The Trump administration said it would send 2,000 National Guard troops into Los Angeles after a second day in which protesters confronted immigration agents during raids of local businesses.
The move marks a major escalation in Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and came amid concerns from some officials in California.
The Guard has been deployed to Los Angeles previously, but it has been during widespread civil unrest, including the upheaval associated with the 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd, as well as the riots that occurred after the Rodney King verdict in 1992.
Los Angeles has seen several violent clashes during the recent immigration raids, but they have been limited to isolated areas including the Home Depot in Paramount, a location in L.A.’s fashion district and at the Civic Center.
Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School, noted that when the National Guard was sent to L.A. before, it was because California requested it and the response was coordinated.
Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley Law School, said in a text to The Times that Trump has the authority under the Insurrection Act of 1807 to federalize the National Guard units of states to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy” that “so hinders the execution of the laws.”
But he called the move very troubling. Such deployment typically happen during “extreme circumstances. … Here it seems it was an early response. And I fear that is to send a message to protesters of the willingness of the federal government to use federal troops to quell protests.”
In the most serious recent incident of protest violence, a crowd gathered Saturday near a Home Depot at 6400 Alondra Blvd. in Paramount for a demonstration that escalated over the course of the day into a fiery and tumultuous clash with federal agents.
The protest began without violence as demonstrators chanted “ICE go home” and “No justice, no peace.” Some protesters yelled at deputies, and a series of flash-bang grenades was deployed.
“What are you doing!” one man screamed out.
Times reporters witnessed federal agents lobbing multiple rounds of flash-bangs and pepper balls at protesters.
After a time, some protesters responded by throwing rocks and other items at ICE vehicles. One person used their own vehicle to speed toward deputies, spurring the deputies to deploy flash-bang grenades at the car. Many of the protesters did not appear to engage in these tactics.
Around 4 p.m., the confrontation near a Home Depot at 6400 Alondra Blvd. was declared an unlawful assembly, and officials warned protesters in Spanish and English to quit the scene immediately. During the protest, at least one protester was injured, witnesses reported, and a Border Patrol official said an agent was hurt.
By 7 p.m., about 100 protesters had gathered in the area of the 710 Freeway near Atlantic Avenue and Alondra Boulevard, where some were lobbing rocks and bottles at L.A. County sheriff’s deputies. At one point, someone set fire to a car, which became engulfed in flames.
Deputies responded with pepper spray canisters and ordered them to disperse.
In a statement shortly afterward, the Sheriff’s Department said: “We are planning for long-term civil unrest and collaborating with our law enforcement partners.”
The department said around 8 p.m. that it had arrested two people on suspicion of assaulting an officer. One allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail, and three deputies were struck, causing minor injuries, the department said. It did not make any other arrests earlier on Saturday.
However, U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a post on X that federal agents had arrested more than a dozen people “who impeded agents in their ability to conduct law enforcement operations.”
“We will continue to arrest anyone who interferes with federal law enforcement,” Essayli said.
The Department of Homeland Security could not immediately be reached for information on the arrests.
Earlier Saturday, Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s “border czar,” said officials were cracking down hard on the unrest and that the National Guard would be deployed to the city Saturday night.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed Saturday that the federal government was moving to take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers.
Newsom criticized the federal action in a statement Saturday evening, saying that local law enforcement was already mobilized and that sending in troops was a move that was “purposefully inflammatory” and would “only escalate tensions.”
“[T]here is currently no unmet need,” Newsom said. “This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust.”
At the Paramount protest, chants of “Fuera ICE” — ICE, get out — could be heard as flash-bang grenades deployed by federal agents lighted up the scene. The agents appeared to include members of Border Patrol, the U.S. Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations.
A group of protesters on a street corner shouted expletives and that there was “nothing but noise.” Shortly afterward, the grenades exploded at their feet, causing them to briefly scatter.
A Times reporter watched one protester gather a bag of trash and light it on fire in the middle of Alondra Boulevard, half a block from where immigration agents were gathered.
“This is a difficult time for our city. As we recover from an unprecedented natural disaster, many in our community are feeling fear following recent federal immigration enforcement actions across Los Angeles County. Reports of unrest outside the city, including in Paramount, are deeply concerning. We’ve been in direct contact with officials in Washington, D.C., and are working closely with law enforcement to find the best path forward,” L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said after the National Guard deployment was announced.
Saturday’s scene in Paramount followed raids across Los Angeles on Friday that led to the arrests of 44 people on suspicion of immigration violations, and another on suspicion of obstructing justice.
In his Fox News interview, Homan, the president’s former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director and now “border czar,” made unsubstantiated claims about the people who had been arrested, saying they included child sex offenders, gang members and national security threats.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he may deploy active-duty U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton in Southern California “if violence continues.”
“Under President Trump, violence & destruction against federal agents & federal facilities will NOT be tolerated. It’s COMMON SENSE,” Hegseth wrote in a social media post.
In Paramount, a city that is 82% Latino, protesters gathered along Alondra Boulevard on Saturday after reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were targeting people at a Home Depot where day laborers commonly gather in search of work.
A group of protesters stationed themselves near the Alondra exit of the 710 Freeway, as a second gathered by the Home Depot.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene about 11 a.m. The department clarified in a statement that it “was not involved in any federal law enforcement operations or actions,” and was present only to assist with traffic and crowd control.
By Saturday afternoon, bright orange shopping carts from Home Depot and a blue recycling bin were scattered across the boulevard. The air was acrid with smoke.
Federal agents deployed round after round of flash-bangs and pepper balls. Some of the projectiles struck protesters, witnesses said.
One woman among the protest group appeared to be bleeding, and another man was treated for injuries.
“There were some individuals around him throwing bricks. One of the windows got shattered and he was knocked unconscious. He seemed in a pretty bad state,” said Nico Thompson-Lleras, an attorney with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights who witnessed the incident. He said it was unclear whether the man was hit by a vehicle, a weapon or something else.
There is confusion as to what, if any ICE action was planned in the area.
Paramount Mayor Peggy Lemons, who was present at the scene, said the confrontation appeared to have started after protesters spotted immigration officers staging in a nearby business plaza where DHS has an office. Besides the reports of a raid at Home Depot, some immigrant legal advocates said they had been called because a raid was expected at a nearby meatpacking facility, but no raid materialized on Saturday, and a federal official told The Times there was no raid undertaken.
“We don’t know what was happening, or what their target was. To think that there would be no heightening of fear and no consequences from the community doesn’t sound like good preparation to me,” she said. “Above all, there is no communication and things are done on a whim. And that creates chaos and fear.”
The city of Paramount released a statement reaffirming it was not working with ICE or assisting the immigration operations in any way.
Helicopter footage from the scene showed law enforcement vehicles blocking access as they closed the road. Border Patrol agents stood lined up. Sheriff’s deputies set off flash-bangs to clear a freeway exit of protesters.
A U.S. Marshals Service bus approaching the location was surrounded by a crowd as it exited the freeway. Protesters kicked the vehicle and pushed back in an attempt to stop it, before another federal vehicle pulled up alongside the bus. An agent appeared to shoot tear gas to push the crowd back.
Lindsay Toczylowski, chief executive of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said in a post on X that ICE agents threw a tear-gas canister at two female attorneys with the organization, after they approached to ask that they be allowed to see a warrant and observe the action.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the incident.
Protesters burned an American flag while others waved Mexican flags. Some began lining the boulevard with large cement bricks.
One immigration agent was cut on his hand from a rock that sailed through his windshield, according to a social media post by U.S. Border Patrol chief Michael W. Banks.
Federal officials struck an ominous tone.
“Multiple arrests have already been made for obstructing our operations,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said on X. “More are coming. We are pouring through the videos for more perpetrators. You bring chaos, and we’ll bring handcuffs.”
José Luis Solache Jr., the California Assembly member who represents the Paramount area that includes the Home Depot, said he was on the way to a community event when he saw Border Patrol cars exit the freeway. He decided to turn around.
Solache said he arrived and began observing alongside other demonstrators in a peaceful effort when the agents started shooting off canisters in their direction, forcing him and others to run through the smoke. After identifying himself to agents, he tried to get information about what they were doing, but they would not answer his questions, he said.
“You see the community here, demonstrating that they don’t want them here,” he said as flash-bangs went off nearby. “Our hardworking communities are being targeted. These are hardworking families. These are not criminals. You’re going to facilities where people are literally working.”
Times staff writer Connor Sheets contributed to this report.
