National Guard continues to reach Los Angeles after the raid

The California National Guard arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday, scattered clashes between immigration agents and protesters and amid a widening political gap between California and the Trump administration.

President Trump’s move to activate nearly 2,000 guards marks the first time since 1965 that the president has deployed the state’s National Guard without the request of the state’s governor. The decision was met with severe condemnation by state and local officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said the deployment was “not meeting unmet needs, but creating a crisis.”

On Sunday afternoon, there was a tense moment outside the federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles, where National Guard units fired tear gas and non-lethal rounds at protesters.

But other areas that have been turbulent over the past few days, including the Clothing Area, Paramount and Compton, seem calm.

As of Sunday afternoon, it was unclear how many troops were deployed to Los Angeles. The 79th Infantry Brigade of the National Guard, based in San Diego, said Sunday that 300 personnel are protecting federal property and personnel.

Trump administration officials have seized on isolated violence to show that a huge part of Los Angeles is out of control. On Sunday, Trump claimed on social media that “violent, mobs of rebels are flocking to” federal law enforcement.

He wrote: “A once great American city, Los Angeles, was invaded and occupied by illegal foreigners and criminals.”

“We will have troops everywhere. We won’t let this happen to our country,” Trump told reporters Sunday.

Many California officials who have long been in conflict with Trump said the president is trying to use the situation to leverage his political strengths and sow unwanted chaos and chaos.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the deployment of federal forces a “scaling of chaos” and reminded people: “Los Angeles will always stand with everyone who calls our city home.”

While most protesters gathered peacefully, some threw items at law enforcement officers, set fire to garbage and vehicles, and defiled federal property with graffiti.

Immigration and customs enforcement operations in Los Angeles over the past week resulted in the arrests of 118 people, including some convicted of drug trafficking, assault, cruelty, domestic violence and robbery, according to the agency.

Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin and Republican politicians supporting Trump’s immigration operations described the protests as riots aimed at “let rapists, murderers and other violent criminals relax on the streets of Los Angeles.”

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) addressed about twenty National Guard soldiers on Sunday morning, posting outside the Metropolitan Detention Center on Alameda Street. She arrived at the center to ask David Huerta, president of California, the League of International Coalition for Service Employees, who was injured and detained during an immigration enforcement attack in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.

“Who are you going to shoot?” Waters asked the solder. “If you’re going to shoot me, you’d better shoot.”

Remains of tear gas used by law enforcement during Saturday’s protests hovered in the air around the building, sometimes forcing water to cough. Waters is a president’s outspoken critic, calling the deployment of National Guard forces an unnecessary escalation of tensions and accusing Trump of “trying to use role models as an example” from the long-standing sanctuary city of Los Angeles.

Leonard Tunstad, a 69-year-old Los Angeles resident, rode his bike to the edge of the stationed dock and asked if they really wanted to be loyal to “the president with 34 felony convictions.” He said he felt compelled to yell the facts about Trump in the guard because he was worried that young people had “inculcated their citizens”.

Tunstad said he believes the deployment was a serious reaction from the Trump administration, noting that the city was a more noisy protest handled by local police.

“It’s just a show. It’s just a spectacle,” he said.

A Department of Homeland Security official approached a louder protester who said he “don’t want to repeat last night” rather than “get politics.” He told protesters that as long as they insisted on the sidewalk and did not stop vehicles from entering the loading dock, there would be no problems.

Later, the Department of Homeland Security and the California National Guard pushed dozens of protesters into Alameda Street, hit the riot shield, fired particles to the ground, and deployed tear gas to clean up the caravans of DHS caravans, Border Patrol and military vehicles, and into the detention center.

Jose Longoria struggled to breathe as tear gas clouds filled Alameda Street. He pointed to a white wear mark on his shoes and said a tear gas can hit his feet, causing him to go slightly.

“We are not armed. We are just protesting peacefully. They are acting.

Julie Solis, 50, walked back and forth along Alameda Street, holding the Mexican flag and urging the crowd to express their voices but keep peace. She said she believes the National Guard was just to spark a response and make Los Angeles look unruly to prove further aggression by federal law enforcement.

People marched toward the metropolitan detention center during an immigration parade in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday.

(Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times)

“They want to arrest. They want us to fail. We need peace. We need eloquence.”

The National Guard was summoned to Los Angeles and other Southern California cities in 2020 during the George Floyd protests. These deployments are authorized by Newsom.

But 60 years ago, when the National Guard was called by the president without the request of the governor, President Lyndon Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights protesters.

Antonio Villaraigosa, former California parliament speaker and former mayor of Los Angeles, said Trump’s move “is to “incite more fear and chaos in our community.”

“Trump’s military deportation attack in California has gone too far, breaking up families and threatening public safety,” he said in a statement. “The raids carried out in stores and workplaces are wrong, just like families separated from families attacked in schools, graduations and churches.”

In Paramount, a group of disguised National Guards are stationed in a commercial park with armored vehicles where the Homeland Security Department is located.

Jessica Juarez walked along Alondra Boulevard on Sunday morning. Her voice became hoarse after a clash between protesters and law enforcement as she helped a group of volunteers clean up.

The irritating smell of gas and lightning grenades that opened fire on protesters Saturday remained suspended in the air, while burnt asphalt marked the intersection outside the Home Depot staged by federal authorities.

“I’m proud of our community, the power we show. It’s like they’re exerting so much fear of Paramount, to what? These guys haven’t even cleaned themselves up,” said Juarez, 40.

For this community of about 50,000 residents, Paramount is shrouded in smoke and police wings. In many ways, the city became the starting point for an escalating federal response.

“Why do you call it apart from attacks on Paramount and the people who live here?” said Alejandro Maldonado, a resident and co-organizer. “People in the community stand on unjust immigration policies.”

For some, the battle between Los Angeles residents and the federal government is similar to David and the Giants. “It seems they do want to fight this little guy,” said union organizer Ardelia Aldridge.

Staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report