Dozens of mayors from across the Los Angeles region joined forces Wednesday, calling on the Trump administration to halt intensified immigration raids that have stoked fear in their communities and fueled nationwide protests.
Their plea, however, appeared to fall on deaf ears.
Roughly 500 National Guard troops assigned to support Los Angeles protests have also been trained to assist in immigration enforcement operations, according to the commanding officer, Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman.
While some of those troops have already participated in such missions, Sherman said it remains unclear whether those deployments will continue once the demonstrations subside.
“We are expecting a ramp-up,” Sherman said, acknowledging broader discussions around protests sweeping the country. “I’m focused on what’s happening here in L.A., but we’re definitely concerned.”
Tensions flared hours later at a protest near Los Angeles’ Civic Center, just before the city’s downtown curfew began for a second night.
Police in riot gear – some mounted on horseback – charged into a crowd, striking protesters with wooden batons and firing crowd-control projectiles.
One projectile hit a woman, who collapsed in visible pain.
Following the 9 p.m. curfew, officers made a handful of arrests before the area was cleared and calm was restored.
The L.A.-area mayors and city council members urged Trump to stop using armed military troops alongside immigration agents.
“I’m asking you, please listen to me, stop terrorizing our residents,” said Brenda Olmos, vice mayor of Paramount, who said she was hit by rubber bullets over the weekend. “You need to stop these raids.”
Speaking alongside the other mayors at a news conference, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the raids spread fear at the behest of the White House. The city’s nightly curfew will remain in effect as long as necessary. It covers a 1-square-mile (2.6-square-kilometer) section of downtown, where the protests have been concentrated in the city that encompasses roughly 500 square miles (1,295 square kilometers).
“If there are raids that continue, if there are soldiers marching up and down our streets, I would imagine that the curfew will continue,” Bass said.
Those caught up in the nationwide raids include asylum-seekers, people who overstayed their visas and migrants awaiting their day in immigration court.
The administration has cited the protests in its decision to deploy the military.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has asked a federal court to put an emergency stop to the military assisting immigration agents in the nation’s second-largest city. This week, guardsmen began standing protectively around agents as they carried out arrests. A judge has set a hearing for Thursday.
The Trump administration called the lawsuit a “crass political stunt endangering American lives” in its official response Wednesday.
The military is now closer to engaging in law enforcement actions such as deportations, as Trump has promised in his crackdown. The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any arrests must be made by law enforcement.
The president posted on the Truth Social platform that the city “would be burning to the ground” if he had not sent in the military.
About 2,000 National Guard soldiers are currently in Los Angeles and are soon to be joined by 2,000 more, along with about 700 Marines, Sherman said.
Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press and ABC, Sherman initially said National Guard troops had already temporarily detained civilians during the Los Angeles protests over immigration raids. He later said he based his comments on photos and footage he had seen that did not accurately depict Guard members in Los Angeles.
Police detained more than 20 people, mostly on curfew violations, on the first night of the curfew and used crowd-control projectiles to disperse hundreds of protesters. But officers were more aggressive in controlling demonstrators Wednesday evening, and as the curfew took effect, police began making arrests.
Los Angeles police have made nearly 400 arrests and detentions since Saturday, the vast majority for failing to leave the area at the request of law enforcement, according to the police department.
There have been a handful of more serious charges, including assault against police officers and possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun. Nine police officers have been hurt, mostly with minor injuries. Some were taken to a hospital and released.
Demonstrations have also spread to other cities nationwide, including Dallas and Austin in Texas, and Chicago and New York, where thousands rallied and more arrests were made.
In New York City, police said they took 86 people into custody during protests in lower Manhattan that lasted into Wednesday morning. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said most demonstrators were peaceful.
A 66-year-old woman in Chicago was injured when she was struck by a car during downtown protests Tuesday evening, police said. Video showed a car speeding down a street where people were protesting.
In Texas, where police in Austin used chemical irritants to disperse several hundred demonstrators Monday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said Texas National Guard troops were “on standby” in areas where demonstrations are planned.
Guard members were sent to San Antonio, but Police Chief William McManus said he had not been told how many troops were deployed or what their role was ahead of planned protests Wednesday night and Saturday. Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety said the Texas National Guard was present at a protest downtown.
The protests began Friday after federal immigration raids arrested dozens of workers in Los Angeles.
