Protests in Los Angeles continue to escalate as the city’s police department have announced mass arrests overnight.
“Multiple groups continue to congregate on 1st St between Spring and Alameda. Those groups are being addressed and mass arrests are being initiated. Curfew is in effect,” read a post on the LAPD’s social media, sent at 9:09p.m local time on Tuesday night.
A follow-up post said that “curfew is in effect until 6 a.m.” and urged businesses and residents who have been impacted by the vandalism to submit an official report.
The curfew—starting at 8 p.m. local time—was put in place in the Downtown area of L.A. on Tuesday by the city’s Mayor Karen Bass, who declared a local emergency.
“Applies to everyone—limited exceptions, including for emergency and medical personnel, residents, workers & credentialed media,” Bass said.
Speaking at a press conference, the Mayor explained that on Monday night: “There were 23 businesses that were looted. If you drive through downtown L.A., the graffiti is everywhere and has caused significant damages… Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew and you will be prosecuted.”
Protests started in Los Angeles on Friday, as locals demonstrated against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, his Administration’s push to ramp up deportations, and raids conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The protests turned violent, with reports of vandalism and looting.
Read More: What the Data Reveals About Trump’s Push to Arrest and Deport More Migrants
TIME has looked at the data on deportation figures since President Donald Trump took office in January, and found that the number of people held in detention centres has risen by 25%. Whilst the number of arrests made by Customs and Border Protection has fallen, due to less people coming to the border, arrests by ICE officers have sharply risen. The Department of Homeland Security provided figures to TIME that more than 207,000 people have been deported since the start of Trump’s second term.
Over the weekend, Trump deployed the National Guard in response to the protests, he did so without a request being made by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. In fact, Newsom and Bass have both been vocal in their disapproval over Trump’s decision to bypass them and call in the National Guard. Trump has since ordered marines to quell the protests, also.
Read More: Trump Sparks Backlash as National Guard Arrives in L.A. on His Orders to Quell Immigration Protests: ‘Purposefully Inflammatory’
On Sunday morning, as National Guard troops started arriving in L.A., Newsom said: “Trump is sending 2,000 National Guard troops into L.A. County—not to meet an unmet need, but to manufacture a crisis. He’s hoping for chaos so he can justify more crackdowns, more fear, more control.” Newsom urged Californians to “never use violence” and “stay peaceful.”
Newsom has since called the added deployment of the marines “a blatant abuse of power,” maintaining that Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, is “illegally deploying them onto American streets so Trump can have a talking point at his parade this weekend.”
A federal judge is due to hold a hearing on Thursday over California’s request to block the Trump Administration from using troops in Los Angeles. The hearing comes after an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order filed Tuesday by Newsom was denied.
Newsom addressed Californians, and Americans as a whole, in an impassioned speech on Tuesday night.
“What’s happening right now is very different than anything we’ve seen before… This isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles. When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation,” Newsom said.
The Governor also maintained that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and the subsequent introduction of marines was illegal. “California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next.,” he warned.
On Wednesday morning, Trump continued his very public war of words with California’s Democrat Governor.
“The INCOMPETENT Governor of California was unable to provide protection in a timely manner when our Ice Officers, GREAT Patriots they are, were attacked by an out of control mob of agitators, troublemakers, and/or insurrectionists,” Trump said via a post on TruthSocial.
Speaking to U.S. Army personnel during an address at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his decision to bypass Newsom and deploy troops to California.
“Generations of Army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness,” he said. “What you’re witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags.”
Meanwhile, the protests have now surpassed L.A. and have spread to other U.S. cities. Hundreds protested outside ICE headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has responded to the unrest in his state by deploying the National Guard.
“Texas National Guard will be deployed to locations across the state to ensure peace and order. Peaceful protest is legal. Harming a person or property is illegal and will lead to arrest,” Abbott said via social media. “Texas Guard will use every tool and strategy to help law enforcement maintain order.”
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