For a fourth straight day, thousands of protesters amassed in downtown Los Angeles Monday in opposition to federal immigration raids in the area, while hundreds of U.S. Marines were deployed to the city to assist National Guard troops protecting federal facilities.
Protesters began gathering downtown late Monday morning, initially with a small group in an intersection near the federal Metropolitan Detention Center at Temple and Alameda streets. The crowd grew steadily through the morning, while others gathered in front of the federal building on Los Angeles Street south of Aliso Street.
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The federal building houses the offices of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement.
Around midday Monday, hundreds of union members attended a large rally in support of arrested union leader David Huerta, president of SEIU California, who was detained Friday and appeared in federal court Monday afternoon, facing an obstruction charge. Huerta was released from custody on bail after that appearance.
After rallying at Gloria Molina Grand Park, the union protesters marched several blocks away, with many joining the group outside the federal building and others marching to Olvera Street.
At the federal building, the protesters were kept at bay by a line of National Guard troops positioned to ensure protesters remained outside the building.
Law enforcement officers maintained a major presence in the Civic Center area, in some cases preventing protesters from marching along certain streets and setting up skirmish lines to block access to freeway on-ramps.
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.
Early Monday evening, police declared the gathering outside the federal building an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse. Officers in a skirmish line then pushed the crowd south on Los Angeles Street, effectively clearing the street between Aliso and Temple streets. As the skirmish line pushed the crowd, some protesters hurled rocks and water bottles toward officers, and police fired what appeared to be flash-bang devices to keep the group moving.
The overall size of the protest seemed to have diminished, but a significant number of people remained in the area near Los Angeles and Temple streets.
A short time later, officers again began moving the group south on Los Angeles Street, farther from the complex of federal buildings. Once the group moved south of LAPD headquarters at First Street, many people took off running south and scattering onto side streets.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said at an early evening news conference that "not a lot of people" had been arrested, but he said additional arrests are likely as police identify people committing crimes under the guise of protest.
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 be deployed in the area to "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.
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.
Protests have 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."
Newsom also condemned the move, saying Marines "shouldn't be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president. This is un-American."
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, meanwhile, said his agency had been given no formal notice about Marines being deployed to the city, and he said without better coordination, their arrival could present "a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city."
Monday began with a heightened police presence around the Civic Center area downtown, with officers standing guard over businesses with shattered glass windows, looted shelves and copious amounts of graffiti -- the results of the Sunday night protests.
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 Sunday 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 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.
The evening devolved from there, with protesters fanning out across much of the Civic Center area, heavily damaging multiple CHP vehicles parked on the 101 Freeway, and setting fire to five driver-less Waymo taxis that were summoned to Los Angeles Street.
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."
On Sunday night, 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 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."
Newsom said Monday evening that he had been informed that Trump was deploying an additional National Guard troops to the city, on top of the 2,000 already ordered -- even though only about 300 had actually been deployed as of Monday. Newsom also said the original group of troops were deployed without any federal funding for food, housing or water. Some troops were photographed sleeping on a floor presumably inside the federal complex downtown.
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, 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."
Newsom 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."
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!"
Corrin Rankin, chair of the California Republican Party, said the unrest is Los Angeles was akin to "organized crime."
"Hundreds were not arrested or charged while lives and property were threatened," Rankin said in a statement. "This is the direct result of Democratic politicians who weaken our laws, undermine law enforcement and encourage lawlessness. The American people voted to remove criminal illegal immigrants from our country. The president must be allowed to enforce the law. It is tragic that Democrats gave illegal immigrants false home that they could stay regardless of their crimes."
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