By Jack Phillips and Joseph Lord
Thousands of protesters have blocked off a major freeway in Los Angeles and set several self-driving taxis on fire as police try to control the crowd.
The protests and riots began on Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested dozens of illegal immigrants in the city as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation operation.
As darkness fell on Sunday night, the Los Angeles Police Department wrote on the social media platform X, “An UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY for the area of the Civic Center part of Los Angeles has been declared. Those with cell phones in the area of the Civic Center have received the alert.”
Police officers then tried to move in to disperse the crowd.
Rocks, fireworks, and electric scooters were hurled at California Highway Patrol officers from behind a makeshift barrier. Officers were forced to take cover in an overpass near the southbound 101 Freeway, which has been closed.
Dozens of people were arrested during the weekend, including a rioter who threw a Molotov cocktail at the police, and another individual who tried to ram a police line with a motorcycle.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said his officers had been overwhelmed.
He said the crowd included agitators who often show up at demonstrations just to cause trouble.
Trump wrote on the social platform Truth Social, “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!”
In another post, he wrote, “ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS, NOW!”
The National Guard has been deployed in Los Angeles, specifically to protect federal buildings, including the downtown detention center where protesters concentrated.
Earlier, U.S. Northern Command said about 500 Marines were on standby to deploy to Los Angeles.
In addition to approximately 300 National Guardsmen, NORTHCOM said in a press release, “approximately 500 Marines from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms, California, are in a prepared to deploy status should they be necessary to augment and support the DoD’s protection of federal property and personnel efforts.”
Under the Posse Comitatus Act, active duty military can only be deployed in specific circumstances. The Insurrection Act of 1807—which Trump has not yet committed to using—lists these exceptions, which include things like suppressing insurrections, enforcing federal authority, and protecting civil rights when state authorities fail to act.
The statement makes clear that no final decision has yet been made on whether or not to declare the ongoing riots in violation of the Insurrection Act.
Earlier on June 8, reporters asked Trump whether he would activate the legislation to restore order and enforce deportations by ICE in the city.
“It depends on whether or not there’s an insurrection,” Trump said.
Trump Calls on Officials to ‘Liberate LA’
Trump had said that he was directing top military officials and prosecutors to “liberate Los Angeles” amid ongoing riots related to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement raids targeting illegal immigration in the city.
“A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,” Trump said in a post on the social media platform 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.”
Earlier on Sunday, the third day of protests against the administration, members of the National Guard faced off with demonstrators, leading to tear gas being fired at a growing crowd near a federal complex in the city, according to video footage.
The confrontation broke out in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, as a group shouted insults at members of the guard lined shoulder to shoulder behind plastic riot shields.
As the sun set over the city, riots continued. Near downtown, at least four Waymo self-driving cars were set on fire; flashbang crowd control grenades were deployed throughout the evening.
Trump said he was directing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi “to take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots.”
“Order will be restored, the Illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free.”
Newsom Asks for Removal of National Guard
National Guard troops were also confirmed to be in Los Angeles after Trump ordered their deployment over the weekend, following days of protests and riots in the city.
The U.S. Northern Command confirmed in a post on social media platform X on Sunday morning that the California National Guard started deploying troops in the Los Angeles area and that some members “are already on the ground.”
“Additional information will be provided as units are identified and deployed,” the military added, including photos of National Guard troops and other assets.
In a statement on June 8, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked for withdrawal of the guardsmen.
“I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command,” Newsom said.
“We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved,” he said. “This is a serious breach of state sovereignty—inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed.”
Speaking to reporters, Trump said that California officials who work against the ongoing deportations could face federal charges.
“If people stand in the way of law and order, yeah, they will face charges,” he said.
Members of California’s National Guard were seen staging early Sunday at the federal complex in downtown Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, one of several sites where confrontations involving hundreds of people have taken place over the last two days.
The troops included members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a social media post from the U.S. Northern Command that showed dozens of National Guard members with long guns and an armored vehicle.
The message was issued just hours after Trump wrote on Truth Social that the National Guard is doing a “great job” to quell “violence, clashes, and unrest” before he accused both California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, of slow-walking a response to the protests.
Earlier on Sunday, Bass wrote that “the National Guard has not been deployed in the City of Los Angeles,” although that came before Northern Command’s post. The Epoch Times has contacted Bass’s office for comment.
“These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED,” the president wrote. “Also, from now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests.”
‘Law and Order’
Over the weekend, Trump confirmed in a signed memorandum that he would deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to the violence.
In a signal of the administration’s approach, Hegseth also warned he could deploy active-duty Marines “if violence continues” in the area. He made the comments ahead of Trump’s announcement.
Asked about the issue, Trump also indicated that sending Marines was a possibility.
“The bar is what I think it is. I mean, if we see danger to our country and to our citizens, sending Marines will be very, very strong in terms of law and order. It’s about law and order.”
The deployment of the National Guard also follows clashes near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles. As protesters sought to block Border Patrol vehicles, with some hurling rocks and chunks of cement, federal agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives, and pepper balls.
Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back. Clashes also took place in neighboring Compton, where a car was set on fire.
Meanwhile, crowds gathered again outside federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including a detention center, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.
Officials with Homeland Security defended their immigration enforcement in the city, noting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested a 55-year-old illegal immigrant from the Philippines who had multiple criminal convictions. Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin wrote that he has convictions of assault, theft, burglary, and rape.
“This criminal illegal alien is who Newsom, Bass, and the rioters are trying to protect over US citizens,” she wrote on X.
Newsom wrote in a post on X that the federal government under Trump is trying to “take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers,” adding that it is “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”
Local authorities can “access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice,” the governor added. “We are in close coordination with the city and county, and there is currently no unmet need. The Guard has been admirably serving LA throughout recovery. This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust.”
The Associated Press and Chris Summers contributed to this report.
