June 14, 2025
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Another 2,000 National Guard troops, along with 700 Marines, are headed to Los Angeles on orders from President Donald Trump, to protect federal buildings from rioters angry over Trump's stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws.
Trump doubled the number of Guard troops being deployed soon after the first wave of 2,000 began arriving Sunday, amid the most violent outbreaks during four days of unrest.
The riots in Los Angeles, a city of 4 million people, have largely been centered in several blocks of downtown. At daybreak Tuesday, guard troops were stationed outside the detention center, but there was no sign of the Marines.
Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth. They say he is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel, even though police say they don’t need the help.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement he was confident in the police department’s ability to handle large-scale demonstrations. At a Sunday evening press conference, however, McDonnell said, “We are overwhelmed. Tonight, we had individuals out there shooting commercial-grade fireworks at our officers. That can kill you.”
“They’ll take a backpack, and the backpack will have a cinderblock in it,” he continued. “They’ll break up the cinderblock and use that, pass it around to throw at officers, to throw at cars and other people.”
Around 4 p.m. local time on Sunday, a crowd of at least 2,000 rioters blocked both lanes of traffic on the 101, prompting authorities in riot gear to create a line to prevent them from moving forward. They pushed the crowd onto an exit ramp, though two motorcyclists attempted to break through the skirmish line, injuring two officers.
The protests began Friday after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across the city. The smell of smoke hung in the air downtown Monday, a day after rioters blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles Police Department, and California Highway Patrol had collectively arrested 42 people by Monday morning, an LASD spokesperson said, and at least five law enforcement officers were injured.
Several businesses in downtown Los Angeles were looted and vandalized overnight Monday, including a mobile phone retailer where video captured individuals entering and exiting through a smashed glass front door. Authorities also responded to reports of looting at an athletic shoe store. Some of the stolen merchandise was recovered by law enforcement and placed on the hoods of patrol vehicles.
Protests against the immigration raids spread Monday to other cities nationwide, including San Francisco and Santa Ana, California, and Dallas and Austin, Texas.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops following the first deployment, telling reporters that Trump had “trampled” the state’s sovereignty.
Trump said the city would have been “completely obliterated” if he had not deployed the Guard.
U.S. officials said the Marines were being deployed to protect federal property and personnel, including immigration agents. A convoy of 10 to 15 buses with blacked-out windows and escorted by sheriff’s vehicles left the base at Twentynine Palms in the desert east of Los Angeles late Monday and headed toward the city, stopping overnight at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, south of downtown Los Angeles.
Thousands flooded the streets around City Hall for a union rally Monday before a hearing for arrested labor leader David Huerta, who was freed a few hours later on a $50,000 bond. Huerta’s arrest Friday while protesting immigration raids became a rallying cry for people angry over the crackdown. He is the president of the Service Employees International Union California, which represents thousands of the state's janitors, security officers, and other workers.
As the crowd thinned, police began pushing protesters away from the area, firing crowd-control munitions as people chanted, "Peaceful protest.” Officers became more aggressive in their tactics in the evening, occasionally surging forward to arrest protesters that got too close. At least a dozen people were surrounded by police and detained.
