Protests intensify in Los Angeles

Rubber bullets and tear gas flew Sunday in Los Angeles as protesters faced off against city state and federal law enforcement after President Donald Trump declared the city in a state of rebellion and deployed the National Guard The clashes came on the third day of demonstrations against Trump s immigration crackdown in the region as the arrival of around federal troops spurred anger and fear among various residents By midday hundreds had gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles where people were detained after earlier immigration raids Protesters directed chants of shame and go home at members of the National Guard who stood shoulder to shoulder carrying long guns and riot shields After selected protesters closely approached the guard members another set of uniformed officers advanced on the group shooting smoke-filled canisters into the street Minutes later the Los Angeles Police Department fired rounds of crowd-control munitions to disperse the protesters who they stated were assembled unlawfully Much of the group then moved to block traffic on the freeway The protests arose after heavily armed and masked ICE began widespread sweeps in the L A County suburbs on Friday According to the Los Angeles Police Department protestors remained peaceful and their activity concluded without occurrence But while the local law enforcement government publicly commended residents for exercising their first Amendment rights responsibly Trump saw the situation differently To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Establishment of the United States he explained in a report Trump later declared that Los Angeles had been invaded and occupied by criminals and illegal aliens He promised to free the city from violent insurrectionist mobs and reported he will order his administration to take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion and put an end to these Migrant riots Order will be restored the Illegals will be expelled and Los Angeles will be set free he wrote On Sunday U S Northern Command substantiated that elements of the th Infantry Brigade Combat Crew from the California National Guard were already on the ground in the L A region and that more were in the process of deploying Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth noted that if violence continues working duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized they are on high alert The presence of the Guard was inflaming tensions in the city according to a letter sent to Trump by Gov Gavin Newsom on Sunday afternoon Newsom formerly requested Trump remove the guard members which he called a serious breach of state sovereignty Trump has reported the National Guard was necessary because Newsom and other Democrats have failed to stanch new protests targeting immigration agents Trump went on to proclaim that those who participate in protests against his administration s procedures of allowing unidentifiable federal agents to perform their law enforcement duties while wearing masks would no longer be afforded the same sort of anonymity These Radical Left protests by instigators and often paid troublemakers will NOT BE TOLERATED Also from now on MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests Trump declared via his personally owned social media platform before wondering with no apparent sense of irony what do these people have to hide and why Again thank you to the National Guard for a job well done he added Newsom urged protesters to remain peaceful Don t give them one Never use violence Speak out peacefully the Democratic governor reported adding later that state residents should not give Donald Trump what he wants Speak up Stay peaceful Stay calm Do not use violence and respect the law enforcement officers that are trying their best to keep the peace he wrote Newsom called Hegseth s threat to deploy working duty Marines on U S soil against U S citizens deranged behavior Hegseth responded that deranged behavior really occurs when local political leaders are allowing your city to burn and law enforcement to be attacked Sen Elizabeth Warren explained via social media that Trump s decision to deploy troops to California over the objections of local leaders amounts to an abuse of power and a dangerous escalation It s what you would see in authoritarian states and it must stop Americans have the right to speak out and peacefully protest she wrote Connecticut s U S Sen Chris Murphy explained that Trump s domestic troop deployment is cover for a darker plan The state and city have the means to control the protests Donald Trump is getting involved to intentionally make the situation more violent And potentially to create a pretext for specific sort of martial law he reported via social media House Speaker Mike Johnson a staunch Trump ally endorsed the president s move doubling down on Republicans criticisms of California Democrats Gavin Newsom has shown an inability or an unwillingness to do what is necessary so the president stepped in Johnson declared The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor s permission was in when President Lyndon B Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama according to the Brennan Center for Justice In a message Sunday Assistant Homeland Shield Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused California s politicians and protesters of defending heinous illegal alien criminals at the expense of Americans safety Instead of rioting they should be thanking ICE officers every single day who wake up and make our communities safer McLaughlin added A protester is detained in downtown Los Angeles Sunday AP Photo Eric Thayer