Law vs. Lawlessness: Inside L.A.'s Explosive Weekend of Unrest
A weekend of escalating unrest in Los Angeles followed a series of federal immigration enforcement operations, with violent protests, National Guard deployments, and fierce backlash from California's top officials.
Here's a breakdown of what happened — and what it means moving forward.
On Friday, June 6, ICE agents executed search warrants at multiple locations across Los Angeles, including a clothing warehouse in the Fashion District.
The arrests were part of a broader immigration enforcement operation targeting criminal illegal aliens — including individuals with prior convictions for robbery, drug trafficking, gang activity, and crimes against children.
Protesters quickly mobilized outside a federal building in downtown L.A., where rumors circulated that detainees were being held in the basement.
Demonstrators attempted to block agents from leaving the scene. According to Homeland Security, rocks were thrown at federal vehicles and officers were attacked.
On June 7, violent demonstrations erupted in the cities of Paramount and Compton, with protesters surrounding ICE agents, vandalizing vehicles, and setting at least one car on fire.
A news crew SUV was destroyed, and law enforcement was pelted with rocks and debris.
In response, President Donald Trump signed a invoking Title 10 authority, ordering 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles County for up to 60 days.
The decision bypassed Gov. Gavin Newsom, marking a rare federal move to override state authority.
Trump posted on Truth Social:
By Sunday, National Guard troops were already on the ground in Los Angeles, positioned at federal buildings to prevent further violence.
ICE confirmed that 118 individuals were arrested in total during the operations. Of those, 44 were arrested Friday, and at least five had ties to criminal organizations.
Eight U.S. citizens were arrested in Paramount for impeding immigration officers. Two juveniles were released, while others face federal charges.
Among those arrested: David Huerta, president of SEIU California, who allegedly blocked agents from serving a warrant. Gov. Newsom defended him, calling Huerta a 'patriot.'
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons criticized the delayed response from the LAPD:
'It took over two hours… despite being called multiple times.'
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the Trump administration is determined not to allow a repeat of the 2020 riots:
'We will continue to enforce the law. If you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted.'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Marines from Camp Pendleton are on standby if the violence continues.
Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a stern warning to demonstrators:
'This is not about immigration. This is about law and order — and no one is above the law.'
Gov. Newsom called the federal deployment a 'serious breach of state sovereignty' and demanded it be rescinded.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass promised support for immigrants, telling them the city was 'fighting for you.'
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell announced that his department would not participate in any 'mass deportations,' triggering backlash from Trump allies.
Former VP Kamala Harris and Rep. Maxine Waters condemned the federal actions, accusing Trump of using immigration enforcement for political gain.
ICE operations are expected to continue daily for the next 30 days in Los Angeles County, according to federal officials.
National Guard troops will remain deployed to protect federal property and assist DHS, not serve as local law enforcement.
The White House says the federal government will intervene as needed:
'We're not gonna let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden and his autopen,' Trump said Sunday.
What began as a lawful effort to remove criminal illegal aliens from the streets of Los Angeles quickly spiraled into violent unrest. Federal agents were attacked, police were slow to respond, and state leaders chose political grandstanding over public safety. Now, with National Guard troops deployed and daily ICE operations ongoing, the next few weeks will determine whether Los Angeles can restore order — or double down on chaos.
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Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys National Guard troops
Tensions in Los Angeles escalated on Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to US President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard. They blocked off a major road and set self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs to control the crowd. Many protesters dispersed as evening fell and police declared an unlawful assembly, a precursor to officers moving in and making arrests of people who do not leave. Some of those remaining threw objects at police from behind a makeshift barrier that spanned the width of a street and others hurled chunks of concrete, rocks, electric scooters and fireworks at California Highway Patrol officers and their vehicles parked on the closed southbound 101 freeway. Officers ran under an overpass to take cover. Sunday's protests in Los Angeles, a sprawling city of four million people, were centred in downtown several blocks. It was the third and most intense day of demonstrations against Mr Trump's immigration crackdown in the region, as the arrival of around 300 Guard troops spurred anger and fear among many residents. The Guard was deployed specifically to protect federal buildings, including the detention centre where protesters concentrated. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said officers were 'overwhelmed' by the remaining protesters. He said they included regular agitators who appear at demonstrations to cause trouble. Several dozen people were arrested throughout the weekend of protest. One was detained on Sunday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police, and another for ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers. Let's get this straight: 1) Local law enforcement didn't need help. 2) Trump sent troops anyway — to manufacture chaos and violence. 3) Trump succeeded. 4) Now things are destabilized and we need to send in more law enforcement just to clean up Trump's mess. — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 9, 2025 Mr Trump responded to Mr McDonnell on Truth Social, telling him to arrest protesters in face masks. 'Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!' he wrote. Starting in the morning, the troops stood shoulder to shoulder, carrying long guns and riot shields as protesters shouted 'shame' and 'go home'. After some closely approached the guard members, another set of uniformed officers advanced on the group, shooting smoke-filled canisters into the street. Minutes later, the Los Angeles Police Department fired rounds of crowd-control munitions to disperse the protesters, who they said were assembled unlawfully. Much of the group then moved to block traffic on the 101 freeway until state patrol officers cleared them from the roadway by late afternoon. Nearby, at least four self-driving Waymo cars were set on fire, sending large plumes of black smoke into the sky and exploding intermittently as the electric vehicles burned. By evening, police had issued an unlawful assembly order shutting down several blocks of downtown Los Angeles. Flash bangs echoed out every few seconds into the evening. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom requested that Mr Trump remove the guard members in a letter on Sunday afternoon, calling their deployment a 'serious breach of state sovereignty'. He was in Los Angeles meeting local law enforcement and officials. The deployment appeared to be the first time in decades that a state's national guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to hinder the administration's mass deportation efforts. Mr Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed the increasingly aggressive protests on Mr Trump's decision to deploy the Guard, calling it a move designed to inflame tensions. They have both urged protesters to remain peaceful. 'What we're seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration,' she said in an afternoon press conference. 'This is about another agenda, this isn't about public safety.' But Mr McDonnell, the LAPD chief, said the protests were following a similar pattern for episodes of civil unrest, with things ramping up in the second and third days. He pushed back against claims by the Trump administration that the LAPD had failed to help federal authorities when protests broke out on Friday after a series of immigration raids. His department responded as quickly as it could, and had not been notified in advance of the raids and therefore was not pre-positioned for protests, he said. Mr Newsom, meanwhile, has repeatedly said that California authorities had the situation under control. He mocked Mr Trump for posting a congratulatory message to the Guard on social media before troops had even arrived in Los Angeles, and said on MSNBC that Mr Trump never floated deploying the Guard during a Friday phone call. He called Mr Trump a 'stone cold liar'. The admonishments did not deter the administration. 'It's a bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved,' White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests that began Friday in Los Angeles before spreading on Saturday to Paramount, a heavily Latino city south of the city, and neighbouring Compton. Federal agents arrested immigrants in LA's fashion district, in a Home Depot parking lot and at several other locations on Friday. The next day, they were staging at a Department of Homeland Security office near another Home Depot in Paramount, which drew out protesters who suspected another raid. Federal authorities later said there was no enforcement activity at that Home Depot. The weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the LA area climbed above 100, federal authorities said. Many more were arrested while protesting, including a prominent union leader who was accused of impeding law enforcement. The protests did not reach the size of past demonstrations that brought the National Guard to Los Angeles, including the Watts and Rodney King riots, and the 2020 protests against police violence, in which Mr Newsom requested the assistance of federal troops. The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor's permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, 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'. He said he had authorised the deployment of 2,000 members of the National Guard. Mr Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, Sunday that there were 'violent people' in Los Angeles 'and they're not going to get away with it'. Asked if he planned to send US troops to Los Angeles, Mr Trump replied: 'We're going to have troops everywhere. We're not going to let this happen to our country.' He did not elaborate. About 500 marines stationed at Twentynine Palms, about 125 miles (200 kilometres) east of Los Angeles were in a 'prepared to deploy status' on Sunday afternoon, according to the US Northern Command.
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31 minutes ago
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Some L.A. Protesters Are Marching for Neighbors and Family Members
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