Tensions in Los Angeles have escalated again as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Donald Trump's extraordinary deployment of the National Guard, blocking off a major freeway and setting self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bangs to control the crowd. Some police patrolled the streets on horseback while others with riot gear lined up behind Guard troops deployed to protect federal facilities including a detention centre where some immigrants were taken in recent days.
Later, the LAPD announced the entire Downtown Los Angeles area has been "declared as an unlawful assembly".
"You are to leave the Downtown area immediately," police said in a post on X. "Residents, businesses and visitors to the Downtown Area should be alert and report any criminal activity," police added.
By early evening many people had left.
Some protesters who remained grabbed chairs from a nearby public park to form a makeshift barrier between themselves and police and throw objects at them.
It was the third day of demonstrations against Trump's immigration crackdown in the region, as the arrival of around 300 federal troops spurred anger and fear among some residents.
Sunday's protests in Los Angeles, a city of 4 million people, were centred in several blocks of downtown.
Police are seen through smoke on the 101 Freeway. (AP)
Protesters confront police on the 101 Freeway near the metropolitan detention centre of downtown Los Angeles. (AP)Tomasi was reporting among the protesters as the flashbang grenades went off to deter crowds.
"They've told people to get out of this area, and protesters have been refusing," Tomasi said.
"We are safe here. It's just noisy. But you can see the volatility. I can see police here are firing rubber bullets at these protesters."
9News US correspondent reports from Los Angeles as the protests intensify. (9News)
One protester grabbed the 9News camera during Tomasi's live cross. (9News)One protester then grabbed the 9News camera during Tomasi's live report, which ended so the news crew could get to safety.
Tomasi was also hit in the leg with a rubber bullet, which appeared to have been fired at close range by a police officer as members of the media reported from the scene.
Tomasi was left sore but otherwise unharmed.
Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet by one of the police officers seen here over her right shoulder. (9News)Outside the Metropolitan Detention Centre in downtown Los Angeles, crowds chanted "shame" and "go home" at members of the National Guard, who stood shoulder to shoulder, carrying long guns and riot shields.
After some protesters closely approached the guard members, another set of uniformed officers advanced on the group, shooting smoke-filled canisters into the street.
Minutes later, the Los Angeles Police Department fired rounds of crowd-control munitions to disperse the protesters, who they said were assembled unlawfully.
Much of the group then moved to block traffic on the 101 freeway until state patrol officers cleared them from the roadway by late afternoon, while southbound lanes remained shut down.
Flash bangs echoed out every few seconds into the evening as some protesters threw objects down at the roadway and state patrol officers fired back.
Two Waymo taxis burn during the protests. (AP)Nearby, at least four self-driving Waymo cars were set on fire, sending large plumes of black smoke into the sky and exploding intermittently as the electric vehicles burned.
By evening, police had issued an unlawful assembly order shutting down several blocks of downtown Los Angeles.
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom requested Trump remove the guard members in a letter Sunday afternoon, calling their deployment a "serious breach of state sovereignty".
He was in Los Angeles meeting with local law enforcement and officials.
It wasn't clear if he'd spoken to Trump since Friday.
Their deployment appeared to be the first time in decades that a state's national guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to hinder the administration's mass deportation efforts.
US President Donald Trump, right, speaks with reporters as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens upon arriving at Hagerstown Regional Airport, in Maryland on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (AP)Mayor Karen Bass echoed Newsom's comments.
"What we're seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration," she said in an afternoon press conference. "This is about another agenda, this isn't about public safety."
Their admonishments did not deter the administration.
"It's a bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement in response.
Protesters confront a line of US National Guard troops in the metropolitan detention centre of downtown Los Angeles. (AP)
A protester displays a poster as tear gas is used in downtown Los Angeles. (AP)Deployment follows days of protest
The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests that began Friday in downtown Los Angeles before spreading on Saturday to Paramount, a heavily Latino city south of the city, and neighbouring Compton.
Federal agents arrested immigrants in LA's fashion district, in a Home Depot parking lot and at several other locations on Friday.
The next day, they were staging at a Department of Homeland Security office near another Home Depot in Paramount, which drew out protesters who suspected another raid.
Federal authorities later said there was no enforcement activity at that Home Depot.
Demonstrators attempted to block Border Patrol vehicles hurling rocks and chunks of cement. In response, agents in riot gear unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls.
The weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the LA area climbed above 100, federal authorities said.
Many more were arrested while protesting, including a prominent union leader who was accused of impeding law enforcement.
US National Guard troops are deployed outside the federal prison in downtown Los Angeles. (AP)
Trump administration officials say the troops are on the streets to ensure peace and keep order. (AP)
A protester throws a rock amidst tear gas from law enforcement during a demonstration after federal immigration authorities conducted raids in the Paramount section of Los Angeles (AP)The protests did not reach the size of past demonstrations that brought the National Guard to Los Angeles, including the Watts and Rodney King riots, and the 2020 protests against police violence, in which Newsom requested the assistance of federal troops.
The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor's permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice.
Trump told to stop stepped-up immigration raids by LA area mayors
Trump says there will be 'very strong law and order'
In a directive on Saturday, Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is "a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States."
He said he had authorised the deployment of 2000 members of the National Guard.
Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, Sunday that there were "violent people" in Los Angeles "and they're not gonna get away with it".
Asked if he planned to send US troops to Los Angeles, Trump replied: "We're gonna have troops everywhere. We're not going to let this happen to our country. We're not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden." He didn't elaborate.
About 500 Marines stationed at Twentynine Palms, about 200km east of Los Angeles were in a "prepared to deploy status" Sunday afternoon, according to the US Northern Command.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lives in Los Angeles, said the immigration arrests and Guard deployment were designed as part of a "cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division."
She said she supports those "standing up to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms".
- Reported with CNN and Associated Press