US President Donald Trump has ordered 2,000 National Guardsmen to Los Angeles to deal with unrest over raids on undocumented migrants.
Trump said the federal government would “step in and solve the problem”, after the Californian city saw a second day of clashes on Saturday between protesters and federal agents.
Tear gas was used to disperse crowds as residents of the predominantly Latino Paramount district clashed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents earlier in the day.
As many as 118 arrests were made in LA this week as a result of ICE operations, including 44 on Friday. California Governor Gavin Newsom has condemned the raids as “cruel”.
Trump thanked the National Guard for a “job well done” in Los Angeles late on Saturday night.
On Sunday morning, the first group of troops began arriving in the city, staging outside a detention centre where illegal immigrants are taken once detained.
Trump criticised the city’s Democratic governor and mayor in a post on his Truth Social platform, calling them “incompetent”. He also said protesters would no longer be allowed to wear masks.
Newsom said the federal government’s takeover of the National Guard was “purposefully inflammatory” and would “only escalate tensions”.
The National Guard is usually called by a state’s governor, but Trump has used a provision that allows him to take control himself, Newsom’s office told the AP news agency.
Trump had earlier hit out at the governor on social media, saying that if he and LA Mayor Karen Bass could not do their jobs, “then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth later threatened to mobilise active-duty marines if violence continued, saying troops at nearby Camp Pendleton were on “high alert”. Newsom described this threat as “deranged behaviour”.
The Paramount district had calmed considerably late on Saturday evening, but clashes between protesters and law enforcement were still happening.
Outside the Home Depot hardware store where the protests first erupted, the air was thick with tear gas and smoke.
LA county sheriffs fired flash bangs and tear gas every few minutes to try to clear protesters away.
Neighbours and protesters said migrants were locked inside local businesses afraid to come out. Paramount’s population is more than 80% Hispanic.