President Trump officially ordered deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles after violent protests broke out in the city over the weekend following a series of high-profile US Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that swept through commercial areas of the city on June 6.
ICE agents arrested 121 individuals during operations targeting locations such as a Home Depot in the Westlake District, a fashion retailer in the Downtown Fashion District, and a clothing warehouse in South LA.
The agency said the arrests included immigrants with prior criminal convictions, including charges related to drug trafficking and assault. However, the enforcement actions provoked a wave of unrest, with demonstrators gathering in major intersections by Friday evening and continuing through Saturday.
Protests intensified in areas like downtown Los Angeles and the Paramount area, where crowds threw concrete chunks, eggs, and fireworks at law enforcement. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades, and pepper spray. The Los Angeles Police Department declared multiple unlawful assemblies, and the County Sheriff’s Department deployed less-lethal munitions to disperse demonstrators.
At one flashpoint, more than 1,000 protesters surrounded a federal building, violently clashing with ICE officers and damaging property.
A statement from the White House characterized the deployment of he National Guard as a response to “violent mobs threatening federal officers and facilities.”
“The President will not tolerate insurrection in our streets,” said White House senior advisor Stephen Miller in a press briefing. “We are restoring law and order.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who would normally be in charge of the California National Guard unless the president takes over that role, criticized the move as “purposefully inflammatory,” asserting that the National Guard presence would escalate tensions rather than quell them. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also condemned the raids.
“These actions sow terror in our neighborhoods,” Bass posted on social media. “They do not make us safer. We will not stand for this.” She added that her office was working with immigrant rights nonprofits to respond. Importantly, she did not say she would work with law enforcement to stop the riots.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security and Trump administration officials have defended the crackdown. Border Enforcement Czar Tom Homan and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blamed Democratic leadership for “emboldening resistance to lawful enforcement” and insisted the operations would continue. In an appearance on Fox News, Homan confirmed that the National Guard would “support ICE and federal authorities in maintaining public order and conducting future operations.”
While the national spotlight is fixed on Los Angeles, sources say ICE has also increased its presence in Anchorage. Over the past two weeks, agents have reportedly conducted spot checks at local construction sites and plant nurseries — industries where the use of illegal immigrant labor is common.
“America is a nation of laws,” the White House said in a statement on Saturday. “We will enforce our immigration laws and protect our communities—regardless of political grandstanding.”
Everyone knows that throwing a Molotov cocktail is an expression of your first amendment rights.
It would be hard to fault a lethal response to the rock throwers in the video.
I drove some of those guys to LA
This is the result of a Joe Biden presidency. Letting in 11 million illegals has severely damaged our country. I hope Trump calls in 10,000 NG troops from other states to help out. And if necessary, deploys the regular Army and Marines to assist. This REAL insurrection must not stand.
Does the Mayor of Los Angeles swear to uphold the US Constitution when they take their oath? I’m pretty certain that the Governor of CA does, if Gavin wants to be the President when he becomes a grown up he needs to start acting like it.
Come on all you radical leftists — Whidbey, cman, Sebastian, jjalaska — here is your chance to virtue-signal your outrage over a REAL, honest-to-God insurrection! Police-guided Capitol tours do not count.