The city of Los Angeles, California, was for the third night in a row rocked overnight Sunday to Monday by riots, after thousands of protesters took to the streets to demonstrate against the Trump administration’s immigrant deportation operation and the president’s decision to deploy the National Guard to the city following the previous night of unrest between Saturday and Sunday. Throughout the night, protesters blocked a major highway and set cars on fire, while law enforcement responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades to regain control.
3rd night of rioting in LA, cars set on fire
(Video: Reuters)
Many protesters dispersed at nightfall in LA after police declared the protest area an unlawful assembly, signaling that officers would intervene and arrest anyone who refused to leave. Some protesters who remained threw objects at officers from behind a makeshift barricade erected across a street, while others hurled concrete blocks, stones, electric scooters and fireworks. Police officers were seen running for cover under a bridge.
The focal point of Sunday night’s demonstrations in Los Angeles—a city of four million—was a few blocks in the downtown area. It was the third and most intense night of protests against President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, this time fueled by the arrival of approximately 300 National Guard troops sent to the city by presidential order—an act that enraged residents. The troops were specifically deployed to protect federal buildings, including a detention center downtown where arrested protesters were being held.
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Rioters set cars on fire in Los Angeles
(Photo: Mario Tama / Getty Images North America / AFP)
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Police take refuge from rioters under highway bridge
(Photo: Mario Tama / Getty Images North America / AFP)
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said overnight that officers were outnumbered by the protesters remaining in the riot zone and that known agitators had been identified among the rioters—individuals who routinely attend protests to incite unrest. In addition to dozens arrested over the weekend, several more were detained overnight, including one who threw a Molotov cocktail at officers and another who drove a motorcycle into a line of police in an attempted ramming. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information on one suspect who threw rocks at police vehicles and injured an officer.
Trump, who Sunday declared that masked protesters in Los Angeles would no longer be allowed to demonstrate while covering their faces, responded overnight t McDonnell’s remarks by ordering him to arrest anyone showing up with their faces covered—even though the president has no authority to do so. “It looks very bad in L.A.,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Bring in the troops!!!”
The protests in Los Angeles began Friday night in the city center and by Saturday had spread to Paramount, a Latino city south of L.A., and to nearby Compton. They began after federal agents detained immigrants at several sites across Los Angeles. So far, over 100 undocumented immigrants have been arrested, with many more detained for participating in the riots.
Trump has repeatedly promised, during and after his election campaign, to deport the largest number ever of undocumented immigrants and to seal the U.S.-Mexico border. He tasked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with detaining at least 3,000 immigrants a day. According to the most recent U.S. census, a significant portion of Los Angeles’s population—governed by a Democratic administration—is Hispanic or foreign-born. However, reports indicate that enforcement actions have also targeted legal residents, including permanent residents, leading to legal battles.
Riots in California resumed early Sunday morning local time, as protesters clashed with armed National Guard troops deployed to the streets. Demonstrators shouted “Shame!” and “Go home!” at the soldiers. After some activists got too close to the National Guard, another group of plainclothes security personnel approached and used smoke grenades.
Moments later, LAPD officers fired crowd-control ammunition to disperse the demonstrators, and many rioters moved to block traffic on Highway 101 until security forces removed them. Not far from the scene, at least four autonomous vehicles were torched, sending thick black smoke into the air. As evening approached, police declared the area an unlawful assembly and closed several downtown streets. Many protesters once again waved Mexican flags.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat frequently mentioned as a potential presidential candidate and a longtime target of Trump’s criticism for being “too progressive,” called on the president to withdraw the National Guard from Los Angeles. Newsom argued that the deployment was a “serious violation of California’s sovereignty.” This appears to be the first time since 1965 that the National Guard was activated in California without the governor’s request.
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In an interview with MSNBC, Newsom said he intended to sue the federal government over the deployment and accused Trump of manufacturing the crisis and undermining California’s sovereignty: “These are the actions of a dictator, not a president,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
LAPD Chief McDonnell appeared to contradict Newsom, telling reporters that the protests were spiraling out of control. When asked if the National Guard was needed, he said the police would not take that step immediately, but added: “Given the level of violence tonight, I think we need to reassess.”
Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass blamed the escalation of the riots and their turn to violence on Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard, claiming the move was designed from the start to inflame tensions. Both called on protesters to avoid violence.<< Follow Ynetnews on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Telegram >>