National Guard troops were pouring into Los Angeles on Sunday after a series of protests opposing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies escalated into clashes between demonstrators and police officers clad in riot gear.
Another rally against recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids is scheduled for Sunday at Los Angeles City Hall. Trump ordered deployment of 2,000 guard members over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said Trump wanted to create a “spectacle.”
U.S. Northern Command said approximately 300 soldiers were already on the ground at three locations in the greater Los Angeles area to provide “safety and protection of federal property and personnel.” The Los Angeles Police Department said its officers had been deployed to the protest area.
“Everyone has the right to peacefully assemble and voice their opinions,” LAPD said in a social media post. “However, vandalizing property and attempting to seriously injure officers, whether Federal or LAPD, is not peaceful.”
The protests are not widespread, and most of the city was quiet Sunday. But about a dozen National Guard members were seen lining up at a federal building in downtown Los Angeles where detainees from immigration raids conducted Friday were taken. The complex is near City Hall, where Sunday’s protest was expected to take place.
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Bernie Sanders: Trump ‘does not believe in the Constitution’
Sen. Bernie Sanders said he believes President Donald Trump is “moving this country rapidly into authoritarianism” after Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to help quell immigration protests in Los Angeles.
“This guy wants all of the power. He does not believe in the Constitution. He does not believe in the rule of law,” Sanders, a Vermont independent, told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” “My understanding is that the governor of California, the mayor of the city of Los Angeles did not request the National Guard, but he (Trump) thinks he has a right to do anything he wants.”
The protests were prompted by the Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants. Demonstrators allege the administration’s immigration enforcement violates civil and human rights.
White House warns of ‘zero tolerance’
“These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED,” Trump said in a social media post Sunday. Trump and administration officials have attacked Newsom, Mayor Karen Bass and other Democrats for failing to quell the disturbances. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump signed a memo a day earlier deploying the guardsmen “to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.”
“The Trump administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs,” she said in a statement.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was prepared to mobilize active-duty troops “if violence continues” and that Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were “on high alert.”
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Protests spread across Los Angeles area
On Saturday, a large protest erupted in the city of Paramount in Los Angeles County, about 15 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. It came as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted enforcement operations in the area and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations.
More demonstrations followed, and some protesters assaulted ICE officers, slashed tires and defaced buildings, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which claimed it took LAPD officers two hours to respond. Police sometimes countered the unrest by firing tear gas, pepper spray and flash-bang concussion rounds toward gathering crowds.
“The violent targeting of law enforcement in Los Angeles by lawless rioters is despicable and Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom must call for it to end,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect and defend the lives of American citizens.”
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: National Guard in LA amid immigration protests: live updates
