California National Guard arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday, deployed by President Donald Trump after two days of protests by hundreds of demonstrators against immigration raids carried out as part of Trump's strict policy.
About a dozen National Guard members were seen in video footage on Sunday morning lining up at a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, where detainees from immigration raids on Friday were taken, sparking protests that continued on Saturday.
The complex is near Los Angeles City Hall, where another protest against the immigration raids is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. U.S. Northern Command confirmed National Guard troops had started deploying and that some were already on the ground.
National Guard troops were also seen in Paramount in southeast Los Angeles near the Home Depot, the site of altercations between protestors and police on Saturday.
A planned demonstration in the eastern Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights drew about 200 protestors by 12 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Sunday. No law enforcement personnel were present, according to a Reuters witness.
"These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has accused Trump of deploying the National Guard because he wants "a spectacle."
Video showed at least a half dozen military-style vehicles and riot shields on Sunday at the federal building where the Department of Homeland Security said about "1,000 rioters" had protested on Friday. Reuters could not verify the DHS account.
Law enforcement faced off with protesters in Paramount and downtown Los Angeles, with federal officers firing gas canisters in efforts to disperse crowds, according to Reuters witnesses. In Paramount, a few hundred protesters gathered before tensions escalated on Saturday, with approximately 100 demonstrators assembled in downtown Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Police Department arrested 27 people on Saturday for failure to disperse from the downtown protest, police spokesperson Norma Eisenman said. She said she could not comment on whether LAPD used less lethal force. Less lethal force refers to crowd control tactics such as pepper balls.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department arrested three people on Saturday on suspicion of assaulting an officer and three deputies received minor injuries. Sheriff's deputies did use "less lethal force" in Paramount, spokesperson Deputy Brenda Serna said, but she could not specify which tactics were used.
'ZERO TOLERANCE'
The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where census data suggests a significant part of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump's Republican White House, which has made an immigration crackdown a hallmark of his second term.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that the Pentagon was prepared to mobilize active-duty troops "if violence continues" in Los Angeles, saying the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were "on high alert."
"There is plenty of room for peaceful protest, but ZERO tolerance for attacking federal agents who are doing their job. The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE," Hegseth said in a social media post on Sunday, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Democratic Congresswoman Nanette Barragan, whose California district includes Paramount, on Sunday criticized the president's decision to deploy National Guard troops, arguing that local law enforcement has adequate resources to respond.
"We don't need the help. This is him escalating it, causing tensions to rise. It's only going to make things worse in a situation where people are already angry over immigration enforcement," Barragan told CNN's "State of the Union."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that the National Guard would provide safety around buildings, to people engaged in peaceful protest and to law enforcement.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles on Friday arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations.
Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the U.S.-Mexico border, setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day.
But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also included people legally residing in the country, some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges.
TRUMP'S JUSTIFICATION
While U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance referred to the protesters on Saturday as "insurrectionists" and senior White House aide Stephen Miller described the protests as a "violent insurrection," Trump has not invoked the Insurrection Act.
That 1807 law empowers a president to deploy the U.S. military to enforce the law and suppress events like civil disorder. The last time it was invoked was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots at the request of the California governor.
Instead, Trump's justification for the National Guard deployment cited a provision of Title 10 of the U.S. Code on the Armed Forces. However, Title 10 also says the "orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States." It was not immediately clear if the president had the legal authority to deploy the National Guard troops without Newsom's order.
Title 10 allows for National Guard deployment by the federal government if there is "a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States." Those troops are only allowed to engage in limited activities and cannot undertake ordinary law enforcement activities.
Trump's memo says the troops will "temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions, including the enforcement of Federal law, and to protect Federal property, at locations where protests against these functions are occurring or are likely to occur."
