Cops in Los Angeles have finally intervened in response to escalating anti-ICE riots in the city after being ordered to stand by as protesters pelted federal immigration agents with rocks and tried to block them from carrying out raids to arrest illegal migrants on Saturday.
The LAPD and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies fought running battles with protesters who mobbed downtown LA and the suburb of Paramount, California — ordering the protesters to disperse.
Sanctuary laws prevent local cops in LA from assisting the feds with immigration enforcement.
But last night, the LAPD declared a downtown protest illegal and pushed to break up the crowd.
Meanwhile, the first of 2,000 California National Guard troops called up by President Trump arrived in the city to help restore and maintain order.
Outside the city, two people were arrested for assault on a peace officers, one for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail that hit three deputies, LA Sheriff’s Department officials confirmed to CBS News Los Angeles late Saturday.
LA Mayor Karen Bass has been blamed for helping to foment the riots against ICE.
Following raids on Friday, she responded by claiming that the federal agents used tactics that, “sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell issued a statement Friday saying, “I want to make it clear: the LAPD is not involved in civil immigration enforcement.”
As a result, Trump mobilized the California National Guard and called for a ban on masks at protests.
Secretary of Defense Hegseth also said active duty Marines could be called up. He argued that using US troops for law enforcement would not be a violation of the longstanding Posse Comitatus act because the immigrants being targeted by ICE are foreign invaders.
“The violent mob assaults on ICE and Federal Law Enforcement are designed to prevent the removal of Criminal Illegal Aliens from our soil; a dangerous invasion facilitated by criminal cartels (aka Foreign Terrorist Organizations) and a huge NATIONAL SECURITY RISK,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X.
“Under President Trump, violence & destruction against federal agents and federal facilities will NOT be tolerated. It’s COMMON SENSE. The Department of Defense is mobilizing the National Guard IMMEDIATELY to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles. And, if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert,” he added.
More than 100 migrants have been arrested by ICE since the raids began on Friday.
On Saturday, President Trump announced that the National Guard was being deployed to Los Angeles in response to the large-scale protests that broke out following dozens of arrests on Friday in citywide ICE operations.
“If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!” President Trump posted on his Truth Social platform yesterday evening.
At least 2,000 National Guard troops are to be deployed under the president’s Title 10 authority “for 60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense,” President Trump’s memo stated.
Trump signed the order shortly before he attended a UFC fight in New Jersey, where he sat ringside with boxer Mike Tyson.
Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke out in the wake of the order, ahead of a reported 40-minute conversation with President Trump.
Newsom wrote that the “federal government is moving to take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers. That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions. LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice,” in a statement posted on X on Saturday.
“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,” he said.
