Tensions flare as National Guard arrives in Los Angeles to quell immigration protests

LOS ANGELES >> California National Guard troops were deployed to the streets of Los Angeles on Sunday to help quell a third day of protests over President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement, a step the state’s Democratic governor called unlawful.

Police were making more arrests after at least 10 on Sunday and 29 the previous night, Los Angeles police officers told a news briefing.

National Guard troops guarded federal government buildings, as police and protesters clashed in separate demonstrations over federal immigration raids in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles police declared several rallies to be “unlawful assemblies,” accusing some protesters of throwing concrete projectiles, bottles and other items at police.

Video images showed several self-driving cars from Alphabet’s Waymo were set ablaze on a downtown street on Sunday evening.

Los Angeles police officers on horseback attempted to control the crowds.

Demonstrators shouted “Shame on you!” at police and some appeared to throw objects, video images showed. One group blocked the 101 Freeway, a major downtown thoroughfare.

Groups of protesters, many carrying Mexican flags and signs denouncing U.S. immigration authorities, gathered in spots around the city.

The Los Angeles branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation organized speakers outside City Hall for an afternoon rally.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he requested the Trump administration to withdraw its order to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles county, calling it unlawful.

In an interview with MSNBC, Newsom said he planned to sue the administration over the deployment, adding that Trump “has created the conditions” around the protests.

Newsom accused Trump of trying to manufacture a crisis and violating California’s state sovereignty. “These are the acts of a dictator, not a president,” he wrote in a post on X.

However, Police Chief Jim McDonnell told a media briefing on Sunday night that the protests were getting out of control.

Asked if the National Guard was needed, McDonnell said police would not “go to that right away,” but added, “Looking at the violence tonight, I think we’ve got to make a reassessment.”

In a social media post, Trump called on McDonnell to do so.

“He should, right now!!!” Trump added. “Don’t let these thugs get away with this. Make America great again!!!”

The White House disputed Newsom’s characterization, saying in a statement, “Everyone saw the chaos, violence and lawlessness.”

Earlier, about a dozen National Guard, along with Department of Homeland Security personnel, pushed back a group of demonstrators outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, video showed.

U.S. Northern Command said 300 members of the California National Guard had been deployed to three spots in the Los Angeles area. Their mission was limited to protecting federal personnel and property.

In a social media post on Sunday, Trump called the demonstrators “violent, insurrectionist mobs” and said he was directing his cabinet officers “to take all such action necessary” to stop what he called “riots.”

Speaking to reporters in New Jersey, he threatened violence against demonstrators who spit on police or National Guard troops, saying, “They spit, we hit.”

He did not cite any specific incidents.

“If we see danger to our country and to our citizens, it will be very, very strong in terms of law and order,” Trump said.

The FBI offered a $50,000-reward for information on a suspect accused of throwing rocks at police vehicles in Paramount, injuring a federal officer.

Despite Trump’s rhetoric about the demonstrations, he has not invoked the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that empowers a president to deploy the U.S. military to suppress events like civil disorder.

Asked on Sunday whether he was considering doing so, he said, “It depends on whether or not there’s an insurrection.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that the Pentagon was prepared to mobilize active-duty troops “if violence continues” in Los Angeles, saying the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were on “high alert.”

U.S. Northern Command said about 500 Marines were prepared to deploy if ordered.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed the Trump administration for inciting tension by sending in the National Guard, but also condemned protesters who became violent.

“I don’t want people to fall into the chaos that I believe is being created by the administration completely unnecessarily,” Bass told a news conference.

Vanessa Cárdenas, the head of the immigration advocacy group America’s Voice, accused the Trump administration of “trumping up an excuse to abuse power, and deliberately stoke and force confrontations around immigration.”

On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the National Guard would provide safety around buildings to people engaged in peaceful protest and to law enforcement.

Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the U.S.-Mexico border, setting ICE a goal of arresting at least 3,000 migrants a day.

Census data suggests a significant part of the population in Democratic-run Los Angeles is Hispanic and foreign-born.

But the sweeping enforcement measures have also included legally residents, some with permanent residence, spurring legal challenges.

On Sunday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum criticized the U.S. government over the immigration raids and National guard deployment.

“We do not agree with this way of addressing the immigration issue,” Sheinbaum, who has sought to cultivate a positive relationship with Trump, said at a public event.

“The phenomenon will not be addressed with raids or violence. It will be by sitting down and working on comprehensive reform.”

Trump’s justification for the National Guard deployment cited a provision of Title 10 of the U.S. Code on the Armed Forces. However, Title 10 also says the “orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States.”

It was not immediately clear if the president had the legal authority to deploy the National Guard without Newsom’s order.

Title 10 allows for National Guard deployment by the federal government if there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States.”

Those troops are only allowed to engage in limited activities and cannot undertake ordinary law enforcement activities.

Trump’s memo says the troops will “temporarily protect ICE and other United States government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property, at locations where protests against these functions are occurring, or are likely to occur.”