June 6
At approximately 9:15 a.m. PDT on Friday morning, an immigration raid was conducted within the
Los Angeles Fashion District; two other raids occurred at a clothing wholesaler and a
Home Depot. Over 100 people were arrested at the three locations. Several federal agents responded to protests with
stun grenades. A clash between protesters and agents broke out at the
Metropolitan Detention Center. Agents present at the raid were identified with
Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Homeland Security Investigations, and
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives patches. Homeland Security Investigations stated that 44 people were "administratively arrested", and one person was arrested for obstruction;
Bill Essayli, the acting
United States attorney for the Central District of California, said that
David Huerta, the California president of the
Service Employees International Union, was arrested for blocking a vehicle and charged with felony conspiracy to impede an officer. Huerta was injured and taken to the hospital, where he was transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Protests began following the arrests. Clashes between protesters and ICE agents in riot gear occurred near the
Home Depot in
Westlake. ICE also arrested several people at a clothing store and clashed with activists. After "some protesters hurled chunks of broken concrete toward officers," the
Los Angeles Police Department engaged in intense standoffs with protestors in which
tear gas,
pepper spray, and
flash-bang grenades were used to disperse the crowd. Approximately 200 protesters remained at the facility by 7 p.m. PDT, when the
Los Angeles Police Department ordered protesters to disperse. The police department authorized the use of
less-lethal munitions the following hour. This was followed at 8:24 p.m. PDT by a citywide tactical alert.
June 7
Protests against the raid continued through Saturday. According to Peggy Lemons, the mayor of
Paramount, California, a confrontation near a Home Depot began after protesters observed
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers staging near a local branch building. The DHS estimated that one thousand people were protesting at the building. Angelica Salas, the director of the
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, stated that there were seven raids in which 45 people had been detained. According to
The New York Times, the protests have delayed processing of detainees. California Governor
Gavin Newsom announced that
California Highway Patrol units would be deployed to protect Los Angeles freeways. By June 7, 118 undocumented immigrants had been arrested in Los Angeles, according to the DHS.
In Paramount, protestors blocked a street with shopping carts and a recycling bin. Federal agents then deployed
flash bang grenades and
pepper balls, injuring two people.
World Socialist Web Site reporters reportedly sustained injuries while documenting the protests, including a reporter who was shot in the back with a rubber bullet by a US immigration officer. According to an attorney with the
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, some protestors were throwing bricks, and others looked injured. At 2:30 p.m. PDT, LAPD issued a dispersal order using
loudspeakers.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies then used tear gas against the protesters to disperse them. One ICE agent sustained injuries after a rock thrown by a protestor struck the windshield on the vehicle they were driving and cut their hand. At around 8 p.m. PDT, two people were arrested on suspicion of assaulting police officers, including one who allegedly threw a
Molotov cocktail, causing minor injuries to three deputies.
Nick Stern, a British photojournalist, was struck by non-lethal police rounds while reporting on protests near a Home Depot in Paramount, a location often used for hiring migrant workers for day labor. He underwent surgery.
Protesters also gathered at the Metropolitan Detention Center in
Downtown Los Angeles, with law enforcement forming a skirmish line to disperse the protesters. Shortly before 11 p.m. PDT, protestors threw an object at and hit a
police cruiser as it was leaving the area at an intersection in Downtown Los Angeles. By night, the protests reached
Compton, where several demonstrators threw glass bottles filled with a substance that reportedly smelled like
gasoline.
In an interview with
Fox News, White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations
Tom Homan announced that the
National Guard would be sent into Los Angeles that night. That evening, President
Donald Trump signed a memorandum deploying 2,000 members of the
California National Guard to the protests. Trump invoked
10 U.S.C. § 12406 to nationalize the National Guard. In a
tweet,
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that active duty
Marines were on "high alert" at
Camp Pendleton.
June 8
Protests died down in the early morning but were still ongoing, with organizers calling for another day of protesting. At 11:30 a.m. PDT,
Centro CSO held a rally followed by a march to the detention center in downtown Los Angeles. Protests outside of
Los Angeles City Hall occurred at around 2 p.m. PDT.
Three hundred
California Army National Guard troops from the
79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team most of the troops were seen outside of federal buildings. Under the direction of Hegseth, approximately 500 active-duty Marines from the
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms were put on a "prepared to deploy status". At the Metropolitan Detention Center, the National Guard and DHS officers used smoke and pepper spray to displace protesters and open a path for the DHS,
Border Patrol, and other military vehicles to enter the facility. National Guard troops also arrived outside the downtown Los Angeles Detention Center. Police had arrived to join the National Guard by noon.
Homan commented, while speaking to
NBC News, that "someone's going to lose their life" if the protests continue, also noting that governor of California
Gavin Newsom and mayor of Los Angeles
Karen Bass could potentially face federal charges over the response to the ICE raids. Trump later threatened to "have troops everywhere" if the protests spread to other cities and said "if we see danger to our country and our citizens", the Marines would be deployed to the city.
At 2:30 p.m. PDT, the
LAPD Central Division announced that the City of Los Angeles is on "
tactical alert." Subsequently, at 2:49 p.m. PDT, the LAPD Central Division announced that less-lethal munitions had been authorized for use to disperse the protest, individuals throwing objects at officers would be detained and arrested, and that an
unlawful assembly had been declared by the
Incident Commander. Two LAPD officers were injured after motorcyclists attempted to breach a skirmish line and hit them at a protest in the Alameda and Temple area. Both riders were detained and the officers were treated at the scene. The Los Angeles Police Department announced that a number of people were arrested at the Civic Center area of Downtown Los Angeles, including several people who were detained and handcuffed with
zip ties.
Before 4 p.m., protestors entered the
US 101 freeway in downtown Los Angeles and blocked traffic, causing police to subsequently shut down the freeway in both directions. The LAPD announced that parts of the freeway and multiple streets were closed to drivers as a result of protests. Police reported people were shooting fireworks at officers. Rocks, scooters and cinder blocks were thrown at police cars. People attempted to set police cruisers on fire. Protesters also threw cinder blocks at police officers and at other people. Five
Waymo driverless cars were vandalized, set alight, and destroyed. LAPD officials warned that burning lithium-ion batteries releases toxic gasses. The following day, Waymo suspended service and removed their vehicles in Downtown Los Angeles, however a spokesperson said they do not believe the cars were intentionally targeted. The service is still operating in the Los Angeles area in general. At around 4 p.m. PDT, Newsom sent a letter to Secretary Hegseth requesting him to rescind Trump's order to deploy the National Guard, calling it a "serious breach of state sovereignty".
By night, the LAPD also announced on their social media that the entire downtown Los Angeles area was considered to be an unlawful assembly and urged everyone to leave the area.
Lauren Tomasi, a reporter for Australia's
Nine News, was struck by a rubber bullet while reporting on the protests outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where police were beginning to disperse the protesters. Australian Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese called the shooting "targeted" and said he had raised the issue with the Trump administration.
The LAPD reported that
looting had occurred at stores in the area of
6th Street and
Broadway (downtown Los Angeles). as well as near 8th Street and Broadway. Several fires also reported to have been set in dumpsters and trash bins. Numerous buildings, including the
Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, the
United States Courthouse, and the old
Los Angeles Times Building, were
tagged with
graffiti. At least one store had windows shattered by alleged looters. Multiple windows at the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters were also broken.
The
United States Northern Command established a formal task force, Task Force 51, to coordinate the military response. An official statement said "as
USNORTHCOM's land component command,
U.S. Army North stood up Task Force 51, with a two-star general, as the ground command and control element over the Title 10 forces." The task force is commanded by Major General Scott M. Sherman.
Late in the night, the City of
Glendale decided to terminate its detention agreement with ICE, in part as a reaction to the protests and unrest in Los Angeles.
June 9
In the early afternoon, SEIU organized a rally at
Grand Park with thousands of participants. Senators
Adam Schiff (D-CA) and
Alex Padilla (D-CA) sent a letter to the
Department of Homeland Security and
Department of Justice demanding that a review of the arrest of Huerta be performed. Huerta was released later that afternoon from custody on a $50,000 bond. Centro CSO held a press conference followed by a rally at Mariachi Plaza at 5:30 p.m. PDT, followed by a march to Hollenbeck Police Station in Boyle Heights.
Protestors vandalized a federal building with
graffiti and chanted "National Guard, Out of LA", "ICE out of LA", "Trump out of LA" and "Shame on you" in the streets. Guards with
riot shields warned protestors to stay off of the property and stick to the sidewalk. After night fell, many protestors were detained with zip-ties before being loaded onto a Los Angeles Police Department bus. Other protestors threw objects at police, including fireworks. A
CNN crew and two security personnel working with the crew were briefly detained but were later released with no charges filed. A
Telemundo news van was also vandalized by protestors. Police threw flash bangs and shot rubber bullets at a crowd of protestors downtown after telling people to clear the area and stop throwing things on a loudspeaker. Several stores were looted including an Apple Store, an Adidas store, a jewelry store, and pharmacies. Around 30 people smashed the doors of a CVS store to steal from it. Museums were vandalized. The Los Angeles Police Department said Los Angeles declared a tactical alert adding that "all uniformed personnel are to remain on duty". As of 9:30 PDT, police officers and deputies still maintain a large presence, but all protesters had left the area, and a cleanup effort had begun to clear
debris in the streets, sweep up glass, and paint over messages/graffiti.
Speaking to reporters at the
White House, Trump described the protesters as "
insurrectionists". Many in the media speculated that this language could give him a rationale for invoking the
1807 Insurrection Act. Trump further indicated that he believes that Governor Newsom should be arrested, saying, "I would do it if I were Tom", referring to Tom Homan, whom Newsom has taunted to go to California to arrest him. Newsom responded shortly after, saying: "This is a day I hoped I would never see in America" and "this is an unmistakable step toward
authoritarianism."
Trump wrote on
Truth Social:
"If they spit, we will hit." This is a statement from the President of the United States concerning the catastrophic Gavin Newscum inspired Riots going on in Los Angeles. The Insurrectionists have a tendency to spit in the face of the National Guardsmen/women, and others. These Patriots are told to accept this, it's just the way life runs. But not in the Trump Administration. IF THEY SPIT, WE WILL HIT, and I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before. Such disrespect will not be tolerated!
By midday, the number of National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles had increased from 300
CNN and
NBC 4 Los Angeles reported that, per
the Pentagon, 700
Marines from
Marine Corps Base Twentynine Palms—drawn from the
2nd Battalion, 7th Marines—would deploy to Los Angeles alongside the National Guard. The same day, an additional 2,000 National Guard members were authorized by Trump for deployment, bringing the total to more than 4,100.
Late Monday night, the
San Francisco Chronicle published a leaked letter from Secretary of Homeland Security
Kristi Noem to US Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth that requested "[d]irection to DoD forces to either detain, just as they would at any federal facility guarded by military, lawbreakers under
Title 18 until they can be arrested and processed by federal law enforcement, or arrest them." Noem also asked for "drone surveillance support" as well as weapons and logistics assistance in Los Angeles.
I've seen it all.![fqp25q[1].webp](http://uploads.kiwifarms.st/data/attachments/7471/7471903-eef08feef07052d1405e1329ae23d830.jpg?hash=u-hMhO1ZHO "fqp25q[1].webp")
