For a fourth day, thousands of protesters amassed in downtown Los Angeles Monday in opposition to federal immigration raids carried out across the area, while hundreds of U.S. Marines were deployed to the city to assist National Guard troops protecting federal facilities, and hundreds more law enforcement officers were summoned to help quell any potential violence.
U.S. Northern Command confirmed Monday that about 700 Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division in Twentynine Palms east of Los Angeles “will seamlessly integrate” with federalized National Guard troops that arrived Sunday to help protect federal facilities and personnel.
The Marine deployment will ensure there are “adequate numbers of forces to provide continuous coverage of the area in support of the lead federal agency,” according to U.S. Northern Command.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, announced that hundreds of state and regional law enforcement officers were being shifted into the area to support the Los Angeles Police Department and county Sheriff’s Department to quell potential unruly protests.
According to Newsom’s office, nearly 400 California Highway Patrol officers will be deployed in Los Angeles in support of the LAPD. The CHP also issued a tactical alert, moving more than 250 other officers additional officers into the area to assist with road and highway safety.
Another 240 officers will also be moving into the area from sheriff’s departments in San Bernardino, Orange, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and from police departments within Los Angeles County.
The news came as hundreds of protesters gathered Monday afternoon outside the complex of federal buildings downtown on Aliso, Los Angeles and Alameda streets. Hundreds more made their way toward Olvera Street just north of downtown.
Law enforcement officers were maintaining a major presence, in some cases preventing protesters from marching along certain streets and setting up skirmish lines to block access to freeway on-ramps.
Despite the large number of people, there were no immediate reports of any clashes between protesters and law enforcement. The LAPD again declared a tactical alert, allowing it to keep officers on duty beyond their normal shifts if needed to respond to growing protests.
Earlier Monday, hundreds of union members attended a large rally in support of arrested union leader David Huerta, president SEIU California, who was detained Friday and appeared in federal court Monday afternoon, facing an obstruction charge. Huerta was released from custody after that appearance.
After rallying at Grand Park, the union protesters marched several blocks away, joining one of the various protests near the federal building or Olvera Street.
Concerns also escalated Monday morning in Huntington Park, where immigration officials were spotted near a Home Depot store. It was unclear if anyone was actually detained.
Protests raged in the Los Angeles area the past three nights, sparked by a series of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the area on Friday. Tensions appeared to heighten significantly over the weekend when President Donald Trump federalized as many as 2,000 California National Guard troops to deploy them to Los Angeles to protect federal facilities.
It was unclear when the hundreds of Marines activated Monday might actually arrive in the area.
Rep. Mike Levin, D-Los Angeles, issued a statement calling the Marine deployment “an astounding overreach of authoritarian power.”
Monday began with a heightened police presence around the Civic Center area downtown, standing guard over businesses with shattered glass windows, looted shelves and copious amounts of graffiti.
According to the LAPD, 29 people were arrested during Saturday night’s protests for failure to disperse. On Sunday, the LAPD made 21 arrests for offenses including attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail, assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, looting and failure to disperse.
Police noted that officers were authorized to fire gas canisters to disperse protesters who were launching projectiles at officers near Spring and Temple streets. Officers also fired more than 600 rounds of less-than-lethal projectiles.
LAPD officials also said officers encountered groups of protesters who were using handheld radios to coordinate movements and “evade law enforcement.”
Five LAPD officers sustained minor injuries during the unrest, and five LAPD horses also suffered minor injuries.
The California Highway Patrol also made additional arrests.
National Guard troops arrived in downtown Los Angeles at 4 a.m. Sunday after Trump ordered their deployment to protect federal facilities, over the strenuous objection of local Democrats, led by Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said the deployment would escalate tensions.
By early Sunday afternoon, National Guard troops were facing off with angry protesters as they tried to protect the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and the neighboring Metropolitan Detention Center.
At about 6 p.m. Sunday, with protests escalating around the downtown area, the Los Angeles Police Department requested mutual aid from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which sent more than 100 deputies to support the LAPD and the California Highway Patrol as they tried to quell increasingly violent protests.
Sheriff Robert G. Luna then requested mutual assistance from law enforcement agencies inside and outside of the county, and the department coordinated with the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to deploy additional resources in hopes of quelling the violence.
Around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, police shut down the Hollywood (101) Freeway for the second time that day due to protesters on an overpass throwing rocks, debris and firecrackers at California Highway Patrol officers and vehicles in southbound lanes, causing severe damage to the vehicles.
The LAPD went on Tactical Alert, declared an unlawful assembly in the area of Alameda Street between Second and Aliso streets and battled with more than 1,000 demonstrators who marched from Boyle Heights to the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building.
Troops on horseback, ground and air resources were deployed with less-lethal munitions to combat the protesters.
On Sunday evening, police declared an unlawful assembly for the entire Civic Center area of downtown, and closing traffic on Spring Street between Temple and First streets, where demonstrators used chairs from Grand Park and other items to blockade the street. Less-lethal munitions were authorized and were used.
Around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, protesters used pink chairs, possibly from nearby Grand Park in an attempt to establish barricades in multiple locations, including Spring and Temple streets, outside City Hall and LAPD Headquarters.
Meanwhile, black smoke emanated from about a half-dozen Waymo driverless cars that were summoned to Los Angeles Street only to be destroyed and set on fire. Authorities allowed the vehicles to burn themselves out rather than send in firefighters to extinguish them.
“Burning lithium-ion batteries release toxic gases, including hydrogen fluoride, posing risks to responders and those nearby,” officials stated.
Video also showed multiple LAPD vehicles vandalized.
“These images are unacceptable … these kids on the car, folks that are taking advantage of this, these aren’t peaceful protesters, a lot of these folks. A lot of great people out there doing the right thing, but then you get these insurgents groups coming in, sort of these anarchists that are there to create real problems, and they’re just playing right into Donald Trump’s hands,” Newsom told NBC’s Jacob Soboroff. “They need to be called out. They need to be arrested. It is wrong to destroy other people’s property and it is wrong to create the conditions that only exacerbate this. But Donald Trump, at the end of the day, is the sponsor of these conditions.”
By 7 p.m. Sunday, the car fires were extinguished by the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Around 9 p.m. Sunday, the LAPD declared the entirety of downtown an unlawful assembly, telling all demonstrators to leave immediately. Police said demonstrators marched to the LA Live area and slowed traffic on Figueroa near 11th Street by walking through the center of the roadway. A single police cruiser was struck by a bicycle thrown by a pedestrian in the area. A second police vehicle was pelted with items after showing up to assist.
On Sunday night, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell echoed Newsom’s comments about “anarchist” agitators taking advantage of legitimate civil rights protests to cause damage and inflame violence. McDonnell stated the LAPD was overwhelmed Sunday night by the number of protesters, with attacks on officers that included Molotov cocktails, hammers and stones.
“We recognize that immigration enforcement operations can cause a deep fear and anxiety, particularly in immigrant communities. That’s why we’re committed to transparency, accountability and treating every Angeleno with respect, regardless of their immigration status. … Our job is to keep everyone safe,” McDonnell said. “We will continue to support peaceful protests and enforce the law on criminal action.”
“The LAPD supports and protects the First Amendment right to free speech. We’re committed to treating every Angeleno with respect, regardless of their immigration status. … Our job is to keep everyone safe,” he said.
“I’ve seen civil unrest before, and generally, the second and third days are more violent,” McDonnell said, adding that he had spoken with Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who said he would be filing charges where appropriate … “and won’t be shy about that.”
The Presidential Memorandum posted Saturday on the White House website ordered the deployment of the Guard in light of “numerous incidents of violence and disorder (which) … threaten to continue in response to the enforcement of Federal law by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions and supporting the faithful execution of Federal immigration laws.”
The order states, in part that “The members and units of the National Guard called into Federal service shall be at least 2,000 National Guard personnel and the duration of duty shall be for 60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense.”
The chaos began with a series of immigration enforcement raids Friday that sparked demonstrations featuring dozens of arrests and profane and threatening graffiti left on government buildings, and continued Saturday with violent protests in Paramount during the day and in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday evening.
Despite the unruly crowds, Mayor Karen Bass said federal reinforcements were not needed, and she laid blame at the feet of the Trump administration, saying the violence escalated with the deployment of National Guard troops.
“I’m very disappointed that he chose to do this, because it’s just not necessary,” Bass said Sunday. “There (were) protests last night in Los Angeles — my understanding is that there were about 120 protesters. Several of them did commit acts of vandalism, but there was nothing that was happening in downtown Los Angeles that the Los Angeles Police Department could not manage to deal with, so to me, this is completely unnecessary, I think it’s the administration just posturing. To have 100 troops in Westwood, where nothing had happened at all, and 100 downtown is just overreach.”
Newsom, who typically only deploys the California National Guard upon request from local law enforcement, accused Trump of trying to create a “spectacle” rather than acting on a “legitimate need.”
The governor later said he had “formally requested the Trump administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command. We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed.”
“Rescind the order. Return control to California,” he said.
The state filed a lawsuit against the federal government Monday challenging the legality of the National Guard deployment.
Trump addressed the situation in a social media post Sunday.
“A once great American city, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Now violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our federal agents to try and stop our deportation operations. But these lawless riots only strengthen our resolve.
“Order will be restored, the illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”