Monday, 9 June 2025

LA immigration protests live: Trump-backed troops move in amid demonstrations over arrest of 100 immigrants.

Extract from ABC News

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Scattered protests are continuing around Los Angeles for the third day, prompted by the arrests of more than 100 immigrants by federal agents last week.

A large protest is expected in downtown LA this afternoon. 

Follow the developments live.

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Live updates

Heloise Vyas is here with you

Why is the National Guard deployment such a big deal?

By Heloise Vyas

As our Americas Editor John Lyons puts it:

"It's rare for the military-trained National Guard to be deployed in the United States, and even rarer for it to be done without the support of the governor of a state."

So, Donald Trump's use of presidential powers to bypass California Governor Gavin Newsom in calling in the state-based military reserve force is quite significant.

Firstly because LA's protests remain far smaller than past events that have brought the National Guard to Los Angeles, including the Watts and Rodney King riots, and the 2020 protests against police violence, in which Newsom requested the assistance of federal troops.

The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor's permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

In this case, the White House's directive came despite objections from Newsom, who insisted there was no shortage of law enforcement in LA locally, and said the move was designed to create a spectacle of force.

As for whether the National Guard can actually make arrests, Trump's memo authorising the deployment has not explicitly ordered the troops to conduct arrests, but that can be done if the president decides to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act.

Update

By Heloise Vyas

Associated Press photographers have captured shots of the crowd marching from LA's City Hall to the Metropolitan Detention Center right now.

(Jae Hong)

We also have fresh photos of some arrests, as they took place.

(Eric Thayer)
(Eric Thayer)

Police begin firing at crowd — US media reports

By Heloise Vyas

We have some more vision showing clashes between protesters and authorites flare up.

NBC News and the New York Times are also both reporting that LA police and federal officers have started firing crowd-control munitions, including rubber projectiles, at protesters.

The National Guard appears not to have been involved in the firing.

Clashes flare up during Los Angeles protests against immigration raids

California governor demands White House rescind National Guard deployment

By Heloise Vyas

California Governor Gavin Newsom has penned a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth requesting the withdrawal of the federally deployed National Guard troops.

 "We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed," he wrote on X.

You can read the full letter below.

WATCH: Congresswoman confronts National Guard in LA

By Heloise Vyas

Earlier this morning, we saw US Representative Maxine Waters challenge National Guard troops as she was denied entry into the Metropolitan Detention Center, where protesters are amassed.

US congresswoman confronts National Guard in LA

Who's involved in clashes with protesters?

By Heloise Vyas

Various groups of uniformed officials have been seen responding to the protests.

Those in Army Greens are from the California National Guard, called in by the White House, while officers in dark blue and navy uniform are from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and its sub-agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Local police have also been part of the law enforcement effort, but they are prohibited from assisting federal authorities in immigration arrests, owing to state legislation.

At least 30 protesters arrested since Friday

By Heloise Vyas

The LAPD arrested 27 people on Saturday, local time, for failure to disperse from the downtown protest, police spokesperson Norma Eisenman told Reuters.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department also arrested three people yesterday on suspicion of assaulting an officer and three deputies received minor injuries.

LA police authorise use of 'less lethal munitions' against protesters

By Heloise Vyas

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) have declared the gathering outside the Metropolitan Detention Center is an "unlawful assembly" and ordered people to leave the area.

"The use of less lethal munitions has been authorized by the Incident Commander," it posted on X about half an hour ago.

"Persons throwing items at officers will be detained and arrested. An UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY has been declared by the Incident Commander."

Less lethal force refers to crowd control tactics such as pepper balls.

In photos: Scenes on the ground

By Heloise Vyas

A large crowd is gathered in downtown LA, where the bulk of the National Guard troops, local law enforcement, and riot squad officials are positioned.

Several people have also been arrested on federal obstruction charges since yesterday.

Here are some images from the ground.

(AP: Jae Hong)
(AP: Jae Hong)
(Reuters: Mike Blake)
(Reuters: Mike Blake)
(Reuters: Daniel Cole)

'They spit, we hit': Trump threatens consequences for protesters

By Heloise Vyas

Here's what US President Donald Trump had to say on the situation in LA earlier today.

'They spit, we hit': Trump threatens consequences for LA protesters

California governor hits out at federal intervention

By Heloise Vyas

California Governor Gavin Newsom has been sparring with President Donald Trump since yesterday over the deployment of the National Guard, which Newsom never requested, saying there was no "unmet need".

He's now posted to X saying "Donald Trump’s attempts to militarize California are an alarming abuse of power", accompanied by a joint letter from Democratic governors across the US.

Locations where National Guard are stationed

By Heloise Vyas

It's currently 2:30pm in Los Angeles.

National Guard troops remain on guard outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where a large protest is expected to take place later today, as well as two other locations across greater LA.

According to CNN, the known locations so far are:

  • Willshire federal building (where some US federal agencies, including the passport office, are located)
  • Metropolitan Detention Center (where immigrants have been detained by ICE)
  • Compton, city of Paramount (where clashes occurred on Saturday)

WATCH: Protesters clash with riot squads in downtown LA

By Heloise Vyas

Law enforcement officers fire rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters gathered outside a federal building where the 100 people arrested over the past two days are detained.

Los Angeles protesters clash with riot squads outside federal building

Trump vows crackdown on 'violent people'

By Heloise Vyas

Yesterday, Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan said the White House would mobilise 2,000 National Guard troops to quell the protests in LA.

It was an unconventional move, as the state National Guard are typically activated at the request of a state governor, not the federal administration.

White House officials had, however, gone as far as to call the protests an "insurrection" against the United States.

Mr Trump, asked on Sunday if he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that empowers a president to deploy the US military to enforce the law and suppress events like civil disorder, did not use the label.

"It depends on whether or not there's an insurrection," he told reporters outside Air Force One.

"But you have violent people, and we're not going to let them get away with it … we're going to have troops everywhere."

Good morning

By Heloise Vyas

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the situation in Los Angeles.

If you haven't been following, LA is today seeing its third day of street demonstrations in opposition to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

They first began on Friday, local time, after agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested dozens of individuals from locations across the city on alleged immigration violations.

As of Sunday afternoon, local time, 300 troops from the National Guard, a state-based reserve military force, had been deployed to guard a federal detention centre in downtown LA where those arrested were being held, by order of President Donald Trump.

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