By Frank Stoltze, Megan Garvey , Jared Bennett and Erin Stone
Originally published June 6, 2025 at 3:12 p.m. and updated June 11, 2025 at 8:37 a.m.
An overnight curfew declared for downtown Los Angeles Tuesday resulted in 100 arrests overnight, according to L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.
The curfew, put in place to respond to looting and vandalism that broke out during ICE protests, is likely to return nightly as protests continue, Bass told LAist media partner KCAL News in an interview Wednesday morning.
The mayor said the overnight arrests were tied to breaking the curfew, not for vandalism or other destructive acts.
The curfew was in place from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday.
It extended east to west from the 5 Freeway to the 110 Freeway; and from north to south from the 10 Freeway to where the 110 and 5 freeways merge. Although the initial curfew was for one night, when she announced it, Bass cautioned that she would consult with law enforcement and other local leaders on whether to extend the restrictions.
Bass said she made the decision to impose a curfew after 23 businesses were looted Monday night and other properties were vandalized.
“I think that if you drive through downtown L.A., the graffiti is everywhere and has caused significant damages to businesses and a number of properties,” she said.
Bass also stressed that the area under curfew is a small fraction of the city, she described it as about 1 square mile in a city that’s more than 500 square miles. [Fact check: The area appears to be slightly larger, although still a fraction of the overall city footprint.]
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell warned that non-residents caught within the curfew zone would face arrest.
“If you are in the curfew zone during the restricted hours without that legal exemption, you will be arrested. If you assault an officer in any fashion, you will be arrested,” he said.
Catch up on where things stand
California state leaders have asked a federal court to block the Trump administration from using the military and the National Guard to police Los Angeles and other communities in the wake of immigration raids and the protests sparked as a result.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta are seeking a temporary restraining order in federal court. They filed the request Tuesday morning.
The Defense Department asked for 24 hours to file a response, and the court granted that request. Newsom and Bonta will then have a opportunity to respond.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer set a hearing on the state’s motion for Thursday afternoon.
Newsom and Bonta also filed a lawsuit Monday that focuses on the same issues. Bonta said this week that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unlawfully invoked a statute intended to prevent an invasion or rebellion even though that was not the case in L.A.
“It’s not just immoral — It’s illegal and dangerous. Local law enforcement, not the military, enforce the law within our borders,” Bonta said in a news release Tuesday. “The President continues to inflame tensions and antagonize communities. ”
About the protests — and White House — response so far
Protesters have confronted authorities in Los Angeles, Paramount and neighboring Compton since Friday over raids conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Tensions continued to rise Monday and Tuesday between protesters and authorities, and between federal and local officials over how to respond. As of Tuesday afternoon, aerial TV news footage showed multiple people being arrested downtown and a crowd of protesters temporarily forcing both directions of the 101 Freeway close.
Last weekend, Trump administration officials announced they were calling up the California National Guard in response to what the White House said were “violent mobs” attacking “ICE Officers and Federal Law Enforcement Agents carrying out basic deportation operations in Los Angeles.”
Trump indicated he would send more members of the guard to Southern California as well as other military support.
NPR confirmed later that 700 Marines would be sent to L.A. in a support role.
The 60-day deployment of National Guard and Marines to L.A. is expected to cost $134 million, Hegseth and other defense officials told a California congressman Tuesday.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass told AirTalk, LAist’s daily news talk program, she had “no idea” what the National Guard troops and Marines heading for L.A. planned to do once they arrived, but she said she was certain they were not needed. She added that the city attorney is considering taking legal action against the Trump administration, similar to what Newsom and Bonta filed, although she doesn’t know yet what the lawsuit would look like.
What we know about the ICE raids to date
At a press conference Monday evening, Mayor Karen Bass said she knew of five ICE raids that had occurred across the region, with at least two occurring within the city of L.A.
“ ICE does not tell anybody where they’re going to go or when they’re going to be there,” Bass said. ”I can’t emphasize enough the level of fear and terror that is in Angelenos right now, not knowing if tomorrow or tonight it might be where they live. It might be their workplace.”
Bass condemned the actions of the federal agents.
“At the beginning of this administration we were told raids would be to look for violent criminals, people who have warrants,” Bass said.
“But I don’t know how you go from a drug dealer to a Home Depot to people’s workplaces where they just trying to make a living. It makes me feel like our city is actually a test case for what happens when the federal government moves in and takes the authority away from the state or away from local government.”
The federal immigration sweeps prompted anger, protest and resistance from onlookers and immigrant rights groups that have braced for this type of action for months.
Outside City Hall for a planned demonstration on Sunday, Eli Lockwood of Hacienda Heights told LAist she was there to protest what she said were “disgusting attacks on our communities.”
“We have to stand united against the attacks on the immigrant community because an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” she said.
By Sunday morning, hundreds of National Guard members were on duty in downtown L.A., where two protests — one permitted and one not permitted — converged near the federal detention center. The growing protest made for a rowdy and tense scene, punctuated by the sound of flash bangs and tear gas.
How are officials responding to the raids and protests?
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday formally asked that President Donald Trump rescind the deployment he had ordered Saturday.
Newsom called the plan to take over deployment from the state “a serious breach of state sovereignty,” and “purposefully inflammatory,” adding that it “will only escalate tensions,” and that he’d been in “close coordination with the city and county, and there is currently no unmet need.”
On Monday morning, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said she supported Newsom’s request, adding that she had tried to dissuade the Trump administration from sending in troops.
“The last thing this city needs is civil unrest that is provoked,” she said.
On Monday, Newsom said on social media the state was filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over federalizing the state’s National Guard troops.
Trump said the move was needed on social media, turning the governor’s name into an insult: “If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”
How is law enforcement scaling up?
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said the imminent arrival of U.S. Marines would be more of a logistical strain.
“The arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles — absent clear coordination — presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city,” he said in a statement.
Now, hundreds of more law enforcement officers are also heading to Los Angeles. Newsom on Monday said he’s working with partner agencies to send more than 800 additional state and local law enforcement officers into Los Angeles “to clean up President Trump’s mess.”
“Chaos is exactly what Trump wanted, now we are sending in hundreds more law enforcement to pick up the pieces,” he said in a statement. State and local leaders stand together, coordinated and resolute to ensure the safety of the Los Angeles region.”
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is now formally requesting the deployment of officers from a range of neighboring jurisdictions, including the CHP and the sheriff’s departments in Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Santa Barbara counties.
The competing orders came as Los Angeles officials braced for another day of protests against immigration raids that over the weekend became violent and destructive in downtown.
The Los Angeles Police Department said Monday it had arrested 50 people in connection with the protests over the weekend. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it had made five arrests, and California Highway Patrol made 19 arrests.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said the department would use video and other evidence to hold as many other people as possible accountable for violence.
What have the protests been like?
In addition to the gathering outside City Hall, a larger crowd assembled outside the Metropolitan Detention Center on Sunday, near where Alameda Street crosses over the 101 Freeway. Images showed National Guard troops clashing with some of the protesters.
Police officers eventually moved in to disperse the crowd before police announced that the use of less-than-lethal munitions had been authorized. The LAPD also said on X that officers had reported people in the crowd “throwing concrete, bottles and other objects,” prompting arrests.
Television news footage showed that several Waymo self-driving cars were vandalized, including at least two that were set on fire near Olvera Street, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air.
Anna Benedict of Echo Park told LAist earlier in the day that the demonstration had been largely peaceful.
“I mean, everybody here wants to be peaceful,” she said. “We’ve been standing here for quite a while, and no one is menacing the National Guard. Everybody is just standing up for their own freedom.”
What’s the role of the National Guard?
Two starkly contrasting pictures of conditions in the L.A. area continued to be offered by Trump and his allies, compared with local and state officials.
While Fox News and other conservative media used captions like “L.A. Riots” and the term “rioters” was trending on X, closer to home, authorities described isolated skirmishes and urged calm. Some national outlets seem to think Paramount, where some violence was reported, was located within the city of Los Angeles.
U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragán, whose district includes Paramount, told LAist on Sunday morning that she’d been in close contact with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols the area.
“We don’t need additional assistance,” she said. “We have everything under control… the Sheriff’s [Department] in Paramount got everything under control yesterday and LAPD has cleared out downtown last night without the help of National Guard.”
The Sheriff’s Department told LAist that two deputies had been injured Saturday, treated at a hospital and released. It also said people threw bottles and set off fireworks; some were detained.
Bass and other local and state leaders have urged protesters to remain peaceful, saying there is no place for violence or attacks on police as people exercise their First Amendment rights.
Barragán said her constituents are upset: “People are angry. … They’re concerned. There’s a lot of anxiety about immigration enforcement.”
The effect “ is terrorizing the community, and now you send the National Guard, you know, against their own people, and that is of course going to escalate the situation, and we’re trying to deescalate. And I think this administration knows what they’re doing. They’re trying to have a distraction.”
What led up to Trump’s action
The conflict in Paramount, a city of about 56,000 residents south of downtown L.A., attracted national attention after protests near a Home Depot extended into Saturday. Those protests appear to have begun when ICE agents were spotted in the area.
As the situation there was still developing, L.A. County Sheriff’s Department officials said in a statement that “as the situation escalated, the crowd of protesters became increasingly agitated, throwing objects and exhibiting violent behavior toward federal agents and deputy sheriffs.”
At that point, the department said it requested additional resources “countywide.” The statement did not reference the National Guard.
“We will protect your right to peacefully protest,” Sheriff Robert Luna said in an interview included in the statement, “but we will not tolerate violence or destruction of property.”
The Sheriff’s Department also clarified that they were not participating in any immigration enforcement actions, saying: “When federal authorities come under attack and request assistance, we will support them and provide aid. However, this does not mean that we are assisting with their immigration actions or operations; rather, our objective is to protect them from any violent attacks. Any assault on federal or local law enforcement is unacceptable.”
In Los Angeles by contrast, LAPD officials released a statement at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday calling the day’s protests in the city “peaceful” and commending “all those who exercised their First Amendment rights responsibly,” adding that the department “appreciates the cooperation of organizers, participants and community partners who helped ensure public safety throughout the day.”
Later in the evening, LAPD officers ordered protesters in downtown L.A. to disperse and closed Alameda between Los Angeles Street and 2nd Street to both pedestrians and vehicles.
What we know about the ICE raids
Initially, ICE officials said 44 people were arrested in the raids, although some news reports placed the number at more than 120 by late Saturday.
“ICE officers and agents alongside partner law enforcement agencies, executed four federal search warrants at three locations in central Los Angeles,” ICE spokesperson Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe said in a statement.
Confrontations between what appeared to be ICE officers and people in the streets of downtown L.A. could be seen in video aired on local television and shared on social media.
At times, uniformed agents or officers could be seen physically moving people who appeared to be blocking the officers and their vehicles.
Reports shared via the social media platform X said ICE was seen in the Garment District area of L.A. Another video showed federal agents in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Westlake, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, known as CHIRLA, said her organization estimated there were at least 45 detentions.
Among them was Service Employees International Union California President David Huerta, according to union authorities. They said Huerta had been injured and was receiving medical attention while in custody.
“What happened to me is not about me; this is about something much bigger,” Huerta said in a statement released by the union. “This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that’s happening. Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.”
Several immigrant rights leaders and activists, along with some city elected officials, attended a large rally Friday evening to share their reactions to the federal operations and call for a stop to them. Later, more than 300 people marched a few blocks toward the federal detention center.
Reaction from city officials
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement Friday afternoon condemning the raids.
“As a mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place,” Bass said. “These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city.
“My office is in close coordination with immigrant rights community organizations,” the mayor continued. “We will not stand for this.”
All 15 members of the City Council released a joint statement that echoed some of the same points the Bass made.
“We condemn this in no uncertain terms: Los Angeles was built by immigrants and it thrives because of immigrants,” the statement read. “We will not abide by fear tactics to support extreme political agendas that aim to stoke fear and spread discord in our city.
“To every immigrant living in our city: We see you, we stand with you, and we will fight for you,” the statement continued. “Los Angeles will continue to be a place that values and dignifies every human being, no matter who they are or where they come from.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said his department was not involved in the raids.
“While the LAPD will continue to have a visible presence in all our communities to ensure public safety, we will not assist or participate in any sort of mass deportations, nor will the LAPD try to determine an individual’s immigration status,” he said.
After the sweeps, photographers captured several protesters being detained by officers. Addressing a crowd at a rally, L.A. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez pushed back against previous statements by the Trump administration that ICE would focus their efforts on dangerous criminals.
“It’s never, ever, ever been the case,” Hernandez said. “Because when they come for one of us, they come for all of us. And we have to remember that.”
Councilmember Ysabel Jurado noted the timing of the ICE operations, stressing that they happened at a time when families and students are celebrating graduations and the LGBTQ+ community is celebrating Pride Month.
“What kind of government plans this during our most sacred moments of joy?” Jurado asked. “The footage speaks for itself. This is cruelty disguised as policy.”
Mass deportations
Since Trump was elected, immigrant rights groups in Southern California have been on edge. Trump has promised “mass deportations” of unauthorized immigrants. There have been protests that have shut down freeways and high school walkouts by students protesting the administration.
“Los Angeles immigrant communities and allies have been preparing,” Andres Kwon of the American Civil Liberties Union told LAist in February.
The ACLU is part of the L.A. Rapid Response Network, a group of immigrant rights, legal and faith-based groups that has a hotline for people to report ICE activity and to seek help after a raid.
CHIRLA and other groups have hosted workshops that teach undocumented immigrants how to assert their constitutional rights, as well as how to prepare for worst-case scenarios. They’ve been telling people they don’t have to allow a federal agent into their home without a warrant and don’t have to reveal their immigration status.
The Los Angeles Unified School District began distributing “red cards,” also known as “Know Your Rights” cards, to help people assert their rights and defend themselves if they encounter federal immigration agents.
The effort came as the Trump administration announced it would allow ICE to conduct arrests in sensitive areas such as schools and churches, dismantling policies dating back to 2011.
Before L.A., ICE conducted high-profile enforcement actions in Chicago and Boston. Last week, an ICE raid on a restaurant in San Diego’s South Park neighborhood resulted in multiple arrests. While the raid was taking place, crowds gathered outside the restaurant where many people protested the action, filming the officers on their cellphones and surrounding their vehicles.
Detentions under Biden
Removals of immigrants by ICE and Customs and Border Patrol in the L.A. area were on the rise before Trump came into office. But the Washington Post reported earlier this year that ICE had struggled to boost arrest numbers despite an infusion of resources.
ICE/CBP removals in the L.A. Area of Operations, which includes much of Southern California, increased by more than 180% between the 2022 and 2024 fiscal years, according to ICE data. More than 3,551 people were removed in fiscal 2024, which ended Sept. 30.
Detentions also rose, according to the data.
While national detentions remained fairly constant over the past four years, L.A.-area detentions increased by 155% from 2022 to 2024, when 3,857 people were detained.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Chris Newman, legal director and general counsel for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said earlier this year.
While in office, former President Joe Biden was under increasing political pressure to address illegal immigration.
“The Biden administration was focused on recent arrivals and people with criminal history,” Newman said.
From 2023 to 2024, the L.A. area had significant increases in detentions (432% increase from 217 to 1,154) and removals (547% increase from 223 to 1,443) of people who had not been convicted of crimes.
How LAist is reporting on this
Jordan Rynning contributed to this report. Josie Huang, who hosts Weekend Edition on LAist 89.3, is conducting interviews. Dañiel Martinez and Jared Bennett are making calls to the public officials and monitoring news conferences. Frank Stoltze reported from the field on Friday. Fiona Ng, Jason Wells and Megan Garvey have contributed reporting and writing, as well as editing. Dana Littlefield edited the original version of this article, which initially published Friday.
This is a developing story. We fact check everything and rely only on information from credible sources (think fire, police, government officials and reporters on the ground). Sometimes, however, we make mistakes or initial reports turn out to be wrong. In all cases, we strive to bring you the most accurate information in real time and will update this story as new information becomes available.
This report is reprinted with permission from Southern California Public Radio. © 2024 Southern California Public Radio. All rights reserved.
