NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Immigration enforcement efforts in Los Angeles served as the ignition point over the weekend, as coordinated ICE raids across the city sparked violent clashes with law enforcement, leading to the arrival of military forces.
The Trump administration’s crackdown culminated in the president’s decisive action Monday to deploy a battalion of hundreds of U.S. Marines to respond to anti-immigration enforcement riots, Fox News has learned.
“Approximately 700 Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division will seamlessly integrate with the Title 10 forces under Task Force 51 who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area,” U.S. Northern Command said in a statement.
Assemblyman David Tangipa, R-Calif., called the protests an “orchestrated attack.”
CALIFORNIA LT. GOVERNOR SAYS LOS ANGELES RIOTS ARE ‘GENERATED BY DONALD TRUMP’
“Law enforcement is under violent assault—pelted with bricks and weapons by rioters,” he told Fox News Digital. “This isn’t peaceful protest, it’s an orchestrated attack. Organizers aren’t just enabling it—they’re inciting it. Now, even the Marines are being deployed to restore order.”
“Violence must be condemned and stopped before more lives are put at risk.”
President Donald Trump described the demonstrators as “violent, insurrectionist mobs” and praised the 2,000 National Guard troops for their role in restoring order after hoards of protesters clashed with law enforcement in Los Angeles.
Here is a timeline of key events surrounding the immigration enforcement actions and ensuing protests in Los Angeles:
Friday, June 6:
Federal immigration enforcement efforts in Los Angeles began on Friday, June 6, with coordinated ICE raids across the city targeting migrants. These operations, which resulted in more than 100 arrests, focused on known areas of unlawful employment and activity, including the Fashion District and commercial hubs.
Among those arrested was 49-year-old Cuong Chanh Phan, an illegal immigrant from Vietnam with a criminal history that includes a conviction for second-degree murder. Phan was convicted of shooting up a high school graduation party after a dispute, killing an 18-year-old and a 15-year-old. Seven others were injured in the incident, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
One man has already been sent back to Mexico after being picked up at a Home Depot on Friday morning. During the demonstrations, David Huerta, president of SEIU California, a labor union, was arrested and charged with impeding a federal agent while protesting.
Saturday, June 7:
Trump deployed California National Guard troops to Los Angeles on Saturday following the chaotic standoff between protesters and federal immigration authorities. Photos from the scene in California captured protesters blocking streets, throwing bricks at law enforcement and setting cars ablaze.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom requested the administration to rescind the deployment, saying Trump is trying “to manufacture a crisis” and that the president is “hoping for chaos so he can justify more crackdowns, more fear, more control.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized California’s Democratic leadership, stating they had “completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens.”
She declared that the Trump administration maintains a zero-tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when directed at law enforcement officers, and that such individuals “will be arrested and swiftly brought to justice.”
ICE SWEEPS THROUGH LA BUSINESSES AS LOCAL DEMOCRATS CRY FOUL OVER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
DHS released a statement on Saturday noting it took the LAPD two hours to respond to the Roybal Federal Building, despite multiple calls.
“Last night, over 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer-funded property,” according to DHS. “Our ICE enforcement officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults against them. Disturbingly, in recent days, ICE officers’ family members have been dox[x]ed and targeted as well.”
Newsom, meanwhile, strongly condemned President Trump’s decision to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles without state consent, labeling the move as “purposefully inflammatory.”
“California – Don’t give Donald Trump what he wants,” Newsom wrote in a X post. “Speak up. Stay peaceful. Stay calm. Do not use violence and respect the law enforcement officers that are trying their best to keep the peace.”
FEDERAL OFFICIALS SLAM DEMOCRATS FOR ‘DANGEROUS’ RHETORIC AS ICE AGENTS FACE VIOLENT MOBS IN LA, NYC
Sunday, June 8:
On Sunday, rioters gathered downtown, including near the Metropolitan Detention Center, to protest ongoing immigration enforcement and the arrival of National Guard personnel.
Law enforcement agencies, including the LAPD and National Guard troops, employed crowd-control measures such as tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse protesters.
Newsom arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday evening to oversee the response to the anti-ICE riots and meet with state emergency officials.
“We’re here to keep the peace — not play into Trump’s political games,” Newsom wrote.
WATCH: DESTRUCTION TO LAPD HQ
Rioters were seen targeting the LAPD headquarters on Sunday night as violent demonstrations continued.
The LAPD declared an “unlawful assembly” Sunday evening as protesters failed to disperse in the downtown area.
“Agitators have splintered into and through out [sic] the Downtown Area,” the LAPD’s Central Division wrote on X. “Residents, businesses and visitors to the Downtown Area should be alert and report any criminal activity. Officers are responding to several different locations to disperse crowds.”
ICE OFFICIAL PUTS POLITICIANS ON BLAST, DEMANDING THEY ‘STOP PUTTING MY PEOPLE IN DANGER’
Other video footage from the weekend shows protesters spitting on the American flag and setting it on fire while chanting “F Trump,” setting fire to vehicles and throwing objects and fireworks at police.
Monday, June 9:
DHS on Monday called on California’s politicians to “call off their rioting mob,” asking why Newsom was supporting what the department called “foreign criminals.”
The post included a video that shows a masked, shirtless man holding a Mexican flag while standing on top of a vehicle covered in graffiti. A second vehicle is seen burning in the middle of a street as crowds of people gathered nearby.
Newsom continued to spar with Trump over the riots erupting in Los Angeles, calling the president “unhinged” on Monday. Newsom has peppered Trump with criticisms over federalizing the National Guard in a series of posts on X.
“We’re suing him,” Newsom added.
WATCH:
On Monday afternoon, Fox News learned that hundreds of Marines were mobilizing in Los Angeles. They will be tasked with protecting federal property and federal personnel, according to a senior defense official, and the deployment is open-ended.
The Marines will not be carrying out a law enforcement role, but it Is unclear what their use of force rules are if protesters throw things or spit at them.
The Marines are from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms, California.
Moments before the deployment, Trump expressed optimism that the situation in Los Angeles was improving.
“I mean, I think we have it very well under control,” he told reporters. “I think it would have been a very bad situation. It was heading in the wrong direction. It’s now heading in the right direction.”
Newsom expressed his outrage at the possibility of the presence of Marines, writing on X, “U.S. Marines have served honorably across multiple wars in defense of democracy. They are heroes. They shouldn’t be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President. This is un-American.”
The California governor initially said that the information they have is that Marines are not being deployed, but moving “from one base to another base.”
“From our understanding, this is moving Marines from one base to another base,” Newsom wrote in a statement on X. “At this time, the information we have is that Marines are not being deployed (there is a difference between that and being mobilized),” he continued.
“The level of escalation is completely unwarranted, uncalled for, and unprecedented — mobilizing the best in class branch of the U.S. military against its own citizens,” Newsom said.
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin, Greg Wehner, Stepheny Price and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
Read the full article here
