June 14, 2025
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Riots that sprang up in Los Angeles over immigration enforcement raids and prompted President Donald Trump to mobilize National Guard troops and Marines have begun to spread across the country, with more planned into the weekend.
From Seattle to Austin and Washington, D.C., marchers have chanted slogans, carried signs against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and snarled traffic through downtown avenues and outside federal offices. Some have resulted in clashes with law enforcement as officers made arrests and used chemical irritants to disperse crowds.
Activists are planning more and even larger demonstrations in the coming days, with events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump’s planned military parade through Washington.
The Trump administration said it would continue its program of raids and deportations despite the protests. “ICE will continue to enforce the law,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted Tuesday on social media.
Four Austin police officers were injured, and authorities used chemical irritants to disperse a crowd of several hundred demonstrators Monday night that moved between the state Capitol and a federal building that houses an ICE office. State officials had closed the Capitol to the public an hour early in anticipation of the protest.
Austin police used pepper spray balls, and state police used tear gas when demonstrators began trying to deface the federal building with spray paint. The rioters then started throwing rocks, bottles, and other objects at a police barricade, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said. Three officers were injured by “very large” rocks, and another was injured while making an arrest, she said.
Austin police arrested eight people, and state police arrested several more. Davis said her department is prepared for Saturday’s planned protest downtown.
“We support peaceful protest,” Davis said. “When that protest turns violent, when it turns to throwing rocks and bottles .... That will not be tolerated. Arrests will be made.”
A protest that drew hundreds to a rally on a city bridge lasted for several hours Monday night before Dallas police declared it an “unlawful assembly” and warned people to leave or face possible arrest.
Dallas police initially posted on social media that officers would not interfere with a “lawful and peaceful assembly of individuals or groups expressing their First Amendment rights.” But officers later moved in, and local media reported seeing some in the crowd throw objects as officers used pepper spray and smoke to clear the area. At least one person was arrested.
“Peaceful protesting is legal,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, posted on X. “But once you cross the line, you will be arrested.”
About 200 protesters gathered outside the San Francisco Immigration Court on Tuesday after activists said several arrests were made there.
That gathering came after protests on Sunday and Monday swelled to several thousand demonstrators and saw more than 150 arrests with outbreaks of violence that included vandalized buildings, damaged cars, police vehicles, and buses. Police said two officers suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Most of the arrests were Sunday night.
“Individuals are always free to exercise their First Amendment rights in San Francisco, but violence, especially against SFPD officers, will never be tolerated,” San Francisco police posted on social media.
About 50 people gathered outside the immigration court in downtown Seattle on Tuesday, chanting with drums and holding up signs. The protest was initially peaceful, but protesters began putting scooters in front of the entryways to the building before police arrived.
Legal advocates who normally attend the immigration court hearings as observers and to provide support to immigrants were not allowed inside the building. Security guards also turned away the media. The hearings are normally open to the public.
In Santa Ana near Los Angeles, armored vehicles blocked the road Tuesday morning leading into the Civic Center, where federal immigration officers and numerous city and county agencies have their offices.
Workers swept up plastic bottles and broken glass from Monday's protests. Tiny shards of red, black, and purple glass littered the pavement. Nearby buildings and the sidewalk were tagged with profane graffiti slogans against ICE and Trump’s name crossed out.
A worker rolled paint over graffiti on a wall to block it out. National Guard officers wearing fatigues and carrying rifles prevented people from entering the area unless they worked there.
