Violent anti-ICE protests erupted on Friday in Los Angeles and escalated throughout the weekend, prompting the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops to control the chaos.
Thousands of protestors turned out on Sunday, destroying the main arteries of downtown Los Angeles. The violent demonstrators torched police cars and the American flag, waved Mexican flags while standing atop graffiti-laden vehicles, hurled rocks at law enforcement, and flooded the 101 Freeway, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles.
Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, responded to political rhetoric causing anti-ICE sentiment and threats to federal officers and their families. In a video posted to X, Lyons said: “I’m not asking them to stop — I’m demanding that they stop.”
📺ICE acting director responds to political rhetoric causing anti-ICE sentiment and threats to federal officers and their families: “I’m not asking them to stop — I’m demanding that they stop.” pic.twitter.com/WQiLSMTu7P
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) June 7, 2025
During a Sunday evening news conference, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell blamed organized agitators and anarchists — people dressed in black wearing masks and carrying backpacks — for instigating the worst violence, including hurling rocks and bricks at police and throwing Molotov cocktails and firecrackers at police officers on horseback.
“They’ll take a backpack, and the backpack will have a cinderblock in it,” McDonnell said during the news conference. “They’ll break up the cinderblock and use that, pass it around to throw at officers, to throw at cars and other people.”
As the clashes with police boiled over, protesters on an overpass tossed rocks, scooters and other items at police cars parked on the 101 Freeway and set police cruisers on fire. Police said several individuals were shooting “commercial grade fireworks” at officers.
“That can kill you,” Chief McDonnell said, as reported by local outlet KTLA 5 News. “We have adapted our tactics to be able to have a chance to be able to take these people into custody and to hold them accountable.”
McDonnell said that people had a right to protest peacefully, but he called the violence against police officers “disgusting” and said the protests were getting out of control. He admitted that officers were overwhelmed with the number of people causing mayhem.
“Do we need them?” the chief said of the National Guard. “Look at tonight, this has gotten out of control. I’d have to know more about what their capabilities are, what their role is intended to be. But we have great cops here that work together all the time, so we have tremendous capability.”
California state and local officials, mainly Democrats, are fueling the flames and encouraging the violent protests with unfounded rumors and political rhetoric.
Meanwhile, they accuse Trump of inflaming initially small-scale protests by mounting a federal response. He calls the protesters insurrectionists and paid agitators, and he’s prepared to bring in U.S. marines if necessary.
Democrat Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, posted an endorsement of the violent attacks and property damage carried out by Democrats at the LA federal detention center stating “We are fighting for you.”
In another post on X, she said “The deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles has been a chaotic escalation. The City will remain focused on protecting all who call L.A. home.”
The deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles has been a chaotic escalation.
The City will remain focused on protecting all who call L.A. home. pic.twitter.com/CCR06PNH1E
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) June 8, 2025
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, called on Trump to withdraw troops, calling it unlawful. Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to help quell the protests and guard federal government buildings on Sunday.
Newsom said in an interview with MSNBC he planned to sue the administration over the deployment, adding that Trump “has created the conditions” around the protests.
Anti-ICE demonstrations have started to swell across the country in recent weeks in response to immigration raids. The Los Angeles protests broke out on Friday, June 6, after dozens of people were detained by federal immigration agents—many of them with violent criminal records.
Initially, a small group of demonstrators gathered in downtown Los Angeles, but it escalated into larger demonstrations in Paramount and Compton over the following two days. The arrival of the National Guard on Sunday, June 8, further intensified the protests.
On Sunday, when asked if the National Guard was needed, the police chief, McDonnell, said the department needed more manpower to get the protestors under control.
He said police would not “go to that right away,” but added, “Looking at the violence tonight, I think we’ve got to make a reassessment,” Reuters reported.
In a social media post, Trump called on McDonnell to do so.
“He should, right now!!!” Trump added. “Don’t let these thugs get away with this. Make America great again!!!”
Several self-driving cars from Alphabet’s Waymo were set ablaze on a downtown street on Sunday evening. Los Angeles police said protesters had thrown concrete projectiles, bottles and other items at police. Police declared several rallies to be unlawful assemblies and later extended that to include the whole downtown area.
Chief McDonnell said that the LAPD does not participate in federal immigration enforcement, nor does it provide any information to federal authorities, stating that this has been the department’s policy since 1979, KTLA 5 News reported.
The department has been criticized for their delayed response to the initial protests. Some reports said it took nearly two hours for LA police to show up, while the chief said it was around 40 minutes.
McDonnel said 10 people were arrested on Sunday and 29 the previous night, adding arrests were continuing. The department plans to review social media and surveillance video to arrest people they can identify.
Among the arrests, one man was taken into custody for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at an officer and a motorcyclist was arrested for ramming a police skirmish line.
McDonnell noted that those out committing acts of violence after dark are not the same people peacefully protesting during the day.
“There are people who do this all the time, get away with whatever they can, going from one civil unrest situation to another using similar tactics and they are connected,” the chief said in KTLA 5 News report.
One LA councilwoman promised more insurrection in a post on X, which has now been deleted.
Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters called for the United States to give citizenship to illegal immigrants as the protests escalated in Los Angeles. Waters said all elected officials should be “on the streets” with the illegal protesters in video footage posted to X.
JUST IN: Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters calls for the United States to give citizenship to illegal immigrants as protests continue in Los Angeles.
Waters said all elected officials should be “on the streets” with the illegal protesters.
“The mayor should be on the street. The City… pic.twitter.com/NWC9EYrXjm
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 8, 2025
“The mayor should be on the street. The City Council should be on the street. Everybody should be on the street. All of the state elected officials, all of us in Congress.”
In another stunt, Waters was captured on video walking past graffiti — including “F*ck ICE” and other derogatory slurs — as she tried to enter the Los Angeles Federal Building to check on arrested SEIU President David Huerta. Despite her “congressional authority,” she was denied entry.
On Sunday, about a dozen National Guard members, along with Department of Homeland Security personnel, pushed back a group of demonstrators outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, video showed.
The U.S. Northern Command said 300 members of the California National Guard had been deployed to three spots in the Los Angeles area, Reuters reported.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Saturday the Pentagon is prepared to mobilize active-duty troops “if violence continues” in Los Angeles, saying Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were on high alert.
