June 8, 2025 - Trump presidency, Los Angeles protest news

Our live coverage of the LA protests has moved here.

The LAPD, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol have all deployed helicopters that appear to have been monitoring the ongoing protests in Downtown LA on Sunday, according to data from Flightradar24.

The tracking site showed several helicopters in flight at varying elevations above the downtown area – encircling neighborhoods in Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Compton, the Fashion District and South Park.

According to the flight tracker, different helicopters were in the air starting from around 1 a.m. Sunday and continued to be active until around 10 p.m. local time.

Protesters looting a gas station store during immigration protest in Paramount, California, on Saturday.

Several business owners have reported looting at their stores in the area of 6th Street and Broadway, the LAPD said.

“Officers are enroute to the location to investigate,” police said on X.

Los Angeles Police Captain Raul Jovel told reporters Sunday that officers are “making more arrests as we speak.”

“We’re trying to get into that posture where we’re able to make arrests right now,” Jovel said, emphasizing that “our officers are really under attack.”

Three officers were injured from clashes with protests, though those injuries are minor, Jovel said.

The captain’s comments came an hour before police declared all of Downtown Los Angeles an area of unlawful assembly. This has not deterred some demonstrators though, who have returned to the area, according to police.

“Reports of fights within the group,” the LAPD wrote on X.

Law enforcement clash with demonstrators in front of the federal building during a protest following federal immigration operations, in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday.

Demonstrators continue to clash with law enforcement in the dark, as night falls on the third day of protests against the immigration raids that swept across California over the weekend.

Here’s where things stand as of Sunday night:

Unlawful assembly: The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) announced Sunday night that the entire downtown Los Angeles has been “declared as an unlawful assembly area.” It marks a major expansion of an earlier order in the afternoon, when the unlawful assembly was declared for the protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Demonstrators arrested: Ten protesters have been arrested during clashes with police in downtown LA, said LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell in a news conference late Sunday. CNN witnessed police using tear gas and flash bangs to disperse crowds earlier in the day, some hitting and pushing protesters while making arrests.

Contentious deployment: About 300 members of the California National Guard have been operating in LA, according to the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who formally requested the Trump administration to rescind its “unlawful” deployment, and allow local authorities to maintain order.

“Ready to deploy status”: Approximately 500 active-duty Marines are on a “prepared to deploy status” and would be sent from the combat center in Twentynine Palms, California, as unrest persists in the city, US Northern Command said Sunday evening. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had warned Saturday that active-duty Marines were preparing to deploy.

Freeway closures: There have been traffic disruptions on and off all day, including on the critical US 101 Freeway that connects LA with other California cities like San Francisco. The 101 was fully closed for about 90 minutes in the afternoon after hundreds of protesters made their way onto the freeway. It was later opened – then all southbound lanes were shut again until further notice due to protesters throwing objects onto police vehicles on the freeway.

A flash bomb explodes on the 101 Freeway near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, on Sunday.

Video from the Associated Press shows several police officers standing underneath an overpass, appearing to shelter from demonstrators above.

Extensive debris is shown directly below the overpass, and at least one police vehicle appears to be damaged, with its grill on fire. One of the officers is shown aiming a weapon at an upward angle.

Several other shots from the video show demonstrators gathered above on the overpass with clouds of thick black smoke in the background. It remains unclear exactly what is burning.

President Donald Trump’s move to federalize the National Guard and deploy troops to Los Angeles without the approval of California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sparked debate over whether the White House could actually be fueling the unrest.

Juliette Kayyem, a CNN senior national security analyst and former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, framed the situation as two distinct crises converging.

“One is the immigration issue — the concerns about ICE — and you’re seeing the protesters, some lawful, some unlawful, protesting a federal immigration law enforcement action,” Kayyem told CNN’s Brian Abel.

The second issue, Kayyem said, is the federalization of the National Guard, carried out against the governor’s wishes.

“(We’re seeing) a deployment of a federal military asset essentially into Los Angeles,” along with “tweets and talks by the White House of things like insurrection,” Kayyem said.

The protests appeared to have been “manageable from a law enforcement, local state, and even state National Guard perspective,” she said, but still the White House took action.

Kayyem also expressed concern over the lack of clarity surrounding the deployment. “No rules of engagement. No mission statement. And now, the threat of active military — raises a certain question about whether the White House is in the job of de-escalation or escalation,” she said.

She characterized the federal response as a sharp break from past practices, calling it a troubling escalation over the past 24 hours.

“We don’t generally send in a federalized military deployment for something that honestly looks like this,” she said, adding that the administration owes the public an explanation of its rationale and standards for deploying National Guard troops.

Kayyem pointed to the 1992 Los Angeles riots as a precedent, noting that the federal response at the time was coordinated with state officials.

President Donald Trump urged the Los Angeles Police Department chief to “bring in the troops” after Jim McDonnell said he would have to “make a reassessment” on the need for the National Guard, given Sunday’s violence.

Moments later, Trump posted: “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!” and “ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS, NOW!”

Trump earlier said he would ban masks at protests.

About 300 national guardsmen are on the ground after Trump ordered the deployment. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would sue the Trump administration over the move.

Asked at a news conference Sunday night if LA needs the National Guard, McDonnell said, “Looking at tonight, you know, this thing has gotten out of control.”

McDonnell also said law enforcement is “overwhelmed as far as the number of people out there engaged in this type of activity and the type of things that they’re doing.”

Hundreds of protesters gather to demand an immediate end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace raids, in Los Angeles, on Sunday.

The protests in Los Angeles began on Friday after dozens of people were detained by federal immigration agents across different locations – which hit hard for many in the city, long known for its diversity and large immigrant population.

The city is home to more than 1.35 million immigrants, meaning 1 out of every 3 LA residents is an immigrant, according to the LA government in 2024.

Some of the protests on Sunday were concentrated in Downtown Los Angeles, near the federal building, an area close to Little Tokyo and Chinatown and home to many immigrants.

Cities like LA and New York are often referred to as “sanctuary cities,” which means local governments limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

The exact policy on cooperation varies from city to city. LA, which officially designated itself a sanctuary city last November before President Donald Trump took office, prohibits the city’s resources – including government employees – from being used for any immigration enforcement.

The resolution, passed as municipal law in November, also prohibits the direct or indirect sharing of data with federal immigration authorities.

The Trump administration has condemned sanctuary cities as obstructing immigration enforcement, and the president has vowed to punish jurisdictions that do not cooperate.

In April, he ordered the Department of Homeland Security and the attorney general to compile a list of these sanctuary jurisdictions – and to identify funding that could be withheld from those places.

The DHS published an initial list of more than 500 jurisdictions in late May, but removed it from its website days later after questions about its accuracy arose, with some cities voicing confusion as to why they were included.

A protestor is detained during clash between police and demonstrators in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Ten protesters have been arrested amid clashes with police in downtown Los Angeles, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters in a news conference late Sunday.

“Our job is not to divide communities or to politicize law enforcement. Our job is simply to keep everyone safe,” McDonnell said.

The chief addressed the community’s “deep fear and anxiety” emerging from recent immigration enforcement, and assured the department is “committed to transparency, accountability, and treating every Angeleno with respect, regardless of their immigration status.”

McDonnell also said police “would have gone through a number of steps” before requesting the deployment of the National Guard, but the order, he added, was done “from the top down.”

The chief added that although LAPD have had little interaction with the Army guardsmen, their relationship “has been tremendous overall.”

A woman screams as protesters confront a line of police near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, on Sunday.

An immigrant rights activist has said that recent workplace raids and access denials at detention centers in Los Angeles are an “outrageous” breach of due process.

“It’s important to let the public know the raids continue,” Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), told CNN’s Brian Abel. She said two workplace raids occurred Sunday at car washes in Los Angeles’ West Side and in Inglewood.

Salas said that she and a group of California lawmakers had attempted to visit the Adelanto ICE Processing Center on Sunday to provide legal representation to detainees but were met with locked doors and no cooperation from officials.

Salas said this was the first time in her career that she witnessed legal representation being outright denied to detainees.

Over 200 people were detained in recent days through operations at worksites, on the streets, and even in courtrooms in Los Angeles while attending check-ins or hearings, Salas said.

Salas also expressed fears that detainees may be transferred out of state to locations where legal representation is even harder to secure. “It’s the practice of this administration to send them to Texas, Louisiana and other detention centers outside of the country.”

She criticized the administration’s use of the National Guard to fortify immigration enforcement while blocking access to legal counsel.

Australian reporter covering LA protests hit by rubber bullet

00:31 • Source: CNN

Australian reporter covering LA protests hit by rubber bullet

00:31

Lauren Tomasi, the US correspondent for CNN affiliate Nine News, was covering the protests in Los Angeles on Sunday when she was hit by a rubber bullet fired by police nearby.

Several seconds later, a bang is heard, and Tomasi grabs her leg with a shout of pain. The crew quickly moves back, with several voices asking if she’s okay.

She was left sore but otherwise unharmed, according to the Australian news outlet.

Demonstrators feed a plant into a fire burning in a dumpster during a protest against federal immigration sweeps in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Sunday.

The LAPD announced Sunday night that the entire Downtown Los Angeles area has been “declared as an unlawful assembly.”

Police in the nation’s second-most populous city have historically issued verbal and social media warnings before deploying law enforcement officers to arrest or push back on individuals violating the order.

Minutes before police announced their latest order, officers noted in a separate social media post that “agitators” had “splintered into and throughout the Downtown Area.”

“Residents, businesses and visitors to the Downtown Area should be alert and report any criminal activity,” they wrote.

In this screengrab demonstrators gather during a protest against federal immigration sweeps in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Sunday.

As protesters continue to clash with police in downtown LA, police warned that demonstrators’ “use of incendiary devices” against authorities would be met with “appropriate force.”

“Less lethal munitions have been authorized,” the LAPD wrote in a post on X. “Less lethal munitions may cause pain and discomfort.”

Videos obtained by CNN show protesters and police exchange incendiary devices on Arcadia Street –– with some demonstrators lighting fireworks in the direction of officers in riot gear and police responding with what appears to be flash-bangs and rubber bullets in return.

This screengrab shows police deploy what appear to be flash bangs at protestors waving American and Mexican before advancing towards demonstrators.

Video obtained by CNN shows police firing what appear to be flash-bangs as they advance toward protesters waving American and Mexican flags on Arcadia Street and North Main Street in Los Angeles Sunday evening.

The officers, some on horseback, are seen gradually advancing towards demonstrators amid the sound of loud booms. An individual off-screen can later be heard saying their camera was hit by a rubber bullet.

According to CNN reporters on the scene, some protesters threw fireworks at police before officers advanced. The protesters scattered backwards as authorities edged towards them.

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference in Ceres, California on April 16.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said that the state will file a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday over what he described as an “illegal, immoral and unconstitutional” deployment of the National Guard to address unrest in the state.

In an interview on MSNBC, Newsom accused the president of “putting fuel on the fire” of the crisis.

Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, told NBC News on Saturday that he vowed to continue immigration operations in the city despite criticism from Democratic leaders, warning that anyone obstructing enforcement, including Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, could face arrest.

Newsom challenged Homan to follow through. “He’s a tough guy. Why doesn’t he do that? He knows where to find me,” Newsom told MSNBC.

The governor also criticized Trump’s claims of restoring safety through the National Guard. “He said in a tweet that everything is now safe,” Newsom said. “The Guard hadn’t even been deployed when he said this. He’s simply lying to people.”

Newsom said that the federal order to deploy the National Guard violated established protocols requiring coordination with state governors. “They never coordinated with us,” he said. He added that he has worked with the National Guard before on logistics, fire recovery and during the George Floyd protests.

“There’s a process. He didn’t care about that.” Newsom said.

On social media, Newsom repeated his call for protesters to remain peaceful:

Officers make their way on a highway in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Sunday.

It’s still light out in Los Angeles – and police are working to clear protesters as much as possible before nightfall, with fears that the situation could deteriorate further once it’s dark, according to experts and CNN reporters on the ground.

There were many peaceful protesters earlier in the day, some of whom dispersed when ordered by police. But by early evening, as the crowd had become more mixed the mood shifted, in what police have deemed an unlawful assembly.

There’s a risk things could get uglier during the night, said CNN’s Senior Investigative Correspondent Kyung Lah, speaking from LA near the protests earlier Sunday.

Another law enforcement source similarly said earlier Sunday that recent incidents of violence in LA had been most prevalent overnight.

There were different groups of protesters out on Sunday, motivated by different things, the source added. There’s the original aim of the protests, to oppose the Trump administration’s recent immigration raids; there are some who joined to protest the deployment of the National Guard; and there are some who law enforcement call “professional rioters,” who are looking for confrontations with police.

Elon Musk listens during a press availability in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC on May 21.

Elon Musk, whose relationship with President Donald Trump imploded last week, on Sunday evening shared posts on X favorable of the Trump administration’s response to the Los Angeles protests.

The tech billionaire posted a screenshot of a Truth Social post from Trump that said California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass “should apologize to the people of Los Angeles,” as clashes have broken out, cars have been set on fire and demonstrations intensify.

“These are not protesters, they are troublemakers and insurrectionists. Remember, NO MASKS!” Trump said.

Musk also reposted a message from Vice President JD Vance, who wrote on X that Trump “will not tolerate rioting and violence” and that “this moment calls for decisive leadership.” Musk accompanied the post with two American flag emojis.

Earlier Sunday, Musk appeared to reference fallout from the feud with Trump, writing, “It’s outrageous how much character assassination has been directed at me, especially by me!”

The posts come after the tech billionaire on Saturday appeared to have deleted several posts on X from the all-out feud. Trump has not shown a desire to reconnect with Musk thus far.

Officers make their way down a ramp to the 101 Freeway near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, on Sunday.

Southbound lanes on the 101 Freeway have been closed until further notice due to protest activity, the Los Angeles Police Department announced on X.

Police said protesters were “throwing objects” onto the highway lanes and “damaging multiple police vehicles.”

The partial closure of the major West Coast highway comes after protesters occupied lanes during a face-off with police who deployed tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bangs to control crowds.

The US 101 highway runs for more than 1,500 miles through the West Coast along the Pacific Ocean, traversing the states of California, Oregon and Washington.

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Self-driving cars set on fire during LA protests

00:53 • Source: CNN

Self-driving cars set on fire during LA protests

00:53

As the sun sets in Los Angeles, the crowds of protesters are thinning out. But some groups are still facing off with police, with traffic disrupted and smoke rising from the 101 freeway.

Videos from CNN affiliate KTLA show protesters on an overpass throwing objects onto police cars on the freeway below, and the road scattered with debris. The southbound lanes of the 101 are now closed until further notice — prolonging a day of disruption after the freeway was fully closed for about 90 minutes earlier in the day.

Some of the objects being thrown are exploding into sparks and smoke, with occasional loud bangs heard.

Demonstrators hold US and Mexican flags during a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Sunday.

Elsewhere in the city, streets are scattered with the burned-out remnants of cars that were set on fire during the protests. Some have been reduced to ash except for some bare metal wheel rims.

Police are still out in large numbers across LA, including some on horseback on city streets, and a line of police cars on the freeway.