Donald Trump deploys California National Guard to L.A. to quell protests despite the governor’s objections

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President Donald Trump is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom after a second day of clashes between hundreds of protesters and federal immigration authorities in riot gear.

Confrontations broke out on Saturday near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles, where federal agents were staging at a Department of Homeland Security office nearby. Agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls, and protesters hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol vehicles. Smoke wafted from small piles of burning refuse in the streets.

Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, including in LA’s fashion district and at a Home Depot, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.

The White House announced that Trump would deploy the Guard to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.” It wasn’t clear when the troops would arrive.

Newsom, a Democrat, said in a post on the social platform X that it was “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.” He later said the federal government wants a spectacle and urged people not to give them one by becoming violent.

In a signal of the administration’s aggressive approach, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to deploy the U.S. military.

“If violence continues, active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert,” Hegseth said on X.

Trump’s order came after clashes in Paramount and neighboring Compton, where a car was set on fire. Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back.

Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including a detention center, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.

Earlier in Paramount, immigration officers faced off with demonstrators at the entrance to a business park, across from the back of a Home Depot. They set off fireworks and pulled shopping carts into the street, broke up cinder blocks and pelted a procession of Border Patrol vans as they departed and careened down a boulevard.

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said federal agents made more arrests of people with deportation orders on Saturday, but none at the Home Depot. The Department of Homeland Security has a building next door and agents were staging there as they prepared to carry out operations, he said on Fox11 Los Angeles. He didn’t say how many people were arrested Saturday or where.

Paramount Mayor Peggy Lemons told multiple news outlets that community members showed up in response because people are fearful about activity by immigration agents.

“When you handle things the way that this appears to be handled, it’s not a surprise that chaos would follow,” Lemons said.

Some demonstrators jeered at officers while recording the events on smartphones.

“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman said through a megaphone. “You are not welcome here.”

More than a dozen people were arrested and accused of impeding immigration agents, Essayli posted on X, including the names and mug shots of some of those arrested. He didn’t say where they were protesting.

Trump federalized part of California’s National Guard under what is known as Title 10 authority, which places him, not the governor, atop the chain of command, according to Newsom’s office.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the work the immigration authorities were doing when met with protests is “essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens.”

The president’s move came shortly after he issued a threat on his social media network saying that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not “do their jobs,” then “the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”

Trump signed the order shortly before he went to attend a UFC fight in New Jersey, where he sat ringside with boxer Mike Tyson.

Newsom said in his statement that local authorities “are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice,” and “there is currently no unmet need.”

The California Highway Patrol said Newsom directed it to deploy additional officers to “maintain public safety.”

Speaking on ABC7, Bass said that “we certainly want to make the opportunities available for people to exercise their First Amendment rights, but the minute that things turn to violence … that is not acceptable and people are going to be held accountable.”

She said she had spoken with members of the Trump administration and insisted that she and Newsom were in control and there was no need for the National Guard to be deployed.

In 2020, Trump asked governors of several states to deploy their National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police. Many agreed and sent troops.

Trump also threatened at the time to invoke the Insurrection Act for those protests — an intervention rarely seen in modern American history. But then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper pushed back, saying the law should be invoked “only in the most urgent and dire of situations.”

Trump did not invoke the act during his first term, and he did not do so Saturday, according to Leavitt and Newsom.

Protests kicked off a day earlier in Los Angeles after federal authorities arrested 44 people for violating immigration law Friday.

DHS later said recent ICE operations in Los Angeles resulted in the arrest of 118 immigrants, including five people linked to criminal organizations and people with prior criminal histories.

David Huerta, regional president of the Service Employees International Union, was also arrested Friday while protesting. The Justice Department confirmed that he was being held Saturday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles ahead of a scheduled Monday court appearance.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for his immediate release, warning of a “disturbing pattern of arresting and detaining American citizens for exercising their right to free speech.”

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.

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9 comments

Paul Passarelli
June 8, 2025 at 9:09 am

The article states:
“… protesters hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol vehicles. Smoke wafted from small piles of burning refuse in the streets.”
Igniting rubbish fires in the streets and hurling brickbats is not free speech.

“A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.”
Innocent until proven guilty. Let’s see the footage of the arrest.

“They set off fireworks and pulled shopping carts into the street, broke up cinder blocks and pelted a procession of Border Patrol vans as they departed …”
Detonating bombs, grand theft, petty theft & vandalism, aggravated assault. More than enough to detain and deport every illegal alien present!

‘“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman said through a megaphone. “You are not welcome here.”’

I say:
Illegal aliens out of the United States. You are not welcome here!
Larry Gillis, Director-at-Large, Libertarian Party of Florida
June 8, 2025 at 9:09 am

TRUMP INVADES CALIFORNIA.
He is a weeping wound on our beloved America. We are paying a horrible price for federalizing so many activities over the years and delegating so much authority to the federal Executive. This will not end well. Vote Libertarian.
- Bill
  June 8, 2025 at 9:42 am
  
  You’re not wrong. It won’t end well. I guess nobody read Project 2025 before they voted for him in the primaries.
KJP
June 8, 2025 at 9:55 am

Kalifornia use to be a place where people wanted to live. Beautiful state with horrible politicians. Now they have lost a congressional seat for the first time in its history. People and corporations are bailing out. Karen Dumbass, the mayor of LA, performing an encore after the LA fires debacle earlier this year. Newsom? Related to Pelosi right? Need I say more? Oh and Med-Cal is bankrupt. Too many illegals sucking money out of the system. Pay up taxpayers of Kalifornia. Already some of the highest overall taxes in the United States. Truly a dump.
- Bill
  June 8, 2025 at 11:46 am
  
  Don’t go there then. Still doesn’t change the fact that we’re all Americans and trump’s actions will do nothing other than distract from his incompetence and probably cause a loss of life. Maybe when he sends the national guard to Florida you might be more concerned.
  - KJP
    June 8, 2025 at 11:53 am
    
    Don’t worry Bill, I will never live in Kalifornia. Taxes, insurance, politics, are all out of wack for me. In case you aren’t aware, ICE, is removing illegals. Get it ? People that aren’t citizens of this country. They aren’t Americans. It appears ICE is going after the criminal illegals. Karen BumBass is proving a worthy successor to “wet sand, dry sand” Garcetti.
    - Bill
      June 8, 2025 at 3:48 pm
      
      You really think this is anything but a dress rehearsal for the crap trump is going to pull in the future? Where was the national guard when the fires were happening and they wanted help? Now they’re sending the guard without being asked to stir up more crap. If people are here illegally, that’s on them if they get caught and booted out but this is just project 2025 stuff that we’ll all live to regret.
      - PeterH
        June 8, 2025 at 4:15 pm
        
        Exactly Bill. LA was a nothingburger compared to the Washington DC January 6th riots. This is simply a dress rehearsal for the installation of marshal law before he cancels midterm elections.
Andrew
June 10, 2025 at 10:02 am

Exactly the right response for President Trump to send in the National Guard. Governor Nosense and Mayor B-ass are doing nothing to stop the “peaceful protesters” who are attacking the police and federal agents, burning and destroying property, and looting. Time to take off the gloves – “you loot – we shoot” sounds pretty good. It works real well in other countries. Al Pacino as Tony Montana in Scarface said it best — “Say Hello To My Little Friend” !!!!!! If the protestors want violence – let em have it !!!!!!