Protests and demonstrations against the federal government’s immigration raids have further intensified in Los Angeles after US President Donald Trump deployed hundreds of National Guard troops to maintain law and order on Sunday against the objections of governor and mayor, as law enforcement officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters to quell the protest.
The clashes between protesters and officials come on the third day of the protest which began after Trump’s immigration crackdown in the region, and ignited due to the arrival of around 300 National Guard troops in Los Angeles which has spurred anger and fear among some residents.
Our law enforcement officers are just doing their jobs.
Violence and intimidation against federal law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The United States is a nation of laws, and lawbreakers will be brought to justice. pic.twitter.com/0wytuvEO5R
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 8, 2025
By Sunday afternoon, protesters had gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles where several people were detained by the immigration officials during a raid conducted earlier. Targeting the newly deployed National Guards in the region, protesters directed chants of “shame” and “go home” at the troops, who stood with their long guns and riot shields.
As protesters moved closer to the national Guards, another set of uniform officers approached the group and threw smoke-filled canisters into the street. Thereafter, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was heard firing warning shots of crowd-control munitions to disperse the protesters.
UPDATE: More arrests are being made in Paramount, CA. A source tells me this wasn’t an immigration raid, but a staging area. #LosAngeles #California pic.twitter.com/nyJThz0duT
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) June 7, 2025
The LAPD alleged that the protesters had gathered unlawfully, and several protesters then moved to block traffic on the 101 freeway. The LAPD has said that “a number of people have been arrested” at the “Civic Center area” of downtown Los Angeles.
California Governor Gavin Newsom had objected to President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles, and urged the Republican leader to revoke the troop deployment which other Democratic governors called an “alarming abuse of power”. In a letter sent to Trump on Sunday, Newsom wrote the presence of the Guard was “inflaming tensions” in the city.
Trump had said that National Guard troops’ deployment in LA was necessary as Newsom and other Democrats have failed to quell recent protests targeting immigration agents.
