Los Angeles officials have imposed a curfew in the city’s downtown area to quell protests caused by aggressive immigration raids, which are spreading to other cities.
The curfew on the fifth night of the unrest came as hundreds of US Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday under orders from President Donald Trump, ratcheting up tensions in America’s second largest city.
With five minutes until the curfew took effect, hundreds of protesters faced police with their hands raised, chanting “peaceful protest.”
Trump’s extraordinary measures of sending National Guard and Marines to quell protests, which broke out in response to his immigration raids, fueled agitation in Los Angeles, and sparked protests in several other cities.
Despite opposition from local and state officials, Trump has deployed over 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles.
Police said multiple groups stayed on the streets despite the curfew and “mass arrests are being initiated”. Police earlier said that 197 people had already been arrested on Tuesday – more than double the total number of arrests to date.
Political leaders have raised concerns over a national crisis in what has become the most intense flashpoint yet in the Trump administration’s aggressive campaign to deport migrants, and then crack down on opponents who take to the streets in protest.
“This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk. That’s when the downward spiral began,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in an a video address.
“He again chose escalation. He chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety. … Democracy is under assault.”
“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next,” he added.
Demonstrations have spread to other cities nationwide, including Dallas and Austin, Texas, Chicago and New York, where a thousand people rallied and multiple arrests were made.
Trump hinted at potentially invoking the Insurrection Act—a presidential power permitting domestic military deployment to quell civil unrest or enforce federal law. This rarely used authority represents one of the most drastic measures available to a US president during domestic crises.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” Trump said from the Oval Office.
Later, he called protesters “animals” and “a foreign enemy” in a speech at Fort Bragg.
Trump has described the unfolding chaos Los Angeles in dire terms that Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump said Los Angeles would be “burning to the ground right now” if he had not deployed troops to the city.
Newsom, widely seen as preparing for a presidential run in 2028, and other state and local officials have called Trump’s response an extreme over-reaction to mostly peaceful demonstrations.
Newsom accused Trump of sending troops to deliberately inflame the situation for political reasons and said the president’s actions made it more difficult for local law enforcement to respond.
“They want protesters to react violently to distract from what is really happening, which is that families are being separated, our communities are being devastated, and the people of Los Angeles are standing up to say, ‘We will not stand for this,’” said Jean Guerrero, New York Times contributing opinion writer.
The use of active military to respond to civil disturbances is extremely rare.
“This isn’t about public safety,” Newsom wrote on X. “It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego.”
US Marines are trained for conflicts around the world – from West Asia to Africa – and are also used for rapid deployments in case of emergencies, such as threats to US embassies.
The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Jack Reed, said he was “gravely troubled” by Trump’s deployment of active-duty Marines.
“Since our nation’s founding, the American people have been perfectly clear: we do not want the military conducting law enforcement on US soil,” he said.
