Los Angeles (AP) – The tension in Los Angeles escalated on Sunday, when thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to the exclusive deployment of President Donald Trump of the National Guard, blocking a large highway and set fire to autonomas, as local rights used.
Some police patrolling the streets of a horse, while others with riots were arranged behind the guards located to protect federal facilities, including a detention center, where some immigrants were taken in recent days.
The clashes came on the third day of demonstrations against Trump’s immigration repression in the region, as the arrival of about 300 federal troops encouraged anger and fear among some residents.
By noon, hundreds had gathered outside the capital’s detention center in the center of Los Angeles, where people were detained after more immigration raids. Protesters directed the chanting of “shame” and “gather in members of the National Guard, which stood side by side, carrying long pistols and riots.
After some protesters approached the guard members closely, another set of uniformed officers advanced in the group, shooting smoke -filled boxes on the street.
Minutes later, the Los Angeles police department fired circles of ammunition to control the crowd to disperse protesters, who were said to have been collected illegally. Much of the group then moved to block the traffic on 101 highways, while officers from the California highway patrol did not clear them from the roadway until the late afternoon.
The presence of security is a “inflammation of tension” in the city, according to a letter sent to Trump by governor Gavin Newo on Sunday afternoon. Earlier, he asked Trump to remove guard members, which he called a “serious violation of state sovereignty”.
“What we see in Los Angeles is a chaos provoked by the administration,” said Mayor Karen Bass at an afternoon press conference. “This is another agenda, this is not about public safety.”
Trump said the National Guard was needed because Newsom and other Democrats were unable to send recent protests aimed at immigration agents.
Their unfolding seems to be the first time after decades that the National Guard of the State is activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who seek to prevent the efforts to massive the administration’s mass deportation.
Deployment follows days of protest
The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests that began on Friday in the center of Los Angeles before spreading to Paramount on Saturday, a highly Latin American city south of the city and the neighboring Compton.
As federal agents set up a placement area on Saturday near a home depot in Paramount, the protesters tried to block vehicles on the border patrol, with some throwing scales and pieces of cement. In response, agents at Riot Gear have unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls.
The tension was high after a series of soft from immigration authorities the previous day, as a week, which consists of immigrant arrests in the city, climbed over 100. A prominent leader of the Union was arrested while protesting and accused of preventing law enforcement.
Recent protests remain far smaller than past events that led the National Guard in Los Angeles, including Watts and Rodney King Riots, and protests in 2020 against police violence in which Newsom requested the assistance of Federal troops.
The last time the National Guard was activated without the governor’s permission was in 1965, when President Lindon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Justice Center.
Trump says there will be “very strong law and order”
In a directive on Saturday, Trump referred to a legal provision that allows him to unleash the members of the Federal Service when there was a “rebellion or danger of rebellion against the power of the United States government”.
He said he had authorized the deployment of 2000 members of the National Guard.
Trump told reporters while preparing to get on Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday, there were “violent people” in Los Angeles, “and they will not get out of it.”
Asked if he plans to send us troops to Los Angeles, Trump replied: “We will have troops everywhere. We will not let this happen to our country. We will not let our country be torn apart as it was under Biden.” He has not developed.
Trump also said that California’s employees, who cease to deportation, could face charges. A Wisconsin judge was arrested last month on charges of helping a person avoid immigration authorities.
“If the employees remain in the path of the law and the order, yes, they will face charges,” Trump said.
Newsom called Trump on Friday night and they talked for about 40 minutes, according to the governor’s office. It was unclear if they spoke on Saturday or Sunday.
There was some confusion about the exact moment of the arrival of the security. Shortly before midnight local time, Trump congratulated the National Guard for “well done work”. But less than an hour later, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the troops had not yet arrived in the city.
The Minister of Defense threatens to unleash the active Marines if the violence continues. “
In a statement on Sunday, Assistant Internal Security Minister Trisha McLaughlin has accused politicians and protesters in California for “protecting disgusting illegal alien criminals at the expense of Americans’ safety.”
“Instead of riots, they should thank the icy employees every day who wake up and make our communities more favorable,” McLaughlin added.
The troops included members of the 79th California Army combat team of the National Guard, according to a post on social media by the Ministry of Defense.
In a signal of the aggressive approach of the administration, Defense Minister Pete Heget also threatened to unleash the active Marines “if the violence continues” in the region.
About 500 Marines, located in twenty -Palms, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, were on Sunday afternoon “prepared to unleash the status”, according to the US Northern Command.
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders said Trump’s order reflects “President who quickly moves this country to authoritarianism” and “usurping the powers of the United States Congress”.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lives in Los Angeles, said immigration arrests and security deployment were designed as part of a “cruel, calculated panic and division program”.
She said she supported those who “stand up to protect our most basic rights and freedoms.”
Home Chairman Mike Johnson, an unwavering Trump ally, approved this move to the president, doubled Republican criticism of the California Democrats.
“Gavin Newsom has shown an inability or unwillingness to do what is needed, so the president intervened,” Johnson said.
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Offenhartz reported from New York. Associated Press writer Michel Price has contributed to this report by Bridgewater, New Jersey.