Freeways blocked, cars on fire: LA protests against immigration raids and National Guard deployment

CNN

4 hours ago

Update:
Date: 55 min ago
Title: Key sites where protests took place in Los Angeles
Content:
The anti-immigration enforcement protests in Los Angeles have been largely centered around three key areas this weekend.
Here's a reminder of the key locations:
Update:
Date: 2 hr 37 min ago
Title: From Rodney King to Black Lives Matter, LA has a rich history of protest. Here's a look back
Content:
The protests that rocked Los Angeles this weekend are just the latest in a long, rich history of public demonstrations in the second-biggest city in the US.
Here's a look back at some of the most well-known and consequential ones.
Update:
Date: 3 hr ago
Title: Australian reporter covering LA protests hit by rubber bullet
Content:
Lauren Tomasi, a US correspondent for CNN-affiliate Nine News in Australia, was hit by a rubber bullet fired by police during her live broadcast. Tomasi was left sore but otherwise unharmed, according to the network.
Update:
Date: 2 hr 11 min ago
Title: Police arrest about 60 people in San Francisco after protests on ICE's raids turn violent
Content:
Around 60 people, including people under the age of 18, were arrested Sunday in San Francisco after protests outside the Immigration Services building turned violent, authorities said.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside ICE's offices to rally against the agency's raids and deportations across California and the US, CNN affiliate KGO reported.
The demonstration, initially peaceful, escalated into a tense standoff with San Francisco police officers in riot gear.
'We've been watching what's going on in LA, and we're like, no,' Nancy Kato, one of the protesters, told KGO.
'The whole thing about going after immigrants and people who are undocumented, the most vulnerable of our populations that is so wrong.'
The protests began near Sansome and Washington streets — close to the city's Financial District — around 7:01 p.m., where San Francisco Police officers were monitoring the demonstration, the department said.
The gathering escalated as some protesters, according to police, vandalized property, committed assaults, and caused other damage. Authorities declared the event an 'unlawful assembly,' leading many to leave, though some stayed behind.
Two officers were injured, and one was taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The group eventually made its way to Market and Kearny streets, where protesters damaged buildings and an SFPD patrol car. A smaller group later gathered on Montgomery Street and refused to leave after being ordered to disperse. Police moved to detain people they say didn't comply. Police said it recovered one firearm at the scene.
'Individuals are always free to exercise their First Amendment rights in San Francisco,' the SFPD said in a statement. 'But violence — especially against SFPD officers — will never be tolerated.'
The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not released additional details.
Update:
Date: 3 hr 42 min ago
Title: Downtown businesses and residents requested to report "vandalism, damage or looting"
Content:
Police are urging businesses and residents in Downtown Los Angeles to report 'any vandalism, damage or looting,' hours after police said they were investigating possible looting in the city's Financial District.
On X, the LAPD said reporting the incidents will allow the department to officially document damage that occurs during the ongoing protests.
'Please photograph all vandalism and damage prior to clean up,' the LAPD wrote.
Update:
Date: 3 hr 28 min ago
Title: In pictures: Los Angeles erupts in protest
Content:
Authorities and demonstrators clashed again on Sunday as crowds protested the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and National Guard deployment.
Update:
Date: 3 hr 33 min ago
Title: British photographer hit by non-lethal round while documenting protests in Los Angeles
Content:
A British news photographer is recovering from emergency surgery after being struck by a non-lethal round while covering protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles, PA Media, the UK's national news agency, reported on Monday.
Nick Stern was documenting a standoff on Saturday between protesters and police outside a Home Depot in Paramount, a city in Los Angeles County known as a hiring site for day laborers, when a 14mm 'sponge bullet' tore into his thigh, the agency reported.
'My initial concern was, were they firing live rounds?' Stern told PA. 'Some of the protesters came and helped me, and they ended up carrying me, and I noticed that there was blood pouring down my leg.'
After receiving first aid from a medic who urged him to seek hospital care, Stern says he passed out from the pain. He is now recovering at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.
Stern, who emigrated to the United States in 2007, said he typically makes himself 'as visible as possible' while working in hostile environments. 'That way you're less likely to get hit because they know you're media.'
He says he sustained 'substantial' bruising after being struck by another round during the George Floyd protests in 2020.
'An outside organization like ICE coming in and removing — whatever you want to call it, removing, kidnapping, abducting people from the community — is not going to go down well at all,' he said.
'I intend, as soon as I am well enough, to get back out there,' he said. 'This is too important, and it needs documenting.'
Update:
Date: 3 hr 55 min ago
Title: It's shortly after midnight in LA. Here's what you need to know
Content:
It's just past midnight in Los Angeles after a long Sunday of clashes between protesters and law enforcement, which at times turned violent.
Video shot by CNN shows police walking down the street firing rubber bullets:
Many groups have dispersed, though some scattered demonstrators remain in the city, and police are still on the streets in large numbers.
Here's what you need to know:
Update:
Date: 4 hr 9 min ago
Title: 27 people arrested in LA protests
Content:
A total of 27 arrests were made in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, LAPD Police Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters at a nighttime news conference.
The alleged crimes include throwing a Molotov cocktail at an officer and ramming a motorbike into a police line, McDonnell said.
Seventeen of the arrests on Sunday were made by the California Highway Patrol while clearing protesters from the 101 Highway, while the LAPD made 10 arrests during scuffles downtown, the police chief said.
On Saturday, McDonnell said, 29 arrests were made for alleged failure to disperse.
'Our job is not to divide communities or to politicize law enforcement. Our job is simply to keep everyone safe,' McDonnell said.
The chief addressed the community's 'deep fear and anxiety' emerging from recent immigration enforcement, and assured the department is 'committed to transparency, accountability, and treating every Angeleno with respect, regardless of their immigration status.'
Update:
Date: 2 hr 32 min ago
Title: Labor activist says Pasadena community is rallying against ICE
Content:
Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, has condemned the presence of ICE agents in Pasadena, California, and called for peaceful protests to protect vulnerable immigrant communities.
'I happen to live in Pasadena, nearby the area that was impacted by the Eaton fires, and this morning, we were notified that there were ICE agents lodging at AC Hotel, a local hotel,' Alvarado told CNN's Rosemary Church on Sunday night.
'The community began coming to protest the presence of those ICE agents who had already questioned the workers who clean the rooms of the hotel.'
Alvarado described a groundswell of support from residents, saying people from 'all walks of life' stood with the workers to demand ICE agents leave the city.
'Our communities have witnessed families being torn apart — mothers, sons, daughters, grandfathers, children are being detained. ICE agents are going to Home Depot to pick people up.'
The protests, which drew large crowds, delivered a clear message, according to Alvarado. 'We don't want to see your armored vehicles, men in masks come into our communities to pick people up, to rip families apart. The message was loud and clear: This is the moment we need to protest peacefully.'
Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo condemned federal immigration actions, calling them 'un-American, immoral, and wrong,' vowing to protect immigrant communities from family separations. Gordo confirmed the presence of federal agents in the city but added that they were not there for enforcement purposes.
'That's part of the fear that's being instilled by the [Trump] administration,' Gordo told CNN's Brian Abel. 'It's wrong for people to live in fear … in their own homes, in their own communities.'
While Alvarado acknowledged the justified anger among protesters, he urged nonviolence.
'The anger is justifiable. The violence, in my view, is not,' he said. 'Every time that there is violence, the most vulnerable communities pay the price.
'We are asking people of good conscience — people who believe that immigrants are part of the social fabric (and economy) of our communities to come out … and protect those who are in vulnerable circumstances, peacefully.'
Update:
Date: 4 hr 20 min ago
Title: What is the National Guard, and when are they deployed?
Content:
President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles on Sunday – the first time a US chief executive has used such power since 1992, when the Los Angeles riots erupted after four White police officers were acquitted in the beating of Black motorist Rodney King.
What is the National Guard? It's part of the US military with a double line of command, answering to both state governors and the president. Its members are part of the primary combat reserve of the Army and the Air Force. Serving on a part-time basis, they can be deployed overseas for combat or support missions, but mostly operate in the US for domestic emergencies like natural disasters.
Every state and territory (plus Washington, D.C.) has a National Guard. Any state governor or the US president can call on the Guard at any moment - setting it apart from other military branches.
Previous state deployments: The National Guard has been mobilized by states for high-profile situations several times in recent years. During the pandemic, Guard members in some states helped to make face masks, field calls from concerned citizens, disinfect facilities and assembling testing kits. Following the January 7, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol, several states sent Guard members to Washington for additional security.
Federal deployments: It's rare for the president to federally deploy the National Guard the way Trump did, without the request from a governor. Abraham Lincoln had mobilized troops to fight the Confederacy and later support Reconstruction, but National Guard would not evolve into today's form until the 20th century. After Lincoln, no president deployed the Guard until 1957, when they were sent ensure public order during the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
They were also federally deployed in 1967 to restore public order during the Detroit riots; in 1968 following the assassination of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; and in 1970 during the New York postal strike, according to the National Guard.
Update:
Date: 4 hr 25 min ago
Title: CNN witnessed cars set on fire and protesters preparing to face off with police
Content:
CNN's Kyung Lah reports on self-driving cars being set on fire and vandalized during protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles.