Los Angeles police declared an unlawful assembly around the downtown federal building at 10 p.m., after a crowd that had been shouting at immigration raids turned to throwing bottles. That was the first night. By the fourth, the city was under a curfew and the president had ordered troops in.
The protests began on Friday, June 6, 2025, after word spread that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were carrying out sweeps across Southern California. Reports circulated of agents chasing people through a Home Depot parking lot in Westlake. Around 3 p.m., a crowd gathered in the Fashion District after agents showed up at an apparel business. Aerial footage from ABC’s Los Angeles station appeared to show people in handcuffs being loaded into two white vehicles, and protesters tried and failed to stop them. ICE later told CBS that 44 immigrants had been arrested in one job-site operation that Friday and 77 more across the Los Angeles area.
Downtown flashpoint
Most of the trouble centered on the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. Police fired less-lethal projectiles, tear gas and flash bangs. Authorities said demonstrators blocked a major freeway, burned vehicles and threw rocks and Molotov cocktails. Elsewhere in the city, the BBC noted, life went on as normal, and protest activity outside downtown was largely peaceful.
On Saturday a crowd gathered in Paramount amid rumors of a raid at a Home Depot. Sheriff’s deputies ordered it to disperse and used tear gas and flash bangs when people stayed. A car was set on fire in neighboring Compton. Mayor Karen Bass said later that no ICE raids took place in Paramount or anywhere else in the county that day, and that the building protesters had gathered near was a staging area for federal resources.
Troops arrive
About 6 p.m. on Saturday, President Trump signed a memorandum sending 2,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles, saying it was needed to “address the lawlessness.” Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom objected at once, and 22 Democratic governors called the move “an alarming abuse of power.” The BBC reported it was the first time since 1965 that the Guard had been activated without a governor’s request.
The Pentagon then confirmed that 700 Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms were headed to the city. Later it added 2,100 more California Guard members, bringing the number mobilized for Los Angeles to more than 4,000. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said they were there “to support ICE & to enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties.”
Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the administration, accusing it of trampling the state’s sovereignty. “These are the acts of a dictator, not a President,” Newsom wrote. Trump, asked about the Insurrection Act, said: “If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We will see.” He called the protesters “paid insurrectionists” without citing evidence, and said Los Angeles would be “burning” without the Guard.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said people had fired commercial-grade fireworks at officers, adding, “That can kill you.” Bass said 23 downtown businesses were looted on Monday, June 9 alone. She declared a local emergency and an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew across one square mile of downtown. McDonnell said 197 people were arrested downtown on Tuesday night, and the BBC put the arrest total at 338 since Friday, with no protest-related deaths reported in the city.
The demonstrations spread. Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the state’s Guard to San Antonio, and thousands gathered in New York. In San Francisco, more than 150 people were arrested after a rally near an ICE office turned violent.
Sources
- LA protests timeline: How ICE raids sparked demonstrations and Trump to send in the military
- Everything we know about the protests in LA and other US cities
