Members of the National Guard faced off with protesters in Los Angeles on Sunday, June 8, and tear gas was fired at a growing crowd that gathered outside a federal complex hours after the federal troops arrived in the city on President Donald Trump's orders.
The confrontation broke out in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, as a group of demonstrators shouted insults at members of the guard lined shoulder to shoulder behind plastic riot shields. There did not appear to be any arrests. Other law enforcement officials are also on scene, and it was not immediately clear who fired the tear gas.
Around 300 National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles early Sunday following clashes in recent days between protesters and federal immigration agents.
The deployment followed two days of protests that began Friday in downtown Los Angeles before spreading on Saturday to Paramount, a heavily Latino city South of the city, and neighboring Compton. As federal agents set up a staging area Saturday near a Home Depot in Paramount, demonstrators attempted to block Border Patrol vehicles, with some hurling rocks and chunks of cement. In response, agents in riot gear unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls.
Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed above 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement. The deployment of the National Guard came over the objections of Governor Gavin Newsom, who accused Trump of a "complete overreaction" designed to create a spectacle of force.
Trump has framed the move as a necessary response to Newsom's and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass's failure to swiftly contain the unrest. In a directive Saturday, Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is "a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States."
He said he had authorized the deployment of 2,000 members of the National Guard. Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, Sunday that there were "violent people" in Los Angeles "and they’re not gonna get away with it." He said there will be "very strong law and order."
Trump was asked if he plans to send US troops to Los Angeles and he said, "We’re gonna have troops everywhere. We’re not going to let this happen to our country. We’re not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden." Trump didn’t elaborate.
In a statement Sunday, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused California's politicians and protesters of "defending heinous illegal alien criminals at the expense of Americans' safety. Instead of rioting, they should be thanking ICE officers every single day who wake up and make our communities safer."
The troops included members of the California Army National Guard's 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a social media post from the Department of Defense. In a signal of the administration’s aggressive approach, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also threatened to deploy active-duty Marines "if violence continues" in the region.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said the order by Trump reflected "a president moving this country rapidly into authoritarianism" and "usurping the powers of the United States Congress."