Updated June 8, 2025 at 6:27 PM CDT
Members of the California National Guard arrived in the Los Angeles area Sunday, after President Trump activated the troops to curb protests against federal immigration raids that occurred in and around the city in recent days.
On Sunday afternoon, protesters were gathering outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where some of the immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were initially held.
Tear gas and pepper spray have been deployed, according to NPR reporters at the scene, and authorities were using shields to push people back and maintain a perimeter. The day has been mostly peaceful but tensions have increased after two protests merged.
Some of the ongoing demonstrations, which came in response to a spate of immigration sweeps in Los Angeles late last week, escalated into clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officers.
In response, the White House said Trump would deploy 2,000 National Guard members to California. In a post on social media, Trump attacked what he called "Radical Left protests" by "instigators and often paid troublemakers."
Diana Crofts-Pelayo, deputy director of communications for Gov. Gavin Newsom, told NPR by email Sunday morning that around 300 California National Guard troops had arrived in Los Angeles.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X that active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton are on high alert and would also be mobilized "if violence continues."
But Newsom said there was no widespread violence and added in a statement that the Trump administration is "sowing chaos so they can have an excuse to escalate. That is not the way any civilized country behaves."
Newsom said he formally requested the Trump administration rescind "their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command."
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told NPR's All Things Considered on Sunday that "these [immigration] raids and now the federalization of troops to come into Los Angeles is an intentional effort to sow chaos."
Last week, actions by ICE agents sparked protests in multiple cities across the country, including Minneapolis and Chicago. Trump has ramped up immigration enforcement in his second term after running on a promise to conduct mass deportations.
ICE operations targeted multiple locations across the Los Angeles area, and in some cases demonstrators tried to block the transport of detained immigrants. Authorities used flash bangs, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse crowds. One particularly contentious confrontation occurred at a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, just outside Los Angeles.
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons said in a statement that "rioters attacked federal ICE and law enforcement officers on the LA streets" and that crowds also "surrounded and attacked a federal building."
An unknown number of people were arrested in the clashes. One of them was SEIU California president David Huerta. The union said he was treated at a hospital for injuries sustained during his arrest and remains in custody. Huerta was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will be arraigned on Monday in federal court, according to U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli.
ICE said in a Saturday post on X that it had arrested 118 immigrants during operations in Los Angeles this past week.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social early Sunday morning that the National Guard was doing a "great job." The National Guard can be activated by governors for local or statewide emergencies, and U.S. presidents can also call up the National Guard for federal missions, putting the force in the military chain of command.
Speaking to reporters in Morristown, N.J., later on Sunday, Trump described what happened in Los Angeles as a "riot" and said that justified activating the California National Guard.
He alluded to deploying troops to more U.S. cities, saying, "We're going to have troops everywhere. We're not going to let this happen to our country."
Trump also said that so far he doesn't see the basis for invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy military troops to quell unrest in the country, though he left open the possibility of doing that in the future.
In separate statements, the heads of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said their agencies do not participate in federal immigration enforcement actions but that they are working to maintain public safety.
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