's garment district.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said local immigrant rights groups had confirmed at least five ICE raids in the Los Angeles region. The mayor said officials were still working to compile more information on the raids but noted that in some cases, ICE targeted day laborers and detained people who appeared for scheduled immigration appointments.
"As you know, ICE does not tell anybody where they're going to go or when they're going to be there," Bass said.
Relatives of detainees and other community members showed up to the ICE operations, taking videos and photos of the agents and beginning to protest. Some sought to interfere with the raids, blocking vehicles carrying people suspected of being in the country illegally.
At one of the raids, federal agents arrested David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union was arrested and accused of interfering with federal agents. The union said Huerta was exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity. He was released June 9 on $50,000 bail.
By the evening, demonstrators began to gather at the immigration services building and detention center in downtown Los Angeles. Police at 7 p.m. declared it an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse. Soon, dozens of police officers arrived in riot gear.
Some people rocks and chunks of concrete at officers, and law enforcement eventually used pepper spray, tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd.
Demonstrations stretched into Saturday, June 7, with protesters clashing with law enforcement in Paramount, a city about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, where rumors spread about a potential raid at a Home Depot.
Tensions flared, with some people in the crowd throwing objects and aiming fireworks at law enforcement, who threw tear gas and fired flash-bang rounds. Another protest broke out in the nearby city of Compton, where a car was lit aflame.
Around 6 p.m. Trump signed a memo directing the Secretary of Defense to mobilize the California National Guard. Newsom shot back, saying law enforcement could handle the protests and did not need troops on the ground.
The protests, which were concentrated over a few blocks in downtown Los Angeles, continued into Sunday, June 8. Flare ups led demonstrators to block traffic on the 101 Freeway and set several electric vehicles on fire. That night, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said he believed most protesters were nonviolent and blamed the violence on people "who come in from other places just to hurt people and case havoc."
More arrests took place at demonstrations on Monday, June 9, as Trump made the decision to double the National Guard presence and send in hundreds of Marines.
Authorities have begun to clean up graffiti downtown and are preparing for the possibility of more protests this week.
Contributing: Elizabeth Weise and Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What started the LA protests? A look at ICE raids that sparked outrage