What you need to know
Rapper Doechii notes ‘fear and chaos’ at LA awards show
Doechii, a Grammy award-winning rapper, condemned Trump’s use of the military to stop protests in Los Angeles as she accepted an award a short distance from where demonstrations are taking place.
“There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order,” she said after claiming best female hip-hop artist at the 2025 BET Awards.
“Trump is using military forces to stop a protest, and I want y’all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us.”
The annual awards ceremony which celebrates the achievements of black artists and entertainers was held at the Peacock Theatre in downtown LA on Monday night.
Marines are ‘political pawn’, says Newsom
Newsom has said that the US marines are being used as a “political pawn” and threatened to sue the Trump administration over their deployment to Los Angeles.
“The secretary of defence is illegally deploying them on to American streets so Trump can have a talking point at his parade this weekend,” the California governor said, referring to a military parade planned for Washington DC to commemorate the US army’s anniversary.
“We will sue to stop this. The courts and Congress must act. Checks and balances are crumbling.”
Newsom filed a lawsuit on Monday to challenge the deployment of the California National Guard.
Newsom to deploy 800 more police
Newsom said his office would send 800 additional state and local law-enforcement officers to Los Angeles as a standoff with Trump over the deployment of federal troops intensified.
“Chaos is exactly what Trump wanted, now we are sending in hundreds more law enforcement to pick up the pieces,” the governor said.
The surge of police numbers came after Trump activated 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 US marines to quell the protests, which were set off by immigration raids on immigrant workers.
Newsom’s office said that Trump had “acted illegally to federalise the National Guard, who subsequently became the focus of large-scale protests.”
California is suing Trump and Hegseth, the defence secretary, over the order.
Protests move to arts district
The protesters have moved to the arts district of downtown Los Angeles, causing police to shut down several blocks to traffic.
“Arrests are being made,” police said in a post on X.
Mayor hopes nightfall won’t bring ‘problems’
Police have advised residents to avoid the civic centre area of downtown Los Angeles after protesters splintered into several groups.
Protesters have been arrested in the past few minutes as police attempt to disperse crowds before night falls in the city.
Karen Bass, the LA mayor, said earlier that there had been “no reports” of violence or vandalism during the day. “We will worry as it gets dark as to whether or not there are problems, but we certainly hope that there will not be,” she added.
In pictures: LA riven by protests
Protests erupt in Dallas
Several protesters have been arrested at an anti-ICE protest in Dallas, Texas, where hundreds rallied on Monday evening.
About 400 people gathered at the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge on Monday evening chanting “ICE, ICE, shut it down” and “unite and fight for immigrant rights”, according to the Dallas Evening News.
Dallas police in riot gear blocked off traffic to the bridge after a car tire was set ablaze and demonstrators began to move on to the streets.
Protesters repelled from federal buildings
Police have been moving protesters away from a complex of federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles where they had congregated over the afternoon.
The demonstrators, who have splintered into several groups, appear to be complying with the police.
Earlier, officers fired rubber bullets and flash bangs into the crowd after protester threw water bottles near the Metropolitan Detention Centre. There’s about another hour of daylight before the sun sets on the West Coast.
Man shot with non-lethal ammunition
A male protester appears to have been shot with non-lethal ammunition as armed police attempted to disperse a large crowd in downtown Los Angeles.
The man, who gave his name as “Toady”, said he had been backing away while “talking shit” to an approaching line of officers when he was shoved. Toady said he hadn’t made any contact with the police at this point.
He said he got angry and yelled in the face of the officer who had pushed him and was then fired at by another officer. Images show three large welts on the man’s abdomen. Toady said he did not know what type of non-lethal ammunition had been used, though reports have emerged that police are now using tear gas and rubber bullets.
The incident took place close to the central federal immigration complex, where hundreds of demonstrators had been gathered since lunchtime.
Marines prepare to enter LA
US Marines based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Centre in Twentynine Palms are preparing to mobilise for deployment to Los Angeles, according to a post on X from US Northern Command.
The Marines will integrate with National Guard troops to protect federal buildings and personnel, the command said earlier.
Troops are not permitted to arrest protesters unless the president invokes the Alien Enemies Act.
Police fire rubber bullets at crowd
Police fired rubber bullets and threw flash bangs at a crowd of protesters outside of a federal building complex in downtown Los Angeles a short time ago.
Officers in riot gear ordered a crowd in front of the Metropolitan Detention Centre to disperse before firing shots at people who were throwing water bottles.
“Protesters in the crowd began throwing objects at the officers,” the police department said in a post on X. “The use of less-lethal munitions has been authorised.”
Mayor Karen Bass tells ICE: ‘Stop the raids’
Karen Bass, the Los Angeles mayor, called on ICE to “stop the raids” on undocumented workers during a press conference.
Bass blamed the federal government enforcement operations to sweep up immigrant workers for setting off the protests of the past four days.
“I can’t emphasise enough the level of fear and terror that is in Angelenos now. They [the raids] should not be happening in our city,” she said. “This was a chaos that started in Washington DC. On Thursday it was peaceful, on Friday it was not because of the intervention of the federal government.
“We are a city of immigrants, and we have always embraced that.”
Bass added the National Guard deployment was a “provocative move” that had further inflamed tensions.
Analysis: Trumpian brinkmanship escalates
President Trump’s decision to send US reservists from the National Guard to Los Angeles was regarded by Democratic politicians as incendiary. Yet the deployment of 700 marines, the elite of the US military, is a further ramping-up of his political brinkmanship.
The US Marine Corps is regarded as the most lethal branch of the American military and bore the brunt of the island-hopping Pacific campaign against Japan in the Second World War. The image of US troops raising the stars and stripes over Iwo Jima featured six soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment.
Specialising in amphibious warfare, the marines subsequently were at the forefront of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, when they were trusted to clear a path for the ground invasion.
Extra National Guards to support ICE and police
Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed that Trump had mobilised 2,000 additional California National Guard members.
The troops would support Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and enable federal police officers to safely conduct their duties, Parnell said in a post on X.
Trump sends in 2,000 more National Guard troops
Trump has authorised the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members, US officials confirmed to the Associated Press.
The president has just signed the order, and it hasn’t been officially announced yet. The deployment doubles the number of National Guard troops in the city.
Newsom had said earlier in a post on X that such a move would be “reckless and disrespectful”. “This isn’t about public safety. It’s about stroking a dangerous president’s ego,” the California governor added.
The Trump administration has also deployed 700 US Marines to Los Angeles.
Newsom accuses Trump of ‘power grab’ in lawsuit
Gavin Newsom has accused the Trump administration in a lawsuit of an “unprecedented power grab” by sending the California National Guard in to quell the Los Angeles protests.
The California governor’s lawsuit, which was filed in the past few minutes, stated that local police had the protests under control before Trump invoked emergency powers.
It further alleged that Trump and Hegseth had violated the constitution by overriding Newsom’s authority to deploy the force.
“Defendants have overstepped the bounds of law and are intent on going as far as they can to use the military in unprecedented, unlawful ways,” the lawsuit stated.
Maga-hatted man punched in face
By Samuel Lovett in Los Angeles
The protests in LA threatened to spill over into violence after a Trump supporter confronted the crowds gathered outside an immigration detention centre in downtown Los Angeles.
The man was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, which was quickly snatched by a protester. He was told to leave but demanded his hat back before being punched in the face.
He was then chased down the street and eventually cornered at the entrance of an underground car park. Some of the protesters urged those chasing him not to turn violent and to return to the main rally.
Police eventually arrived to remove the Trump supporter, whose face was bloodied from the incident.
“The difference between me and you is that I’d defend your right to protest,” he told the small crowd as they shouted abuse at him behind a wall of armed police.
Newson: Trump to send another 2,000 troops
Gavin Newsom, the California governor, said he had been informed that the Trump administration would deploy another 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles.
“This isn’t about public safety. It’s about stroking a dangerous president’s ego,” Newsom said in a post on X. “This is reckless. Pointless. And disrespectful to our troops.”
Newsom claimed that the first National Guard troops to have been deployed were being deprived of food and water — and that the majority were still awaiting orders.
Protesters held in New York
Protesters have been arrested at an anti-ICE demonstration outside a federal government complex in New York.
A New York police spokesman said “multiple individuals” had been blocking streets near Federal Plaza, which houses an immigration court and Department of Homeland Security offices.
The protesters refused to comply with orders to disperse, the spokesman said. It was unclear how many people had been arrested.
Jessica Tisch, the police commissioner, said the department had “no tolerance for violence, property damage or for people blocking cars, driveways or entrances to buildings”.
“Any attack against law enforcement will be met with a swift and decisive response from the NYPD,” Tisch said in a post on X.
Hegseth: Marines will ‘defend’ police
Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, has confirmed that 700 active-duty Marines were being deployed to Los Angeles.
“Due to increased threats to federal law-enforcement officers and federal buildings, approximately 700 active-duty US Marines from Camp Pendleton are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order,” Hegseth said in a post on X.
“We have an obligation to defend federal law-enforcement officers — even if Gavin Newsom will not.”
There had been conflicting reports over whether the Marines were being sent to Los Angeles to assist the National Guard troops or if they would be transferred to an army base closer to the city.
Seventy arrested in Los Angeles
At least 50 protesters were arrested during demonstrations in central Los Angeles over the weekend, police said.
On Saturday, 29 people were arrested for failure to disperse. Another 21 people were arrested on Sunday on charges including looting, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder with a petrol bomb.
Five officers and five police horses suffered minor injuries during clashes with protesters. The California highway patrol said it had arrested 19 people on Sunday.
Police chief ‘not formally told about Marines’
The Los Angeles police chief has said that the activation of 700 US Marines presented a “significant logistical and operational challenge” for police.
Jim McDonnell said in a statement that the department had not received any formal notification of the arrival of the military.
He added: “We are urging open and continuous lines of communication between all agencies to prevent confusion, avoid escalation and ensure a co-ordinated, lawful and orderly response during this critical time.”
LAPD officers to remain on duty into evening
The Los Angeles police department has issued a “tactical alert” ordering all uniformed personnel to remain on duty as tensions rise for a fourth night in the city.
The alert signified a heightened threat level and meant officers could be kept on past the end of their shift and moved between divisions.
Tensions flare outside detention centre
By Samuel Lovett in Los Angeles
Tensions are escalating outside the Los Angeles immigration detention complex.
A number of troops from the National Guard have moved dozens of protesters off the property and are now stood almost face to face with the demonstrators, who are screaming chants at them.
Some of the protesters appear to be encouraging the crowd to step back to avoid any violence. All this is taking place against a near constant backdrop of revving motorbike engines, with traffic in front of the building at a complete standstill.
There are two snipers positioned on the top floor of the immigration detention building, with a third troop using a binocular to monitor the crowd.
Deployment of Marines ‘un-American’
Newsom has condemned Trump’s activation of 700 Marines to Los Angeles as “deranged”.
“US Marines have served honourably across multiple wars in defence of democracy,” he said on X. “They are heroes. They shouldn’t be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfil the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president.
“This is un-American.”
700 Marines ‘activated’ in LA
The US military has confirmed that it has “activated” 700 Marines in the Los Angeles area.
The infantry battalion would “seamlessly integrate” with about 2,000 National Guard troops who were sent in to protect federal buildings and personnel in the city, the US Northern Command said in a statement.
“The activation of the Marines is intended to provide Task Force 51 with adequate numbers of forces to provide continuous coverage of the area in support of the lead federal agency,” the military said in a statement.
Task Force 51 is a rapid-response force that works with the police and the Department of Defence on homeland security operations. The Marine infantry battalion was placed on alert at the weekend.
Newsom: Marines mobilisation is unwarranted
Governor Newsom has called the mobilisation of hundreds of US Marines to Los Angeles “completely unwarranted”.
“The level of escalation is completely unwarranted, uncalled for and unprecedented — mobilising the best-in-class branch of the US military against its own citizens,” Newsom’s press office said in a statement posted to X.
The governor’s press office said that it understood that the Marines were being moved between bases rather than deployed on to the streets of Los Angeles.
Earlier reporting suggested the Marines would be sent in to supplement a National Guard force who were sent to Los Angeles by Trump to guard federal buildings and protect federal employees.
Key union leader to be released
A prominent union leader who was arrested for allegedly impeding an immigration raid in Los Angeles will be released on $50,000 bond, a federal magistrate judge ordered.
The arrest on Friday of David Huerta, the California president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), became a flashpoint in the growing protests across the US. The SEIU said that Huerta was injured and detained while he was peacefully observing an ICE raid.
Karen Bass, the LA mayor, told NBC Los Angeles that Huerta was pepper-sprayed during the arrest. He received treatment in hospital before being held at the city’s Metropolitan Detention Centre.
A felony charge of conspiracy to impede an officer carries a maximum sentence of six years in federal prison.
150 detained in San Francisco
More than 150 people protesting against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown were arrested in San Francisco on Sunday night, the city’s police department said.
One person has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon while the remainder were cited for minor offences such as failure to disperse and released, police said.
One officer was injured during the protests. Police said approximately half of those arrested were San Francisco residents, with the others having come to protest from outside the city.
Further demonstrations are taking place in San Francisco on Monday.
Protesters arrested at Trump Tower
A few dozen demonstrators who were protesting federal immigration enforcement were arrested inside Trump Tower in Manhattan on Monday.
The activists chanted “bring them back” and carried signs that read, “Who will be disappeared next?” and, “Due process is a right for everyone.”
A large group of New York police officers arrived and warned the group they would be arrested if they failed to disperse. The protesters continued to chant slogans, and were placed in zip ties and removed from the building. About 24 were reported to have been arrested.
Demonstrations that began in Los Angeles on Friday to protest ICE raids have spread to more than a dozen cities.
LA mayor calls for peaceful protest
Karen Bass, the Los Angeles mayor, has called on anti-ICE demonstrators to protest peacefully to avoid falling into “the Trump administration’s trap”.
“LA has a proud history of peaceful protest for immigrants rights,” Bass wrote on X. “We must continue that legacy — don’t fall into the Trump administration’s trap. Protest peacefully. Looting and vandalism will not be tolerated.”
Law enforcement arrested 41 protesters on Sunday for offences including attempted murder with a petrol bomb, looting, arson and failure to disperse.
Marines sent to LA as military response escalates
About 500 Marines are being sent to Los Angeles to support National Guard troops in protecting federal buildings and personnel, according to reports.
The decision to send in a full battalion of Marines marks a significant escalation in the use of the military to respond to protests and comes after objections from Gavin Newsom, the California governor.
Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, said on Saturday that he had ordered the Marines to prepare for deployment “if violence continues”.
The Marines, who are based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California, are prohibited from arresting protesters unless Trump invokes the Insurrection Act.
Robot taxi company suspends service in San Francisco
Waymo has suspended its service in parts of San Francisco due to expanding anti-ICE protests in the city.
The Alphabet-owned “robotaxi” company earlier halted services in downtown Los Angeles after protesters torched at least five of its self-driving cars on Sunday.
“We’re aware of potential protests and will not be providing service in the areas protesters may be gathering out of abundance of caution,” a Waymo spokeswoman said.
Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside of a federal immigration building in the city calling for the release of David Huerta, a union leader who was arrested for allegedly impeding an immigration raid in Los Angeles on Friday.
Trump denies Newsom’s civil war claim
President Trump denied a claim by Gavin Newsom, the California governor, that he wanted a “civil war on the streets of America”.
“No, it’s just the opposite,” Trump said. “I don’t want a civil war. A civil war would happen if you left it to people like him.”
In an interview, Newsom accused Trump of “purposely sowing division” by deploying the National Guard to quell unrest in Los Angeles.
Trump mocks Newsom at Washington event
Trump is holding an Invest America Roundtable event in Washington to talk about investment accounts for newborn children, but he started by talking about the protests in Los Angeles.
After calling for Newsom to be arrested, Trump was asked what crime he felt the governor had committed.
“I think his primary crime is running for governor, because he’s done such a bad job,” Trump said. “He’s destroying one of our great states.”
Trump said he doubted that the threat of arrest would be politically beneficial for Newsom.
Where are America’s sanctuary cities?
Los Angeles, and by extension California, has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration because of its status as a migrant “sanctuary”, where officials limit their co-operation with federal agents seeking to detain and deport undocumented arrivals.
It is not the only such place in America, however. There are 12 sanctuary states including California, while various counties and cities in the other 38, including where Republicans dominate regional politics, have declared the status. This ranges from the city of New Orleans in Louisiana to Atlanta, Georgia.
In pictures: Rallies begin on fourth day of protests
Trump: If they spit, we will hit
President Trump said that National Guard troops will respond with force if they are impeded during the Los Angeles protests.
“The Insurrectionists have a tendency to spit in the face of the National Guardsmen/women, and others,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“These Patriots are told to accept this, it’s just the way life runs. But not in the Trump Administration. IF THEY SPIT, WE WILL HIT, and I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before. Such disrespect will not be tolerated!”
ICE targets Home Depot in immigration crackdown
Samuel Lovett in Los Angeles
The government’s immigration enforcement agency remains active in Los Angeles, despite the ongoing protests and unrest.
A Home Depot in Huntington Park was visited by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) early on Monday morning, locals said.
In a sign of the White House’s commitment to its immigration crackdown, one man was chased across the property car park, according to a worker.
“It’s disheartening that the raids are continuing,” she said, without giving her name. “The people here are just to trying to make a living; they’re contributing to the economy and not causing problems for anyone.”
It is local knowledge in LA that Home Depots employ undocumented foreign workers, making the business an easy target for ICE agents.
California attorney-general dismisses Trump threat to arrest Newsom
Asked whether the Trump administration could legally arrest Gavin Newsom, Rob Bonta, the California attorney-general, dismissed the threat.
“It’s just more talk, more bluff, more bluster, more threats,” Bonta told reporters on Monday as he announced the state’s lawsuit against the Trump administration. “It is the president and the Trump administration that is consistently and frequently blatantly and brazenly violating the law, not Governor Newsom.”
Trump earlier said that Newsom should be arrested after the governor dared Tom Homan, Trump’s “border tsar”, to try to do so.
ICE raids and union leader’s arrest spark rallies across US
Protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles and the arrest of a California union leader are taking place in more than a dozen US cities.
Rallies are being held in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Oregon, Seattle, and Washington DC, along with several cities in California and Pennsylvania.
The demonstrators are calling for the immediate release of David Huerta, the president of the California branch of the Service Employees International Union.
Huerta has been held in custody since Friday when he was arrested for allegedly obstructing law enforcement officers from executing a federal search warrant at a workplace suspected of hiring undocumented migrants.
The 58-year-old has been charged with conspiring to impede an officer during a raid, and is expected to make a first appearance in court on Monday afternoon in Los Angeles.
Deployment of troops ‘escalated protests’
Rob Bonta, the California attorney-general, said protests in Los Angeles had “mostly dissipated” when the first National Guard troops arrived on Sunday.
“Since Trump announced his plan to deploy troops, the situation on the ground has escalated quickly with unrest growing overnight, causing highways to close and putting people in danger,” Bonta said during a news conference.
“We’ll never know what might have been had the president left our state and local authorities to continue the important work they were already doing and were more than capable of doing,” he added.
Trump accused of ‘inflammatory escalation’
Rob Bonta, the California attorney-general, accused Trump of unnecessarily inflaming the Los Angeles protests by ordering in the National Guard.
“Trump and [the defence secretary, Pete] Hegseth jumped from zero to 60 bypassing law enforcement expertise and evaluation, threw caution to the wind and sidelined strategy in an unnecessary and inflammatory escalation that only further spurred unrest,” Bonta said.
Trump invoked a section of the US code that allows the president to overrule a state governor’s authority when he considers it necessary to repel an invasion or suppress a rebellion.
“There was no risk of rebellion, no threat of foreign invasion,” Bonta said. California will file a lawsuit asking the courts to set aside Trump’s order this afternoon, he added.
All Guard troops ordered by Trump to be in LA by end of day
Approximately 1,000 National Guard troops are on the ground in Los Angeles, a US official said.
More troops are expected to arrive throughout the rest of Monday and officials believe that the 2,000 that the president ordered into the city will be there by the end of the day.
The troops are part of the new Task Force 51, under the control of Major General Scott Sherman, the deputy commander of US Army North.
Newsom accuses Trump of crossing the line over arrest comment
Gavin Newsom responded to Trump’s comments at the White House suggesting that the California governor should be arrested by accusing the president of marching America “toward authoritarianism”.
“The president of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting governor,” Newsom wrote on X after Trump said that Tom Homan, the “border tsar”, should arrest him. Newsom dared Homan to arrest him earlier today.
“This is a day I hoped I would never see in America,” Newsom went on. “I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican this is a line we cannot cross as a nation — this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”
Newsom added that Trump had created a “manufactured crisis” to “take over a state militia and violate the US constitution”. “The illegal order he signed could allow him to send the military into ANY STATE HE WISHES,” he said.
LAPD says protesters using TikTok to track police
Samuel Lovett in Los Angeles
Protesters are using TikTok to communicate with one another and share “intelligence” on police tactics, according to a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) source.
The source, who has been monitoring demonstrators’ social media accounts, said some of the protesters were using the video platform to simply document events but that many were “providing intelligence on police tactics” and their location as they responded to the unrest.
“I saw that myself when I was monitoring TikTok last night,” he said, adding that there weren’t any specific accounts or individuals acting as ringleaders for the protests. “It’s just random people that jump on TikTok and then go live.”
The source also said that the LAPD were preparing for a fourth night of unrest in the city, adding: “We don’t know where specifically or when, but we are setting up for it.”
‘I like Gavin Newsom but he’s grossly incompetent’
President Trump has blamed “insurrectionists” for the turmoil in Los Angeles.
“The people that are causing the problem are professional agitators, they’re insurrectionists, they’re bad people,” Trump told reporters.
He did not respond to a question on whether he would invoke the Insurrection Act, the 1807 law that gives the president the authority to deploy the US military on home soil to suppress civil disorder.
Trump took another swipe at Gavin Newsom, remarking that the California governor was doing a “terrible job”. “I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy but he’s grossly incompetent. Everybody knows it,” the president said.
Asked about Newsom’s challenge to Tom Homan to arrest him earlier on Monday, Trump suggested that the “border tsar” should detain the governor. “I would do it, if I were Tom,” Trump added. “Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing.”
Trump: LA would be ‘obliterated’ without Guard deployment
President Trump has insisted he made a “great decision” in deploying the National Guard to tackle the Los Angeles protests, claiming the city faced total destruction if he had not intervened.
“If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated,” Trump posted on Truth Social in his first public comments on the crisis on Monday.
The president again attacked Gavin Newsom, the California governor, and Karen Bass, the Los Angeles mayor, who have accused the White House of inflaming the situation and seizing on the pretext to send in troops.
Trump added: “[They] should be saying, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SIR.’
“Instead, they choose to lie to the People of California and America by saying that we weren’t needed, and that these are ‘peaceful protests.'”
What are the LA protests about?
Protests descended into violence in Los Angeles over the weekend as police faced off with demonstrators decrying workplace raids by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
California state and local officials, who are mainly Democrats, accused President Trump of inflaming initially small-scale demonstrations by mounting a federal response, including the deployment of the National Guard.
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, requested Trump remove the Guard members, calling their deployment a “serious breach of state sovereignty”.
• Read in full: Five things to know about the LA protests
Mexican president condemns violence
The Mexican president has condemned the immigration protests in Los Angeles but stopped short of calling for an end to demonstrations.
Speaking at her morning press conference, Claudia Sheinbaum said: “It must be clear: we condemn violence wherever it comes from.” She added that the Mexican community should “act peacefully and not fall for provocations”.
Speaking alongside Sheinbaum, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, the Mexican foreign secretary, said at least 42 Mexicans were being held in detention centres after the recent immigration raids in Los Angeles and four had been deported.
Robot taxi company suspends downtown services
Waymo has suspended services in downtown Los Angeles after several of its self-driving “robotaxis” were torched by protesters at the weekend.
At least five Waymo vehicles have been pictured in flames and covered in graffiti since the clashes erupted in protest at federal immigration raids. The taxi company, that is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, has said it will continue to operate in other parts of Los Angeles.
Waymo’s driverless taxis have faced a guerrilla campaign by angry LA residents after charging stations for the vehicles appeared in residential areas earlier this year.
Frustrated by the incessant beeping the vehicles make as they reverse at all times of day and night, some vigilante homeowners have fought back, launching a campaign of peaceful sabotage against the charging stations.
• Read about LA’s guerrilla war against robot taxis in full here
Mayor dismisses Maga talk of arrest
The mayor of Los Angeles has said she is not concerned about being arrested after the suggestion was made by President Trump’s “border tsar”.
Karen Bass told CNN that she “can’t imagine a situation where I am going to interfere with federal agents”.
She added that it was “inappropriate” for Tom Homan to make the suggestion at the weekend that she and Gavin Newsom, the California governor, could be arrested if they impeded efforts to quell the protests.
Bass said Trump’s decision to send in the National Guard was “an escalation that didn’t have to happen” and played down the extent of the protests, insisting that they were confined to a few streets in downtown Los Angeles.
‘Don’t feed into this narrative that we’re going to hurt our city’
A top LA official has urged protesters to do their part to keep the peace before a fourth day of probable unrest.
“Don’t feed into this narrative that we don’t care, that we’re going to hurt each other and hurt our city. We don’t want that to happen. Definitely we want to have calm,” Hilda Solis, the chair pro tempore of the Los Angeles County board of supervisors, told CNN on Monday morning. She said the emergency situation seen on Sunday night “has been lifted” and Angelenos appeared to be returning to work as normal today.
Further protests planned in LA today
Several protest events have been scheduled for Monday after the overnight unrest came to a standstill.
At 9am local time (5pm BST), a news conference is set to be held by the advocacy group, Mujeres En Acción, in LA’s fashion district, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers conducted raids on Friday.
A student walkout against the raids and the National Guard deployment is expected to begin at 11am in schools across the county.
At noon, the American Civil Liberties Union is slated to lead a “peaceful protest” downtown.
The Los Angeles Unified School District will meet at 3pm to discuss ICE activity on campuses after Superintendent Alberto M Carvalho condemned the raids for causing “unnecessary fear, confusion and trauma for our students and families”.
Musk defends Trump
Elon Musk has been supportive of President Trump’s move to send in the National Guard to Los Angeles in a series of posts on X.
The billionaire owner of X has shared posts from Trump and JD Vance, the vice-president, sharply defending the administration’s decision on Sunday.
In the latest signal of a tentative truce after last week’s public fallout with Trump, Musk shared a screenshot of a post by the president on his Truth Social platform which called for Gavin Newsom, the California governor, and Karen Bass, the Los Angeles mayor, to “apologise” for doing an “absolutely horrible job”.
The post also called the protesters, who are opposing Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda, “troublemakers and insurrectionists”.
Stop calling ICE terrorists, says agency head
The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has defended the agency, insisting that his officers were acting within the law.
“People need to stop calling ICE terrorists and criminal and racist, because they’re enforcing the laws enacted by Congress, signed by a president,” Tom Homan told MSNBC. “They’re not making us up, they’re trying to make [America] safer, one illegal criminal at a time.”
He backed President Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard, brushing off the California governor Gavin Newsom’s criticism and maintaining that the troops were deployed to “protect life and property”, adding: “I was on the ground, Governor Newsom wasn’t.”
Homan defended ICE’s tactics, claiming the agency would use “every tool available”.
“It’s not about raiding schools, raiding hospitals … There’s no sanctuary for public safety threats or national security threats,” he said.
Guard deployment ‘a preview of things to come’
Gavin Newsom has said that President Trump’s decision to send in the National Guard to tackle protests “will allow him to go into any state and do the same thing”.
The California governor told the YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen that “the people’s lives are at risk” and reiterated his threat to challenge the deployment in court.
He added: “The reputation of this country is at stake. Great American cities and states … this is a preview of things to come, this isn’t about LA per se.”
X (Twitter) content blocked
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.
Governor ‘did nothing’ to protect LA, says White House
The White House has hit back at Gavin Newsom, claiming the California governor was “too weak” to protect Los Angeles and “did nothing” as the clashes erupted.
“Federal law enforcement officers were attacked by violent radicals and illegal criminals waving foreign flags because Governor Newsom was too weak to protect the city,” the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, tweeted in response to Newsom’s post on X.
Newsom’s inaction forced President Trump to intervene and send in the National Guard, Leavitt said, adding: “President Trump has stepped in to maintain law and order and protect federal buildings.”
X (Twitter) content blocked
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.
ICE chief challenged to arrest governor
President Trump’s head of border enforcement has said there have been no discussions about arresting Gavin Newsom, who challenged him to do so.
Tom Homan was challenged by the California governor on Sunday to arrest him over his response to the protests in Los Angeles in an interview with MSNBC. Homan had earlier declined to rule out arresting Newson if he impeded federal efforts to address the protests.
Homan told Fox News there “was no discussion about arresting Newson” but added that “no one’s above the law”.
How popular is President Trump?
The protests in Los Angeles, an overwhelmingly Democratic-voting city in a blue state, are perhaps the most volatile expression of opposition to Trump in his second term so far. But how popular is his administration in the country at large?
According to an aggregation of polls by The Times data team, Trump’s approval rating sits at 45 per cent, marginally higher compared with his first term but about 10 percentage points below that of Joe Biden in the equivalent period of his presidency. Some 52 per cent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s performance in office.
• Trump approval rating 2025: tracking the opinion polls
On the issue of immigration, which has driven the LA protests, a majority of Americans support his programme to deport immigrants illegally in the US, according to a YouGov poll for CBS taken before the protests. Some 54 per cent of respondents approved of the policy, against 46 per cent opposed.
ICE raids scare immigrant families into hiding, say protesters
Some of those who attended protests in Los Angeles on Sunday said they were doing so on behalf of family members who were immigrants and scared.
Hannah Navarro, 29, a receptionist from the Boyle Heights neighbourhood, held a “Melt ICE” sign and said some of her relatives were afraid to leave their homes due to immigration agency raids on workplaces.
“We’re fighting so our families can come out of hiding,” she told the Wall Street Journal.
Jocelyn Pimentel, 28, an Orange County resident, attended a demonstration with her 72-year-old grandmother, who was visiting from Puebla, Mexico.
They were protesting on behalf of immediate family members who weren’t in the US legally, she said, adding that immigrants needed better rights and pathways to citizenship.
California city ends ‘divisive’ ICE contract
A Californian city has ended what it calls a “divisive” agreement with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to house federal immigration detainees in its police department facility.
Noting that law enforcement in Glendale had not engaged in federal immigration operations, officials said the city consistently ranked as one of the safest in the country and the police department was highly trusted by residents.
“At this time it is in our best interest to not allow that trust to be undermined,” officials said in a statement Sunday.
Authorities for the city in Los Angeles County added that the move was to protect residents’ safety and not politically motivated.
“Despite the transparency and safeguards the city has upheld, the city recognises that public perception of the ICE contract — no matter how limited or carefully managed, no matter the good — has become divisive,” according to the statement.
Trump wants a spectacle, says governor
President Trump has rekindled his rivalry with Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, by deploying 2,000 soldiers to Los Angeles.
Newsom has established California as a bastion of liberal resistance to Trump’s presidency and set aside $50 million this year to “Trump-proof” California, promising to mount legal challenges to White House overreach.
Trump has responded furiously to Newsom’s truculence, having previously scrapped with him over the Covid pandemic, the border with Mexico and wildfires in Los Angeles.
• Read in full: ‘Trump is deploying soldiers because he wants a spectacle’
Chinese citizens warned to strengthen security
China’s consulate in Los Angeles has advised its citizens in the area to strengthen personal security as unrest continues in America’s second-biggest city.
“Chinese citizens in the region [should] strengthen personal security measures, stay away from gatherings, crowded areas or places with poor public security and avoid going out at night or travelling alone,” the consulate said in a statement.
Chinese citizens should also “closely monitor official announcements” and “raise their safety awareness”, it added.
On Saturday Mexico’s consulate in the city posted contact details for citizens requiring advice on the immigration raids.
Marines ‘on standby if violence continues’
A contingent of US Marines is on standby to be deployed in Los Angeles if the protests continue to escalate. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, said on Saturday evening that he might choose to send active-duty Marines from Camp Pendleton, south of LA, “if violence continues”.
The California governor, Gavin Newsom, who had already criticised President Trump’s deployment of National Guard reservists to the city, dismissed Hegseth’s suggestion. “The secretary of defense is now threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens. This is deranged behaviour,” Newsom posted on X.
How the protests have unfolded
Earlier protests in Los Angeles, a sprawling city of four million people, were centred on Sunday around several blocks downtown. It was the third and most intense day of largely peaceful demonstrations against Trump’s immigration crackdown in the region, and some sporadic violence.
But the arrival of about 300 National Guard troops prompted anger and fear among many residents. The guard was deployed specifically to protect federal buildings, including the downtown detention centre where protesters concentrated.
The protests began on Friday after it emerged Immigration Customs Enforcement agents were carrying out raids in the Westlake district as well as in Paramount, south of LA, where the population is more than 82 per cent Hispanic.
Elon Musk condemns protests
X (Twitter) content blocked
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.
Elon Musk posted a photograph of a protester standing on a damaged car in Los Angeles, waving a Mexican flag. “This is not ok,” the world’s richest man wrote on X, the social media platform he owns.
Musk was an adviser to Trump before the two began exchanging insults in public last week. Musk denounced the president’s sweeping tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”, prompting an exchange of social media acrimony between the pair.
Trump said on Saturday that his relationship with the billionaire donor was over and warned there would be “serious consequences” if Musk decided to fund Democrats running against Republicans before votes on the tax and spending bill.
Police gather at City Hall
A heavy police presence remains in and around Los Angeles City Hall.
Several blocks surrounding the building, which is lit up and flanked by trees, were closed off by lines of armed troops as they diverted away traffic.
More than a dozen Los Angeles police department cars were parked in front of an adjacent building, some with their front windows smashed from earlier confrontations.
Clusters of people in masks loitered nearby on street corners but none showed any desire to engage with officers.
Australian journalist hit while reporting
An Australian television reporter has been shot in the leg by a Los Angeles police officer while broadcasting the protests.
Channel 9’s US correspondent, Lauren Tomasi, grimaced after she was hit in the leg with a rubber bullet after filming a live cross on the riots in downtown LA.
The video shows a police officer taking aim and shooting at the journalist, as police were trying to move protesters back. Tomasi could be heard saying “I’m alright”.
The incident has been condemned by the Australian Green senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who has urged the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to raise the incident with President Trump.
“US authorities shooting an Australian journalist is simply shocking,” she said. “It is completely unacceptable and must be called out.”
California ‘did not need’ National Guard
The Democratic governor of California previously mocked Trump for posting a congratulatory message to the National Guard on social media before troops had arrived in Los Angeles.
Gavin Newsom had repeatedly insisted the state authorities had the situation under control and told MSNBC that Trump never suggested deploying the Guard during a phone call on Friday, calling the president a “stone cold liar”.
The admonishments did not deter the administration. “It’s a bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said.
Unrest continues across Los Angeles
Los Angeles protests in pictures
LAPD: National Guard deployed too quickly
Police and firefighters tackle street fire
Protesters set a bin on fire and pushed it into the centre of a main road to the north of downtown Los Angeles.
Within a matter of minutes a long line of police cars came racing around the corner, escorting two fire trucks to extinguish the blaze.
Dozens of police stood watch as the firemen set to work while a group of protesters chanted further down in the street. “Move aside,” one policewoman told me.
Most of the unrest has given way to small, isolated episodes like this. There are still dozens of demonstrators roaming the streets — and the occasional loud bang — but the night appears to be calming down.
FBI offers reward for officer assault suspect
A man accused of assaulting a federal officer at an immigration protest on Saturday has been added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted list, with a $50,000 bounty on his arrest.
After three days of public disorder in Los Angeles, the FBI is seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who allegedly threw rocks at law enforcement property, injuring a federal officer and damaging government vehicles.
A reward has been offered for information leading to his arrest.
San Francisco ‘solidarity’ demonstration escalates
In San Francisco a demonstration called to show solidarity with the protests in Los Angeles also turned violent on Sunday, resulting in at least 60 arrests.
The demonstration in downtown San Francisco started at about 6pm near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office but quickly developed into a standoff between demonstrators and police dressed in riot gear.
Three police officers were injured, one of whom was hospitalised, according to the San Fransico Police Department.
The Democrat mayor, Daniel Lurie, said in a post on X: “Everyone in this country has a right to make their voice heard peacefully … But we will never tolerate violent and destructive behaviour.
“Violence directed at law enforcement or public servants is never acceptable.”
X (Twitter) content blocked
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.
Chinatown deserted amid looting fears
The streets of Chinatown, a usually bustling neighbourhood, are deserted. But one private security guard, who gave his name as Salazar, has been instructed by his bosses to continue with his late-night patrols.
He has been tasked with monitoring several properties in Chinatown and deterring protesters, despite reports of looting.
Salazar, 24, is armed with nothing but a taser and is set to work until 7am local time, alongside just one other security guard.
“I’m feeling pretty nervous about the night ahead,” he said. “I’ve been told that if people start looting I shouldn’t get involved.”
When asked what he made of the protests, he said: “I can’t choose sides.”
Police ‘firing at heads’ with non-lethal rounds
Multiple people have been struck in the face with the non-lethal ammunition being used by police, one protester has claimed.
“They shouldn’t be firing that high,” says Joshua, 20, who lives close to Paramount, one of the first neighbourhoods to experience unrest. “I don’t mind about being hit in the legs, but not the face.”
He showed a so-called “sponge bullet” he had recovered from an earlier confrontation. It was a 40mm hard foam projectile that police typically used to disperse crowds without causing serious harm.
Police were advised not to fire this ammunition at the head, neck, face, eyes, or spine, unless an officer or another person is under attack.
However, Joshua alleged the “cops are being reckless” when using them.
Trump administration provoked chaos, says mayor
The Los Angeles mayor has blamed the increasingly aggressive protests on Trump’s decision to deploy the Guard, calling it a move designed to enflame tensions.
Karen Bass urged protesters not to “engage in violence and chaos”, adding on X: “Don’t give the administration what they want.”
“What we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration,” she said at a press conference on Sunday afternoon. “This is about another agenda, this isn’t about public safety.”
X (Twitter) content blocked
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.
Masked protesters defy orders to leave
It is midnight in Los Angeles and masked protesters are continuing to congregate around the northern edge of the downtown area, despite police orders to leave.
Multiple helicopters circle above as demonstrators linger in groups in the street.
Police are using flash bangs and tear gas to move the groups away from downtown LA and into Chinatown, which is located to the north. Some of the protestors appear to be responding with fireworks as loud booms echo throughout the neighbourhood.
“I’m here to fight facism, bro,” says one 28-year-old woman called Katrina, as she wraps the top of her head in a Palestinian keffiyeh to further conceal her face. “I’m staying out all night long.”
Immigration raids target workplaces
Earlier officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had carried out raids on workplaces suspected of employing illegal immigrants, rounding up and arresting hundreds of foreign nationals.
There have been at least 118 arrests by ICE agents in the last week in Los Angeles.
The Department of Homeland Security estimated there were 2.6 million undocumented migrants in California, the largest number of any state.
Travel ban adds to immigration tensions
President Trump’s ban on travel to the United States by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect Monday amid rising tension over the president’s escalating campaign of immigration enforcement.
The proclamation, which Trump signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are outside the US and do not hold a valid visa.
Photographer hospitalised by non-lethal bullet
A British photographer required emergency surgery after being hit by a non-lethal bullet fired during the protests in Los Angeles.
Nick Stern was documenting a stand-off between anti Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters and police outside a Home Depot in Paramount when a 14mm round known as a “sponge bullet” hit him in the thigh.
He has now undergone an operation and is recovering at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.
“I had a press ID round my neck, a large camera, a video camera … I was making a point of making myself visible as media,” he told The Times.
“Then I felt this horrific shooting pain impacting my leg. I felt down immediately and felt this large lump … then I blacked out”
• Read in full: British photographer, 60, shot by police
Demonstrators torch cars in riots
Protesters had torched and vandalised cars on Sunday night as police attempted to keep them away from the National Guard troops.
At least three self-driving Waymo cars were burned, with two others damaged as protesters roamed around a limited area in downtown Los Angeles.
Traffic was halted on a freeway for over an hour as scores of people thronged the roadway.
The LAPD established containment lines some distance from federal buildings, stopping contact between demonstrators and armed National Guardsmen from the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
California to challenge Guard deployment
The California governor accused President Trump of “putting fuel on the fire” by deploying the National Guard.
Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said the state would file a lawsuit over the “illegal, immoral and unconstitutional” deployment.
“Donald Trump has created the conditions you’ve seen on your TV tonight,” he told MSNBC.
“He’s exacerbated the conditions … ever since he announced he was taking over the National Guard. We’re going to test that theory with a lawsuit tomorrow.”
Trump: LA should use National Guard
President Trump said that the LA police chief, Jim McDonnell, should use National Guard “right now”.
“Jim McDonnell, the highly respected LAPD Chief, just stated that the protesters are getting very much more aggressive, and that he would ‘have to reassess the situation,’ as it pertains to bringing in the troops,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“He should, RIGHT NOW!!! Don’t let these thugs get away with this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
Officers ‘overwhelmed’ by protesters, says police chief
The Los Angeles police chief, Jim McDonnell, said officers were “overwhelmed” by the protesters who stayed on after an initial peaceful demonstration. He said they included regular agitators who show up at demonstrations to cause trouble.
Several dozen people were arrested throughout the weekend. At least one suspect was detained Sunday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police, and another for ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers.
Riots erupt at detention centre
Protestors faced off with members of the National Guard outside the Metropolitan Detention Centre in downtown Los Angeles, throwing chunks of concrete, rocks, electric scooters and fireworks at police from behind a makeshift barrier that spanned the width of a street.
Police responded with tear gas and other measures, declaring an unlawful assembly — a precursor to officers moving in and making arrests.
Trump: You will see law and order
The president said troops sent to Los Angeles would ensure “very strong law and order,” while appearing to leave the door open to deploying soldiers in other cities.
“You have violent people and we are not going to let them get away with it,” President Trump told reporters on Sunday. “I think you’re going to see some very strong law and order.”
Trump deploys National Guard over protests
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Trump’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard, blocking off a major freeway and setting self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs to control the crowd in Los Angeles.
Trump, who became the first American leader in 60 years to deploy the National Guard on United States soil without a request for aid from a state governor, called up 2,000 soldiers, with about 300 so far deployed to America’s second-largest city in a show of executive might.
