09
Jun
Jun
LOS ANGELES ERUPTS IN PROTESTS OVER TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN
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CapitalTimesNews / 2 weeks
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- 3 min read
Tensions escalated in Los Angeles on Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard. The protests turned chaotic, with demonstrators blocking a major freeway, setting self-driving cars on fire, and clashing with law enforcement. The Los Angeles Police Department declared an unlawful assembly, and officers used tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bangs to control the crowd. Some police patrolled the streets on horseback, while others in riot gear lined up behind Guard troops deployed to protect federal facilities, including a detention center where immigrants were being held. Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the deployment of National Guard troops, calling it a “serious breach of state sovereignty.” He requested that Trump remove the guard members in a letter Sunday afternoon. Mayor Karen Bass echoed Newsom’s comments, stating, “What we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration. This is about another agenda, this isn’t about public safety.” The White House pushed back against Newsom’s claims, with spokesperson Abigail Jackson saying, “It’s a bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved.” The protests were sparked by Trump’s immigration crackdown, which has resulted in over 100 immigrant arrests in the LA area. Demonstrators attempted to block Border Patrol vehicles by hurling rocks and chunks of cement, prompting agents to unleash tear gas and pepper balls. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lives in Los Angeles, criticized the immigration arrests and Guard deployment, saying they were part of a “cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division.” She expressed support for those “standing up to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms.” Trump defended his actions, stating, “We’re gonna have troops everywhere. We’re not going to let this happen to our country. We’re not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden.” He authorized the deployment of 2,000 National Guard members, citing a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.” The situation remains volatile, with 500 Marines stationed at Twenty nine Palms in a “prepared to deploy status.” The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor’s permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama.