LOS ANGELES − The area around City Hall was quiet Wednesday, hours after “mass arrests” during the first night of a curfew stemming from sometimes unruly protests against immigration enforcement raids and the escalation of military presence across the nation’s second-largest city.
Police on Wednesday urged businesses and residents to document and report damage and vandalism as authorities braced for a sixth day of protests prompted by sweeps being carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE is following a directive from President Trump to find immigrants living in the United States without legal status.
“The Trump administration told us they were going after violent criminals, gang members, and drug dealers,” Mayor Karen Bass said in a social media post Wednesday. “But they went after (day laborers outside) Home Depot. They’re going after families and children. That does not make Los Angeles more safe.”
The White House was unyielding. Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, framed the political clash as an attempt to throw out the results of the 2024 election.
“America voted for mass deportations,” Miller wrote on social media. “Violent insurrectionists, and the politicians who enable them, are trying to overthrow the results of the election.”
Violence, curfew involve small area of vast city
Bass declared a partial curfew effective daily from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time, part of the city’s strategy to quell ongoing looting and vandalism linked to the protests. The curfew covers one square mile of a city sprawling across a land area one-third the size of Rhode Island. The larger Los Angeles metro area covers an area nearly the size of Maine.
Shortly after the curfew went into effect Tuesday, the Los Angeles Police Department announced that multiple groups had congregated in an area not far from City Hall and federal buildings where some detained immigrants have been held.
“Those groups are being addressed and mass arrests are being initiated,” the LAPD said. “Curfew is in effect.”
President Donald Trump vents on Truth Social
Trump called the protests “violent, insurrectionist mobs” and “lawless riots” and ordered 4,000 National Guard Troops and 700 Marines into the city. But Gov. Gavin Newsom said it was Trump who “instigated violence.”
In a public address Tuesday night, California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned Trump’s deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and about 700 Marines, a move that state and local officials have called unnecessary, illegal, and politically motivated. Trump, according to Newsom, was not “protecting our communities, he’s traumatizing our communities.”
Trump fired back Wednesday on social media: “The INCOMPETENT Governor of California was unable to provide protection in a timely manner when our Ice Officers, GREAT Patriots they are, were attacked by an out of control mob of agitators, troublemakers, and/or insurrectionists. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Protests planned across the nation on June 14
After protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles sparked a mass military response, similar demonstrations erupted in other cities around the nation. From major metros like New York City and Chicago to smaller areas like Columbus, Ohio, and Des Moines, Iowa, here’s a look at demonstrations nationwide.
Protests against immigration and other Trump policies are planned in at least 1,500 communities across the country on June 14, the same day President Donald Trump holds a military parade in Washington and celebrates his birthday.
The rallies, named “No Kings Day,” are expected to be the largest and most widespread protests since Trump took office. Organizers say a core principle of the protests will be “a commitment to nonviolent action”.and discouraged participants from bringing weapons to the events.
“We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events,” organizers say on the nokings.org website.
New York, Chicago, Atlanta among cities with protests
In New York City, hundreds rallied near the city’s main immigration court on June 10. Tensions eventually flared and 86 people were taken into custody, with 34 people being charged and 52 issued criminal court summonses, according to the New York Police Department.
In Colorado, a demonstration at the state capitol drew hundreds of protesters who marched peacefully through the downtown area, CRP News reported. Tensions escalated between a group that splintered off from the main demonstration and law enforcement, leading to at least 17 arrests on charges including obstructing streets and assault.
In Philadelphia, more than 150 protesters gathered at the Federal Detention Center in the City Center area, local media outlets reported. The Philadelphia Police Department said protesters at one point ignored demands to disperse and grew increasingly unruly, leading to more than a dozen arrests and several injuries.
Not all rallies were marred by arrests and clashes between police and demonstrators. In Ohio, between 200 to 300 people protested ICE raids in downtown Columbus, crossing in front of the local police headquarters and city hall without incident.
National Guard troops aid immigration raids
Reuters reported that about 2,100 National Guard troops were in the greater Los Angeles area on Tuesday, with more on the way. Meanwhile, hundreds of Marines were in a staging area near the city, awaiting deployment to specific locations, according to Reuters.
Though few of those troops were actually on the streets, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement posted photos on X showing Guard troops accompanying ICE officers on an immigration raid. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reposted the photos, saying: “This We’ll Defend.”
The Trump administration has vowed to redouble immigration enforcement raids in response to the protests, which have expanded to other U.S. cities, including Chicago, New York, and Atlanta.
California sued Trump and the Department of Defense on Monday, seeking to block the deployment of federal troops. Newsom has also accused Trump and Hegseth of trying to use the assets to help ICE conduct raids. A judge has set a hearing for the matter for Thursday.
Cost estimate: $3.6 billion. Trump wants 20,000 troops to hunt, transport immigrants.
Gavin Newsom speech last night
California leaders and the Trump administration remained in a tense standoff as Newsom accused the president of “pulling a military dragnet all across Los Angeles, well beyond his stated intent to just go after violent and serious criminals.”
The Democratic governor has said in recent days that Trump acted like a “dictator” by deploying federal troops without his consent, and compared the administration to authoritarian regimes for targeting vulnerable people. Newsom reiterated Tuesday that Trump “chose escalation.”
Trump’s “agents are arresting dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers, and seamstresses. That’s just weakness. Weakness masquerading as strength,” Newsom said.
Trump has called Newsom “grossly incompetent” and suggested the governor should be arrested. The president has also insisted that service members deployed to California are “defending the republic itself” and helping the administration “liberate” the city of Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, Trump said from the White House that he planned to respond to any protests, including against his June 14 military parade, with “force.”
Were there riots in LA last night?
Protests in Los Angeles were relatively peaceful when they began on Friday, but escalated into scenes of chaos, with electric vehicles lit aflame, large clouds of tear gas and clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators. Bass countered with the curfew, which she said she expects will last for several days.
The curfew does not apply to residents who live in the designated area, people experiencing homelessness, credentialed media, or public safety and emergency personnel, according to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. The police chief noted that there has been an escalation of “unlawful and dangerous behavior” since Saturday.
Trump has called the behavior “riots.”
Experts say while there are legal definitions for a riot, the term has become increasingly politicized and encapsulates a wide variety of incidents. In most states including California, the key determinator lies in whether multiple people are involved and whether they are committing acts of violence, Brian Higgins, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said.
“One person is not a riot and neither is a group that is nonviolent,” he said. “They can even be breaking the law, like refusing to disperse. It’s when you add in the factor of violence that it becomes a riot.”
There are some gray areas, he said. Experts also said that while violence is a defining factor in a riot, such violence could be incited by law enforcement. Read more.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LA protests live: Police make ‘mass arrests’ after curfew kicks in
