National Guard troops began staging in Los Angeles this morning, and another protest was being planned for the afternoon, a day after clashes between demonstrators and federal agents in Paramount spread overnight to Compton and Downtown LA, where local police and sheriff’s deputies skirmished with people in the streets for hours.
In response to the conflict on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy at least 2,000 National Guard troops. They started arriving on Sunday after last night’s protesters had dispersed. Early in the day, authorities said about 300 troops had been deployed to protect federal buildings and personnel across LA County.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who typically only deploys the California National Guard upon request from local law enforcement, said Trump was doing this without a “legitimate need.” In an interview with ABC7, LA Mayor Karen Bass said she was confident local law enforcement could handle the situation without the Guard’s presence.
Meanwhile, communities were bracing for the possibility of more immigration raids.
“We’ve been told to prepare for 30 straight days of ICE enforcement in LA County,” said Rep. Nanette Barragán, who represents portions of Long Beach and Southeast LA in Congress. “Sending 2,000 Natl Guard troops into our communities is not about safety — it’s about escalation,” she wrote on X.
Newsom accused the Trump Administration of ordering the troop deployment “not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle.”
“Don’t give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully,” he said on social media.
The situation escalated to this point after a second day of protests against immigration raids around Los Angeles. A major flashpoint was in Paramount, where organizers rushed to an office park across from the Home Depot at 6400 Alondra Blvd. on Saturday after hearing about a large group of federal agents in the area.
There, the demonstration erupted into a protracted clash with dozens of Border Patrol agents. For hours, two sides periodically lobbed fireworks, rocks, flashbangs and pepper balls at each other.
Protesters eventually moved across the Los Angeles River into Compton, and other demonstrators arrived on the streets of Downtown Los Angeles.
Overnight, the Los Angeles Police Department announced that multiple people had been detained after they “reentered the area of the Unlawful Assembly and against the Dispersal Order” following Saturday skirmishes near the downtown federal building on Alameda Street — between Aliso and Temple streets — which led to the demonstration being shut down.
Also late Saturday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it arrested two people for an alleged assault on a peace officer. An unidentified source told the Los Angeles Times the arrests were made after three deputies were struck and sustained minor injuries from a thrown Molotov cocktail.
A Presidential Memorandum posted Saturday on the White House website ordered the deployment of the National Guard in light of “numerous incidents of violence and disorder [which] … threaten to continue in response to the enforcement of Federal law by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions and supporting the faithful execution of Federal immigration laws.”
The order states, in part, that “The members and units of the National Guard called into Federal service shall be at least 2,000 National Guard personnel and the duration of duty shall be for 60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense.
“In addition, the Secretary of Defense may employ any other members of the regular Armed Forces as necessary to augment and support the protection of Federal functions and property in any number determined appropriate in his discretion.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he has placed U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton in San Diego on “high alert” to be deployed if needed.
Shortly after midnight today, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass thanked local law enforcement for handling the protests and emphasized that the National Guard had, at that point, “not been deployed in the City of Los Angeles.”
Another protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement was being planned for 2 p.m. Sunday outside Los Angeles City Hall.
City News Service and staff writer Jeremiah Dobruck contributed to this report.