Mobilization Comes in Wake of Anti-ICE Riots

Matt Delaney, Seth McLaughlin & Stephen Dinan | June 9, 2025

(The Washington Times) — National Guard troops poured into Los Angeles on Sunday, called out by President Trump to restore calm after a weekend of violent protests against the administration’s attempt to increase deportations by targeting the country’s largest pool of illegal immigrants.

Mr. Trump vowed “very strong law and order” in reaction to what he called “violent people.”

“We’re going to 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 said.

Protesters and troops faced off Sunday afternoon around a government facility in downtown Los Angeles. Local police declared an unlawful assembly and authorized the arrest of anyone throwing items.

Elsewhere in Los Angeles, swarms of protesters took over part of U.S. Highway 101 downtown and began throwing items at the California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear who confronted demonstrators on the major artery.

Officers fired flash-bangs and tear gas into the mass of protesters, with multiple demonstrators being arrested after they refused to be pushed off the highway.

Some agitators lit several self-driving Waymo cars on fire as the rioters’ attention shifted from the freeway.

The initial deployment of 300 soldiers marked the first time since the 1960s that Guard troops had been activated without their governor’s consent. It served as a major escalation in tensions over Mr. Trump’s immigration plans.

Administration officials said the call-up was necessary after thousands of people harassed Homeland Security Department personnel who were attempting to make arrests. Protesters flung rocks and other projectiles at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and battering ICE vehicles.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the Guard troops are there to calm the protests and give ICE the space to do the job Mr. Trump has asked.

“We’re not going to let a repeat of 2020 happen,” Ms. Noem said on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” in a reference to the anti-police violence that engulfed cities after the death of George Floyd.

Some liberal activists hailed the protesters as heroes, but most senior Democrats in Washington constrained their comments to criticizing Mr. Trump for what they saw as a hasty leap to call out the Guard and calling for a “stand-down.”

“This move sets a troubling precedent for military intervention in local law enforcement,” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “It is crucial that decisions of this magnitude are made with transparency, restraint and respect for constitutional balance.”

In a Sunday afternoon press conference, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed the Trump administration and its deportation efforts.

“What we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration,” the Democratic mayor said. “When you raid Home Depot and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you cause fear and you cause panic. And deploying federalized troops is a dangerous escalation.”

Ms. Bass did speak out against the highway blockade and the protesters throwing bottles and rocks at officers, saying both actions are “not peaceful.”

In his words earlier Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom echoed fears in liberal circles that Mr. Trump was trying to create a crisis to justify an authoritarian crackdown.

“Don’t give Trump what he wants. Stay calm,” the Democratic governor wrote.

The city and state’s Democratic leadership had said local law enforcement had matters in hand, a claim federal officials denied.

Todd Lyons, acting director at ICE, said his officers waited two hours Friday for local assistance as a mob surrounded an ICE building and tried to prevent officers from carrying out arrests and detentions.

“What took place in Los Angeles yesterday was appalling,” he said. “As rioters attacked federal ICE and law enforcement officers on the L.A. streets, Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement.”

Ms. Bass’s social media post Friday complained about the arrests and said the city “will not stand for this.”

Mr. Trump warned Sunday that his administration would pull out all the stops in its quest to beat back the “migrant invasion” in Los Angeles and restore law and order to the “once great American City.”

“I am directing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, in coordination with all other relevant Departments and Agencies, to take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social.

Mr. Trump said the “violent, insurrectionist mobs” that are trying to stop the immigration raids “only strengthen our resolve.”

“Order will be restored, the Illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free,” he said.

Homeland Security circulated photos from the protests, including vulgar anti-ICE graffiti and flyers calling the Trump administration a “fascist regime.”

It also released a rogues’ gallery of photos and names of migrants targeted by ICE in the arrests.

They included Cuong Chanh Phan, a Vietnamese illegal immigrant with a murder conviction on his record; Rolando Veneracion-Enriquez, a Filipino illegal immigrant with a conviction of assault with intent to commit rape; Lionel Sanchez-Laguna, a Mexican with gun, child cruelty, spousal abuse and DUI convictions; and Jose Gregorio Medranda Ortiz, from Ecuador, with a drug trafficking conviction.

Rep. Nanette Barragan, California Democrat, said she didn’t disagree with targeting violent illegal immigrants for arrest but added that the ICE efforts and the troop deployment went too far.

“It is only going to make things worse in a situation where people are already angry over immigration enforcement,” she said. “It is going to escalate the situation.”

Sen. Ruben Gallego, Arizona Democrat, said when ICE was going after only illegal immigrants with criminal records, “there was little to no public outcry.”

“Public protest has erupted because Donald Trump has abused due process, separated families, and deported kids,” he said. “Trump isn’t trying to solve anything. He’s putting on a show to look tough on TV.”

Mr. Newsom’s office said California was “united against [the] chaotic and inflammatory takeover” of state guard units.

Before leaving for Camp David on Sunday, Mr. Trump said: “When they spit at people, you know, they spit, that is their new thing and worse, you know what they throw at them, right? When that happens, I have a little statement. … They spit, we hit.”

He urged state officials not to hinder his efforts.

“If officials stay in the way of law and order, yeah, they will face charges,” he said.

U.S. Northern Command said the roughly 300 troops deployed Sunday were sent to three locations in the Los Angeles area.

“They are conducting safety and protection of federal property & personnel,” the command said on social media.

The troops are from the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from the California National Guard.