Tensions in Los Angeles escalated Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Trump's extraordinary deployment of the National Guard, blocking off a major freeway and setting autonomous vehicles on fire as local law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bangs to control the crowd, the AP reports. Some police patrolled the streets on horseback while others with riot gear lined up behind Guard troops deployed to protect federal facilities including a detention center where some immigrants were taken in recent days. The clashes came on the third day of demonstrations against Trump's immigration crackdown in the region, as the arrival of around 300 federal troops spurred anger and fear among some residents.
By midday, hundreds had gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where people were detained after earlier immigration raids. Protesters directed chants of "shame" and "go home" at members of the National Guard, who stood shoulder to shoulder, carrying long guns and riot shields. After some protesters 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 California Highway Patrol officers cleared them from the roadway by late afternoon.
- The presence of the Guard was "inflaming tensions" in the city, according to a letter sent to Trump by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday afternoon. He has requested Trump remove the guard members, which he called a "serious breach of state sovereignty."
- "What we're seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration," said LA Mayor Karen Bass in an afternoon press conference. "This is about another agenda, this isn't about public safety."
(Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also threatened to send in the Marines,
an idea Newsom called "deranged.")
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