Karen Bass (Los Angeles Mayor): “The chaos is caused by the administration. People should exercise their right to protest—that’s their First Amendment right. But people should also exercise that right peacefully. We do not want to play into the administration’s hands. We’re working with officials and organizing resources, but what we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos provoked by the administration. When you raid Home Depot and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you cause fear and panic.”
Maxine Waters (U.S. Representative from California): “This is Trump and his outrageous attempt to not only target our sanctuary city but to frighten and intimidate us.”
National Guard troops flooded Los Angeles streets. Tear gas was fired. Protesters blocked freeways and set vehicles ablaze, all sparked by one order from President Trump.
Here’s a full timeline of the explosive three-day standoff.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol deployed helicopters to monitor the ongoing protests in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. According to data from FlightRadar24, the tracking site showed several helicopters flying at varying altitudes above the downtown area, encircling neighborhoods in Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Compton, the Fashion District, and South Park. Demonstrators continued to clash with law enforcement as night fell on the third day of protests against immigration raids that swept across California over the weekend.
Detention Center Clashes and Highway Blockades
Tensions reached a boiling point in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. Hours after 300 National Guard troops arrived in the city on President Trump’s orders, protesters gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. A confrontation broke out. Demonstrators shouted at Guard troops lined up behind plastic riot shields. Tear gas was fired, and the crowd swelled. Protesters moved to block the 101 Freeway, but the California Highway Patrol later cleared them out. The Guard had been deployed to protect federal buildings, including the detention center where some immigrants were recently held. Police, some on horseback, patrolled the streets. Others fired rubber bullets and flashbangs into the crowd. Protesters set autonomous vehicles on fire and hurled objects at law enforcement. The city was on edge. Governor Gavin Newsom sent a letter to Trump, calling the troop presence a serious breach of state sovereignty.
Governor Gavin Newsom: “The presence of the Guard is inflaming tensions.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass added: “What we’re seeing in LA is chaos caused by the administration. People should exercise their right to protest—that’s their First Amendment right. But people should also exercise that right peacefully. We do not want to play into the administration’s hands. We’re working with officials and organizing resources, but what we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos provoked by the administration. When you raid Home Depot and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you cause fear and panic. Deploying federalized troops is a dangerous escalation. We need to be clear about this: this is about another agenda, not public safety. There’s clearly no plan or policy. We’re hearing all sorts of information—raids could continue, the National Guard might stay. This uncertainty is exactly the problem. We don’t need our city to go to sleep tonight and wake up to people running through Home Depot parking lots, being chased by ICE officers. Are people going to work? Are children at school? Our city is trying to heal and rebuild. It does not need to be torn apart by provocative measures from the federal government.”
President Trump defended his decision, accusing Democrats of failing to control protests targeting immigration agents.
Trump: “We’re not going to let this happen to our country. We’re not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden.”
This marked a major escalation, the first time in decades that federal troops were deployed without a governor’s request. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) stated it would not have deployed the National Guard to quell the unrest flooding the city and that the troop involvement was directed top-down by President Trump’s orders.
Jim McDonnell (Los Angeles Police Chief): “We could have handled this. We would have gone through several steps before requesting the National Guard. Normally, we would deploy 50% of our forces to handle radio calls and routine policing, while the rest focus on the immediate problem. Beyond that, we would request mutual aid through the Sheriff’s Department, bringing in members of the 44 other police departments in LA County, as well as the Sheriff’s Office. That didn’t occur here because the decision wasn’t made through the Sheriff or the normal chain of command. It was directed top-down by the President, and the National Guard was federalized, so they’re working for the U.S. Army, not the California National Guard. Do we need them? Looking at the situation tonight, this has gotten out of control. Before I could answer definitively, I’d need to know more about their capabilities and intended role. We have great cops in Southern California who work together all the time, so we have tremendous capability here. To say we would have immediately resorted to the National Guard—no, we wouldn’t have been there yet. But given the violence tonight, we need to reassess.”
A day earlier, clashes erupted in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles. Protesters faced off with federal agents near a Home Depot. Tear gas, flashbang grenades, and pepper balls were fired into the crowd. Demonstrators hurled rocks, cement, and fireworks, and some blocked Border Patrol vehicles. Smoke rose from burning refuse. Protesters regrouped near a donut shop, where agents used barbed wire to push them back. Trump ordered the deployment of 2,000 California National Guard troops, overriding Governor Newsom’s objections.
Governor Newsom called the move purposefully inflammatory: “The federal government wants a spectacle. Don’t give them one.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signaled the administration’s hardline stance, even hinting at military deployment.
Federal buildings in downtown LA, including a detention center, became flashpoints again. The LAPD declared an unlawful assembly and made arrests. It all started on Friday when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 44 people across Los Angeles. Agents carried out search warrants at multiple locations, including outside a clothing warehouse in the Fashion District. Protesters surrounded black SUVs and tactical vehicles. Sirens blared, and flashbangs exploded. One demonstrator tried to block a vehicle with their body.
Mayor Karen Bass slammed the raids, calling them a tactic to sow terror.
Angelica Salas of CHIRLA reported ICE activity at seven sites, including several Home Depot parking lots and a donut shop. Outside the federal detention center, chants of “Set them free, let them stay” rang out. Protesters held signs reading “ICE out of LA.” Officers with batons and shields eventually forced the crowd back. From targeted raids to a full-blown military presence, Los Angeles has seen three straight days of confrontation, chaos, and fear. With immigration raids continuing and public outrage mounting, tensions show no sign of easing.
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