Protests over immigration raids pop up across US
California governor warns 'democracy under assault'
California governor Gavin Newsom said Trump's shock militarisation of the city was the behaviour of 'a tyrant, not a president'.
Protests that sprang up in Los Angeles over immigration enforcement raids and prompted President Donald Trump to mobilise National Guard troops and Marines have begun to spread across the country, with more planned into the weekend.
From Seattle and Austin to Chicago and Washington, D.C., marchers have chanted slogans, carried signs against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and snarled traffic through downtown avenues and outside federal offices. While many have been peaceful, some have resulted in clashes with law enforcement as officers made arrests and used chemical irritants to disperse crowds.
Activists are planning more and even larger demonstrations in the coming days, with 'No Kings' events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump’s planned military parade through Washington.
The Trump administration said it would continue its programme of raids and deportations despite the protests.
“ICE will continue to enforce the law,” homeland security secretary Kristi Noem posted Tuesday on social media.
Local emergency
A nighttime curfew was in force in Los Angeles Tuesday into Wednesday as local officials sought to get a handle on protests that Trump claimed were an invasion by a “foreign enemy”.
“I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for central Los Angeles to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting,” mayor Karen Bass told reporters on Tuesday.
Small-scale and largely peaceful protests began on Friday in Los Angeles as anger swelled over intensified arrests by immigration authorities.
At their largest, a few thousand people have taken to the streets, but smaller groups have used the cover of darkness to set fires, daub graffiti and smash windows.
Overnight on Monday, 23 businesses were looted, police said, adding that more than 500 people had been arrested in recent days.
Trump has ordered 4 000 National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles, along with 700 active-duty Marines, in what he has claimed is a necessary escalation to take back control, despite the insistence of local law enforcement that they could handle matters.
The Pentagon said the deployment would cost US taxpayers US$134m.
“What you are witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order, and national sovereignty,” Trump told troops at Fort Bragg, a military base in North Carolina.
“This anarchy will not stand. We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.”
Tyrannic order
California governor Gavin Newsom said Trump’s shock militarisation of the city was the behaviour of “a tyrant, not a president”.
In a livestreamed address, Newsom called Trump a “president who wants to be bound by no law or constitution, perpetuating a unified assault on American tradition”.
“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here.”
From Seattle and Austin to Chicago and Washington, D.C., marchers have chanted slogans, carried signs against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and snarled traffic through downtown avenues and outside federal offices. While many have been peaceful, some have resulted in clashes with law enforcement as officers made arrests and used chemical irritants to disperse crowds.
Activists are planning more and even larger demonstrations in the coming days, with 'No Kings' events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump’s planned military parade through Washington.
The Trump administration said it would continue its programme of raids and deportations despite the protests.
“ICE will continue to enforce the law,” homeland security secretary Kristi Noem posted Tuesday on social media.
Local emergency
A nighttime curfew was in force in Los Angeles Tuesday into Wednesday as local officials sought to get a handle on protests that Trump claimed were an invasion by a “foreign enemy”.
“I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for central Los Angeles to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting,” mayor Karen Bass told reporters on Tuesday.
Small-scale and largely peaceful protests began on Friday in Los Angeles as anger swelled over intensified arrests by immigration authorities.
At their largest, a few thousand people have taken to the streets, but smaller groups have used the cover of darkness to set fires, daub graffiti and smash windows.
Overnight on Monday, 23 businesses were looted, police said, adding that more than 500 people had been arrested in recent days.
Trump has ordered 4 000 National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles, along with 700 active-duty Marines, in what he has claimed is a necessary escalation to take back control, despite the insistence of local law enforcement that they could handle matters.
The Pentagon said the deployment would cost US taxpayers US$134m.
“What you are witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order, and national sovereignty,” Trump told troops at Fort Bragg, a military base in North Carolina.
“This anarchy will not stand. We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.”
Tyrannic order
California governor Gavin Newsom said Trump’s shock militarisation of the city was the behaviour of “a tyrant, not a president”.
In a livestreamed address, Newsom called Trump a “president who wants to be bound by no law or constitution, perpetuating a unified assault on American tradition”.
“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here.”
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