
Los Angeles police conducted mass arrests following the implementation of a curfew in downtown areas as protests continued against President Trump’s immigration enforcement operations.
The Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday evening that arrests were underway after groups gathered within the designated curfew zone. “Multiple groups continue to congregate on 1st St between Spring and Alameda,” the LAPD posted on social media. “Those groups are being addressed and mass arrests are being initiated.”
While many protesters later dispersed, sporadic confrontations persisted. Officials justified the curfew as necessary to prevent vandalism and theft by those seeking to cause disruption.
Mayor Karen Bass established the curfew covering one square mile of downtown Los Angeles, effective from 8pm Tuesday to 6am Wednesday. Bass indicated the measure would likely continue for several days but emphasized it applied only to a small section of the city’s 502 square miles.
The curfew coincided with the fifth consecutive night of demonstrations in Los Angeles against the Trump administration’s immigration raids, with similar protests occurring in dozens of cities including New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.
California officials have strongly criticized Trump’s immigration enforcement and military deployment against protesters. Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the president’s actions as a “brazen abuse of power” during a Tuesday address to Californians.
“That’s when the downward spiral began. He doubled down on his dangerous National Guard deployment by fanning the flames even harder, and the president โ he did it on purpose,” Newsom stated.
Newsom, who has filed legal action against the federal troop deployment, characterized it as a “military dragnet” targeting “dishwashers, gardeners, day labourers and seamstresses” rather than violent criminals. He described Trump’s approach as “weakness masquerading as strength” and argued the administration was “traumatising communities” rather than protecting them.
“If some of us can be snatched off the streets without a warrant, based only on suspicion or skin colour, then none of us are safe,” Newsom warned, adding that “authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves.”
Protesters at a Los Angeles vigil disputed the administration’s characterization of enforcement targets as violent criminals. Many participants described those affected as working people seeking better opportunities in America, expressing anger and demanding an end to the raids.
Demonstrators emphasized maintaining peaceful protests, recognizing that violence could provide justification for expanded military presence on city streets.
Trump defended his military deployment decision during a visit to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, telling Army soldiers that previous generations “did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness here at home, like is happening in California.”
“As commander-in-chief, I will not let that happen. It’s never going to happen,” Trump declared.
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