June 8, 2025; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Protesters gather near Union Station and the Federal Courthouse in Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. Clashes between law enforcement and protesters intensified on Sunday as California National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles to quell demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, a move that the state's Democratic governor has called unlawful. Mangatory Credit: Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY Network via Imagn
Los Angeles, California – A third day of demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown escalated into chaos on Sunday as thousands filled the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Protesters blocked the 101 Freeway, set multiple self-driving cars on fire, and clashed with law enforcement, prompting the deployment of the National Guard and forceful police responses that included tear gas, flash bangs, and rubber bullets.
By midmorning, federal troops stood guard outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, their presence drawing chants of “shame” and “go home” from protesters. Tensions quickly rose as demonstrators approached the line of soldiers, prompting riot police to fire smoke canisters into the crowd. The Los Angeles Police Department declared an unlawful assembly by early evening, but many remained, dragging public park chairs into the streets as makeshift barricades and throwing debris at officers.
Above the southbound lanes of the 101, protesters hurled concrete chunks, fireworks, and electric scooters at California Highway Patrol vehicles. Four self-driving Waymo cars were engulfed in flames, sending black smoke billowing above the freeway. Officers eventually cleared the highway, though portions remained closed well into the night.
This wave of protest began Friday following reports of federal immigration raids across the region. Detainees were taken from locations as disparate as Los Angeles’ fashion district and the parking lot of a Home Depot. Though authorities denied active operations the following day in Paramount, another heavily Latino area, public trust had already frayed. Crowds there attempted to block DHS vehicles, triggering a violent response from agents in riot gear.
According to federal officials, over 100 people have been arrested in immigration enforcement actions in the Los Angeles area over the past week. Several others have been detained while protesting, including a prominent labor leader accused of obstructing law enforcement.
President Trump, speaking from Morristown, New Jersey, defended the deployment, stating there were “violent people” in Los Angeles and warning, “We’re not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden.” On Saturday, he invoked a federal statute allowing military intervention in cases of rebellion, authorizing up to 2,000 National Guard troops.
The move was met with swift condemnation from California leaders. Governor Gavin Newsom, who traveled to Los Angeles on Sunday, formally requested the withdrawal of federal troops, calling their presence a “serious breach of state sovereignty.” Former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Los Angeles resident, denounced the arrests and military posture as part of a “calculated agenda to spread panic and division.”
With 500 Marines reportedly on standby at Twentynine Palms, the possibility of further escalation looms. While the protests have not yet reached the scale of Los Angeles’ most infamous uprisings, they have reignited longstanding tensions over immigration enforcement, civil liberties, and the role of federal power in local affairs.
