Police Clash With Protesters After Anti-Trump Rally in Downtown Los Angeles

Tensions flared between protesters and police in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday as a major demonstration against the Trump administration gave way to yet another night of smaller but raucous protests against recent immigration raids.

With the city’s downtown area facing an 8 p.m. curfew, the Los Angeles police began using tear gas and crowd-control munitions to break up protests after issuing a 4 p.m. dispersal order. Officers on horseback forced hundreds of people away from a federal building downtown, where a crowd had gathered, chanting at a line of National Guard troops guarding the structure as helicopters circled overhead.

“Shame on you! Shame on you!” the demonstrators shouted, as the troops stood at attention. In several posts on X, the Los Angeles Police Department accused protesters of throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers. Law enforcement also said that “outside agitators” had blocked a portion of a street with fencing and other materials.

After a series of militarized immigration raids ignited protests in downtown Los Angeles and several other nearby suburbs, President Trump commandeered 2,000 members of the National Guard over the governor’s objections and sent them to Los Angeles. After California officials pushed back, the president deployed another 2,000 National Guard troops along with 700 U.S. Marines.

Local authorities said they had the situation handled and needed no backup, but the president said that the city was out of control and that the military was needed to safeguard federal property and agents. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles have accused Mr. Trump of staging the immigration raids in an intentional attempt to inflame Californians and manufacture a crisis in a state that he regards as a hotbed of opposition and a place that allows illegal immigration.