'We'll send whatever is needed for law and order' - Trumppublished at 21:20 British Summer Time 8 June
21:20 BST 8 June
Image source, Getty Images
Now we’ve got more from Donald Trump’s appearance in front of reporters.
“We’ll send whatever we need to make sure there’s law and order,” he says. “Last night in Los Angeles we watched it very closely, there was a lot of violence there and it could have got much worse.”
Asked whether he sees protests spreading, Trump says: “We’re going to be watching it very closely.”
And, amid a row with California Governor Gavin Newsom over his decision to send in the National Guard, Trump says he called Newsom and told him: “You’ve got to take care of it otherwise I’m sending in the troops, and that’s what we did.”
At a glance: National Guard sets up in LA as further protests expectedpublished at 20:53 British Summer Time 8 June
20:53 BST 8 June
Image source, Reuters
After clashes on Friday and Saturday between federal officers and protesters, National Guard guard troops have arrived in Los Angeles. Here’s what’s been happening:
Our reporter on the ground has seen troops assembled outside federal buildings in LA
The stationed forces are on standby for more protests expected today - though one activist tells us that she’s “not afraid” of the National Guard’s presence
California Governor Gavin Newsom warned Trump’s decision to call in the troops will only “escalate tensions”
As officials gear up, external for any further escalation today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is blaming the LA Police Department (LAPD) for a slow response to Friday’s protests - the LAPD denies this
Defence officials have told CBS News that active-duty marines could be called up if tensions escalate, with several hundred having been told to prepare for deployment
National Guard soldiers say they don't know where they're being deployedpublished at 20:38 British Summer Time 8 June
20:38 BST 8 June
Regan Morris Reporting from Los Angeles
Image source, EPA
I’ve spoken to a few of the National Guard soldiers here. They don’t know exactly where they’re going to be deployed or what they’re exactly doing here.
Local officials have said they don’t really want them here, so we’ll have to see what kind of role they have.
So far today it’s been relatively quiet, although there are further protests expected this afternoon outside City Hall.
In a few hours from now, people are going to be gathering outside City Hall and they want Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of Los Angeles. The state city leaders are calling for calm and peaceful demonstrations.
We don’t know if the National Guard is going to show up there, but it’s just around the corner from here, so it does seem likely.
US Homeland Security Secretary: National Guard in LA to 'keep peace'published at 20:18 British Summer Time 8 June
20:18 BST 8 June
Image source, Getty Images
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has emphasised that the National Guard has arrived in Los Angeles to "keep law and order" after last night's clashes in Paramount.
Speaking to the BBC's US partner CBS News, Noem declined to say where exactly the National Guard might be deployed to, after its and vehicles had been spotted stationed at a federal building in the city.
"They're there at the direction of the president in order to keep peace and allow people to be able to protest," she says. "They can use their special skillset to keep peace."
And, after Donald Trump went over the head of California Governor Gavin Newsom to send in the National Guard, Noem suggests this is because the Democratic governor - with whom Trump has a long-running feud - has "proven that he makes bad decisions".
“That’s why the president chose the safety of this community over waiting for Governor Newsom to get some sanity”, she suggests.
Trump doesn't like scenes of peaceful protest, Democrat sayspublished at 19:53 British Summer Time 8 June
19:53 BST 8 June
Image source, Getty Images
We’ve got some reaction from Democrat Nanette Barragan, a congresswoman for Paramount, where clashes broke out between protesters and immigration officials over the weekend.
Speaking to CNN, Barragan said there’s no disagreement that people being violent should be arrested and prosecuted.
“But this is not what’s happening,” she says, suggesting that peaceful protests are being targeted.
“The president is sending the National Guard because he doesn’t like the scenes,” she says. “He doesn’t like the scenes of people peacefully protesting.”
“We want to make sure that people continue to speak up,” she adds, encouraging residents to do so peacefully.
LA police reject immigration enforcement claims of slow responsepublished at 19:22 British Summer Time 8 June
19:22 BST 8 June
Image source, Getty Images
We reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director Todd Lyons blamed the LA Police Department (LAPD) for taking "over two hours" to respond to unrest on Friday.
The LAPD has denied this.
"Contrary to the claim that LAPD delayed its response for over two hours, our personnel mobilized and acted as swiftly as conditions safely allowed," the LAPD tells the BBC's US partner CBS News.
The police say their response time was "impacted by significant traffic congestion", "the presence of demonstrators", and "the fact that federal agents had deployed irritants into the crowd".
They say this "created a hazardous environment for responding officers", but adds that within 55 minutes of the call for help, officers had started to disperse the crowds.
The LAPD also says its response was affected because they had not coordinated with federal agencies in advance, and so could not "proactively plan" for possible unrest.
Immigration enforcement blames LA police for slow response to Friday unrestpublished at 19:21 British Summer Time 8 June
19:21 BST 8 June
Image source, Getty Images
Last night's clashes between protesters and immigration officers came after similar confrontations the day before in downtown Los Angeles, where LA police faced off with demonstrators.
Responding to Friday night's unrest, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) calls the events "appalling".
"Our brave officers were vastly outnumbered, as over 1,000 rioters surrounded and attacked a federal building," Todd Lyons says in a statement.
He also suggests that Los Angeles police were slow to react, saying "it took over two hours for the Los Angeles Police Department to respond, despite being called multiple times".
Lyons criticises LA Mayor Karen Bass as well, arguing she has taken "the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement".
What is the National Guard?published at 19:05 British Summer Time 8 June
19:05 BST 8 June
The National Guard is a reserve force for the US military, usually working at the state level. In this case, it's the California National Guard in Los Angeles.
Many have civilian jobs or go to college while training part-time with the military.
Normally, the National Guard is called in by a state's governor, but Donald Trump has used a provision that lets him take control himself.
"National Guard Soldiers serve both community and country. Our versatility enables us to respond to domestic emergencies, overseas combat missions, counterdrug efforts, reconstruction missions and more," their mission statement says.
About 300 soldiers operating in LA as Marines receive preparatory orderspublished at 18:53 British Summer Time 8 June
18:53 BST 8 June
Image source, US Northern Command
Earlier, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that active-duty Marines could be called in if the violence in LA continues.
Now, a defence official says several hundred Marines have received orders to prepare for deployment in case they're needed in Los Angeles, according to BBC's US partner CBS News.
Meanwhile, US Northern Command - a combatant commands of the Department of Defense - says the California National Guard 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) has "deployed approximately 300 soldiers to three separate locations" in the greater Los Angeles area.
Trump's 'border tsar': Someone will lose life if violence continuespublished at 18:19 British Summer Time 8 June
18:19 BST 8 June
Image source, Getty Images
Donald Trump’s “border tsar” Tom Homan has warned that someone could “lose their life” if clashes between protestors and immigration officers continue.
Homan, who was put in charge of US borders after Trump took office, tells NBC: “It’s a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt… If this violence continues, someone’s going to lose their life.”
According to Homan, the National Guard are there “not just to protect the law enforcement officers but to protect this community, because people are going to get injured”.
Will we hear from Trump today?published at 18:01 British Summer Time 8 June
18:01 BST 8 June
Bernd Debusmann Jr Travelling with Donald Trump, in New Jersey
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Donald Trump attends the UFC-316 mixed martial arts event in New Jersey last night
I'm in New Jersey, where President Donald Trump spent the night at his Bedminster property after going to the UFC fight in Newark last night.
Even as news of the National Guard deployment broke, we didn't hear directly from him, who seemed in good spirits as he entered the arena to thunderous applause and "USA" chants.
We may, however, hear from him today.
At 15:45 EST (20:45 BST), the president – along with the travelling press pool, including the BBC – will fly to Hagerstown, Maryland, before heading to Camp David for the night.
It's possible he'll speak to reporters before boarding, or during the hour-long flight, as he did on the way here.
If he does, we're likely to hear him condemn the protests in Los Angeles, echoing what we've heard from other officials and on his Truth Social posts.
We'll bring you the latest as we get it, so stay with us.
Activist 'not afraid' to protest again todaypublished at 17:41 British Summer Time 8 June
17:41 BST 8 June
Gabriela Pomeroy Live reporter
Image source, Kuali Linda Aleman
I have spoken to one of the protesters in Los Angeles, a Mexican activist named Kuali Linda Aleman, who’s lived in the city for most of her life.
On Friday, Kuali was protesting in downtown Los Angeles, using a megaphone and shouting, “stop the arrests”.
On Saturday, she ed a protest in the Paramount district, where she says there were helicopters overhead and hundreds of police on the ground.
“We did not provoke anything,” she says. “They were continually spraying us with tear gas, but we were able to wash our faces and get on with it.”
“The police were very organised and there were tonnes of vehicles,” she adds.
Kuali plans to protest again today outside City Hall. She says the National Guard won’t stop her and she’s “not afraid”.
“We want ICE to stop the arrests, and we want innocent families to come home,” she says. “Even though Trump is making these threats, we won’t back down.”
Los Angeles police make 29 arrests as more protests expected - LA city officialpublished at 17:24 British Summer Time 8 June
17:24 BST 8 June
Image source, CBS
Image caption,
National Guard troops have been deployed in Los Angeles by Donald Trump
A senior Los Angeles city official has told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that the National Guard is deployed at the federal buildings in downtown LA and Westwood.
"There are going to be several protests today in the city of Los Angeles. The city and police are monitoring those," the official says.
The official also says the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has made 29 arrests, almost all for failing to disperse, which is a misdemeanour offence.
They add that city officials "are ive of immigrant rights" and called the situation a "no win" for the police.
If federal officials ask for help with public safety, LAPD will respond, the official says.
But they add: "They will not respond or engage in any immigration policy enforcement issue."
I could hear the echo of booms as protests raged, though many in LA unaware of unrestpublished at 17:02 British Summer Time 8 June
17:02 BST 8 June
Christal Hayes Reporting from Los Angeles
Many waking up in the Los Angeles area are startled by the news of the National Guard arriving here.
There have been protests on multiple days this week, all in areas where immigration raids were happening. But the LA area is huge and these protests were fairly isolated in small pockets of the city.
The county has nearly 10 million residents and covers 4,000 sq miles.
Many of my friends around town were going about their normal Saturday nights unaware of the unrest or Trump's rare move of using presidential authority to go around the governor to deploy troops here.
The areas where the protests happened both Friday and Saturday were isolated to a part of downtown LA and to Paramount, a small city in south Los Angeles County where raids were happening.
I live close to that area and could hear the echo of "booms" as protests raged.
The National Guard last came for unrest in 2020 - amid protests after George Floyd's death - but it was not a deployment made under presidential authority.
Our mayor made the request to our governor for troops to help quell the unrest. Troops more recently came here for a natural disaster after the LA fires raged earlier this year.
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
The National Guard arrives in Los Angeles following weekend protests; photo taken on 7 June
White House views aggressive immigration enforcement as winning issuepublished at 16:44 British Summer Time 8 June
16:44 BST 8 June
Anthony Zurcher North America correspondent
Image source, Reuters
On the campaign trail last year, Donald Trump promised that he was not going to tolerate left-wing lawlessness on American streets and would use the full force of his presidential powers in response.
The protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement efforts in California on Saturday night gave him an opening to follow through on that promise.
Never mind that the Los Angeles Police Department said that the protests were largely peaceful or that the ones that were more disruptive involved just a few hundred individuals at most.
Over Governor Gavin Newsom’s objection, Trump federalised the 2,000 California National Guard soldiers, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that US Marines were on “high alert” to also deploy – which would mark a rare use of active duty US military on American soil.
By Sunday morning, Trump was declaring victory and thanking the National Guard for restoring peace, even though the guard had yet to assemble.
The speed with which Trump reacted, even while he was sitting ringside at a UFC match in New Jersey, suggests that this is a fight his istration is prepared for – and even eager to have.
The White House believes that law and order and aggressive immigration enforcement are winning issues for him. His actions will thrill his core base of ers and could sway political independents concerned about public safety.
In the US, opinions clash: Is Trump sowing chaos or de-escalating tensions?published at 16:19 British Summer Time 8 June
16:19 BST 8 June
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Bernie Sanders condemns Donald Trump's decision to call in the National Guard to LA
On US breakfast shows this morning, politicians have been reacting to clashes in LA between protesters and immigration officials.
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders tells CNN that Trump is "moving this country rapidly into authoritarianism" after involving the National Guard without the consent of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Sanders says the decision shows Trump "thinks he has the right to do anything he wants".
Democrat Senator Corey Booker agrees, telling NBC that Trump's decision breaks "generations of tradition" and is "only going to incite the situation".
He also warns that Trump is "sowing chaos and confusion" by arresting people "who are trying to abide by the law" at immigration hearings.
But, Republican Senator James Lankford suggests to NBC that Trump is only seeking to "de-escalate all the tensions".
He says that it is clear that LA's police forces are "being overwhelmed". "We want to make sure those protests actually don't spiral out of control," he explains.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters
