For the third consecutive day, large protests erupted across Los Angeles County in response to ongoing federal immigration raids targeting working class communities in the most populous county in the United States. Sunday’s demonstrations were larger than those on the previous two days, reflecting mounting outrage among broader layers of the population.
The scenes emerging from Los Angeles resemble an active war zone. As during the mass protests following the 2020 police murder of George Floyd, police are indiscriminately firing on protesters, journalists and bystanders alike. Video posted online by on-the-ground reporters shows police and California National Guard soldiers firing “less lethal” rounds at close range, significantly increasing the risk of serious injury.
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets demanding that federal agents and National Guard troops leave the area. Many demonstrators waved flags from Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador and carried signs denouncing the immigration Gestapo and police repression.
In response to the sadistic and unrelenting police violence, some protesters have thrown rocks and glass bottles and launched over-the-counter fireworks at law enforcement. Several electric, self-driving Waymo vehicles—some of them remotely operated—have also been set on fire.
In response to the growing protest movement, the Los Angeles Police Department and newly federalized California National Guard soldiers unleashed thousands of pepper balls, foam baton rounds and CS gas canisters on the largely peaceful crowd.
These “less lethal” chemical and kinetic munitions can cause severe injuries, and even death. Dozens of journalists—including World Socialist Web Site reporter Kimie Saito, with more than 50 years in the socialist movement—have been struck by rubber bullets fired by police.
In addition to thousands of police and hundreds of soldiers, reporters and protesters have confirmed the deployment of horse-mounted patrols, drones and even rooftop snipers overlooking the demonstrations.
It remains unclear how many people have been injured or arrested in the ongoing police rampage. As of this writing, thousands are still gathered in downtown Los Angeles, particularly around the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and Highway 101.
Sunday’s protest began at the Federal Building, where some of the 300 recently federalized California National Guard soldiers from the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were deployed that morning in coordination with the US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM).
The deployment of National Guard troops under USNORTHCOM is a deliberate provocation by the Trump administration, intended to set the stage for invoking the Insurrection Act. Normally, a state’s National Guard is ultimately under the control of the governor. However, under Title 10 of the U.S. Code, National Guard units can be federalized to carry out missions on behalf of the president—typically in coordination with, not in defiance of, a state’s governor.
As of this writing, it is unclear how long the soldiers will remain deployed in Los Angeles, though some reports indicate it could be for at least 30 days—or as long as the fascist raids continue.
In addition to the California National Guard, USNORTHCOM has confirmed that “approximately 500 Marines from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms, California,” are also “prepared to deploy” to “augment and support the [Department of Defense’s] protection of federal property and personnel efforts.”
The Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles houses the U.S. District Court, a Department of State office, as well as offices for the U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Senator Alex Padilla (Democrat-California). Protests have been held at the building since Friday, following reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were seizing immigrants and their family members who arrived for scheduled check-in appointments.
Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), told HuffPost on Friday that “up to 200 people” were being held in the basement of the Federal Building, including a pregnant woman and a two-year-old child. “It’s not a facility that’s designed to hold anyone overnight,” Proaño said. “So they have folks in interview rooms and offices, up to 30 people. They’ve set up some makeshift tents as well.”
Immigration attorney Lizbeth Mateo told CBS News on Friday that several of her clients were being held in the building—including one who is a US citizen. Mateo said that while some of her clients were released Friday night, others remain imprisoned. “This is something I’ve never seen before,” she told the outlet. “Under the first Trump administration, I represented clients with very difficult cases but never anything like this. Under any other circumstance, he would have been released.”
Los Angeles County is the most populous county in the United States, home to some 10 million people. Nearly half of the people in the county identify as Latino, and roughly 35 percent were born somewhere other than the US. A 2022 report from USC found that about 18 percent of Angelenos are part of a “mixed-status” family, meaning either of their parents, or themselves are undocumented or live with someone who is.
The fascist police rampage in Los Angeles County is provoking outrage across the country. On Sunday, north of Los Angeles in San Francisco, a smaller but militant crowd of several hundred gathered outside the Department of Homeland Security field office to protest the ongoing raids.
At a Sunday press conference addressing the situation in Los Angeles, Democratic LA Mayor Karen Bass attempted to strike a balance between appeasing the fascist Trump administration and posturing as a defender of democratic rights. She criticized the administration for “creating a sense of chaos” in the city, while simultaneously pleading with Trump not to federalize National Guard soldiers.
Her appeals to Trump were coupled with denunciations of so-called “violent” protesters. “The First Amendment gives you the right to protest peacefully,” Bass said. “But it does not give you the right to be violent, to create chaos, or to vandalize property—and that will not be tolerated.”
Bass also confirmed that the LAPD is responding to requests for assistance from the federal immigration Gestapo when agents are overwhelmed by community resistance. “When one branch of law enforcement says they need help, another branch of law enforcement is going to respond and is obligated to respond,” she said.