Los Angeles(LA) police enforced a downtown curfew on Tuesday night, making arrests moments after it took effect, while deploying officers on horseback and using crowd control projectiles to break up a group of hundreds demonstrating against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The curfew, which applies to a 1-square-mile area of downtown Los Angeles, was in effect from 8 pm on Tuesday to 6 am on Wednesday.
LA Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency and said the curfew would likely remain in effect for several days. “We reached a tipping point” after 23 businesses were looted, Bass said during a news conference. The mayor stressed that the order only applied to a small portion of the city, which covers 502 square miles.
The protests began after federal immigration raids arrested dozens of workers in Los Angeles, with demonstrators blocking a major freeway and setting cars on fire over the weekend. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades. “Multiple groups continue to congregate on 1st St between Spring and Alameda,” the Los Angeles Police Department wrote on X. “Those groups are being addressed and mass arrests are being initiated. Curfew is in effect.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned Trump’s use of military force, calling it a “brazen abuse of power”. “That’s when the downward spiral began. He doubled down on his dangerous National Guard deployment by fanning the flames even harder, and the president – he did it on purpose,” Newsom said. Newsom added that the president had unleashed a “military dragnet” targeting ordinary people rather than violent criminals.
“That’s just weakness – weakness masquerading as strength. Donald Trump’s government isn’t protecting our communities, they’re traumatising communities, and that seems to be the entire point,” Newsom said. “California will keep fighting.” Newsom also warned that if people can be snatched off the streets without a warrant based on suspicion or skin color, “then none of us are safe”.
Trump defended his decision to mobilize troops against protesters, saying, “Generations of army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness here at home, like is happening in California.” He added, “As commander-in-chief, I will not let that happen. It’s never going to happen.”
Protesters rejected the Trump administration’s characterization of the raids as being aimed at violent criminals. Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reported that many people said they were working individuals seeking a better life, and they demanded an end to the raids. Activists stressed the need to keep demonstrations peaceful, citing concerns that violence would give Trump an excuse to use the military.