Trump deploying California National Guard over governor's objections to LA to quell protests

PARAMOUNT, Calif. (AP) — President Donald Trump is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom after a second day of clashes between hundreds of protesters and federal immigration authorities in riot gear.

Sporadic confrontations broke out again Saturday in the heavily Latino satellite city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles. Agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls, and protesters hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol patrol vehicles. Smoke wafted from small piles of burning refuse in the streets.

Tensions were high after a series sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day in LA's fashion district and other locations, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests climbed past 100 and a prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.

The White House announced in a statement that Trump would deploy the Guard to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, objected to the move and said in a post on the social platform X that the move was "purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions."

In a signal of the administration's aggressive approach, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened in a post on X to deploy the U.S. military.

“If violence continues, active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert,” Hegseth said.

Trump's order came after morning and afternoon clashes had died down in Paramount and neighboring Compton, where a car was set fire.

At the entrance to a business park, across from the back of a Home Depot, immigration officers faced off with demonstrators who set off fireworks and pulled shopping carts into the street, broke up cinder blocks and pelted a procession of Border Patrol vans as they departed and careened down a boulevard.

Paramount Mayor Peggy Lemons told multiple news outlets that no immigration raids took place in her city and demonstrators appeared to respond to possible preparations federal agents outside Homeland Security Department facilities.

“They’re just frightened,” Lemons said. “And when you handle things the way that this appears to be handled, it’s not a surprise that chaos would follow.”

In other clashes demonstrators kicked at a Border Patrol sedan, and Los Angeles County officers also deployed flash-bangs.

Law enforcement personnel and protesters mostly stayed at a distance, kicking tear gas cannisters back and forth amid streams of white gas. Among several hundred protesters, a handful were bloodied by projectiles.

More than a dozen people were arrested and accused of impeding immigration agents, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, which the names and mug shots of some of those arrested on social media.

Trump federalized part of California's National Guard under what is known as Title 10 authority, which places him, not the governor, atop the chain of command, according to Newsom's office.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the work the immigration authorities were doing when met with protests is “essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens.”

The president’s move came shortly after he issued a threat on his social media network saying that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not “do their jobs,” then “the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”

Trump signed the order shortly before he went to attend a UFC fight in New Jersey, where he sat ringside with boxer Mike Tyson.

Newsom said in his statement that local authorities “are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice,” and “there is currently no unmet need.”

“This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust,” he added.

In Paramount, some demonstrators jeered at officers while recording the events on smartphones.

“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman said through a megaphone. “You are not welcome here.”

One handheld sign read, “No Human Being is Illegal.”

Protests continued into the evening in the city, where more than 80% of residents identify themselves as Latino. Several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities held up barbed wire to keep the crowd back. Flash-bangs went off, some protesters stared fires and the smell of chemical irritants was in the air.

The California Highway Patrol said Newsom directed it to deploy additional officers to “maintain public safety.”

In 2020, Trump asked governors of several states to deploy their National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police. Many agreed and sent troops.

Trump also threatened at the time to invoke the Insurrection Act for those protests — an intervention rarely seen in modern American history. But then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper pushed back, saying the law should be invoked “only in the most urgent and dire of situations.”

Trump did not invoke the act during his first term, and he did not do so Saturday, according to Leavitt and Newsom.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers executed search warrants at multiple locations Friday, including outside a clothing warehouse in the fashion district. The action came after a judge found probable cause that the employer was using fictitious documents for some of its workers, according to representatives for Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

DHS said in a statement that recent ICE operations in Los Angeles resulted in the arrest of 118 immigrants, including five people linked to criminal organizations and people with prior criminal histories.

Among those arrested at protests Friday was David Huerta, regional president of the Service Employees International Union. The Justice Department confirmed that he was being held Saturday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles ahead of a scheduled Monday court appearance.

It was not clear whether Huerta had legal representation.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for his immediate release, warning of a “disturbing pattern of arresting and detaining American citizens for exercising their right to free speech.”

Mayor Bass said the crackdown was meant to “sow terror” in her city.

ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons chided her for LA's response to the protests.

“Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement,” Lyons said in a statement. “Make no mistake, ICE will continue to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and arrest criminal illegal aliens.”

___

Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Price from Bridgewater, New Jersey. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Eric Tucker in Washington and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed.