Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in downtown Los Angeles Monday, continuing protests for a second day against President Donald Trump's immigration policies as part of a coordinated series of actions dubbed "A Day Without Immigrants."
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Protests were expected to be held in a series of cities. Hundreds of people also gathered for a rally and march Monday morning near the federal courthouse in Santa Ana.
In Los Angeles, demonstrators initially assembled Monday morning on the steps of City Hall, close to the Hollywood (101) Freeway.
Around 11 a.m., protesters began marching along West First and North Spring streets. The group eventually made its way to the area near Crypto.com Arena, where they gathered at an intersection, waving flags and chanting. The group then made its way back north, joined by hundreds more participants and other people in vehicles who joined in the procession through downtown.
The protest appeared to be peaceful, with police allowing the group to move through city streets.
By early afternoon, about 1,000 protesters had swarmed the Spring and Main street overpasses of the 101 Freeway, with police on standby to prevent them from trying to walk onto the highway -- as many did on Sunday. With that police presence on the freeway ramps, there was no indication that the protesters had tried to access the freeway, but the participants lined the overpasses, waving flags and signs as traffic passed on the highway below.
After letting protesters express themselves nearly all day, police officially declared an unlawful assembly and formed skirmish lines to move protesters away from the overpasses of the Hollywood (101) Freeway.
A group of protesters took over an intersection along Alameda Street at Cesar Chavez, where a motorist performed a series of spinouts as the crowd cheered. That group then walked away from the intersection and no arrests were reported as police worked to keep the protesters north of the 101 Freeway.
The protests started Sunday morning on Olvera Street in what the Los Angeles Police Department described as a non-permitted demonstration. The crowd swelled to a few thousand as they marched to City Hall, with many eventually making their way onto the freeway near the Alameda Street exit.
Thousands of protesters blocked traffic on the freeway Sunday and clashed with law enforcement before dispersing in the evening. Footage from the scene showed boisterous protesters walking on both sides of the freeway shortly after noon, many waving U.S. and Mexico flags and holding signs criticizing ICE.
The LAPD, which had earlier called the demonstration peaceful, reported that Spring Street, Main Street, Los Angeles Street, Arcadia Street and the Santa Monica (101) Freeway were are under major gridlock by Sunday afternoon.
Downtown Los Angeles was already experiencing traffic delays in the area around Crypto.com Arena, where a number of streets were closed for Sunday's Grammy Awards.
Police briefly opened the freeway in both directions around midday, when the demonstration had moved back onto surface streets. However, protesters managed to get back on the freeway, leading to another shut down.
The California Highway Patrol stated, "Accessing state highways or roads to protest is unlawful and extremely dangerous because it puts protesters, motorists and first-responders at great risk of injury."
The freeway was fully opened on Sunday night.
Video posted later showed a few demonstrators spraying graffiti on the freeway walls and appearing to vandalize at least one car that was stopped in the middle of the crowd.
Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has acted on his campaign promise to increase deportations, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducting raids in major cities.
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