A partial curfew has gone into effect in the downtown area of Los Angeles. Trump vowed to "liberate" Los Angeles, whole California Governor Newsom warned democracy was "under assault."
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced on Tuesday an overnight curfew in the downtown area. "I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting," she told reporters.
The curfew will begin at 8 pm local time (0300 GMT/UTC on Wednesday) on Tuesday and last until 6 am local time on Wednesday and apply to a 1-square-mile area in downtown.
In a post on X, Bass said the curfew was declared "to stop bad actors who are taking advantage of the President's chaotic escalation." "Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew, and you will be prosecuted," she warned.
LA protests continue for a fifth day
A fifth day of protests unfolded in Los Angeles as hundreds of people gathered at a building where detained activists from the previous days of demonstrations against US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdowns were being held.
Los Angeles police pushed the crowd away from the building, making arrests in the process. Elsewhere, about 100 people briefly halted traffic on a freeway.
New York, too, saw a protest against Trump's immigration plans, as several thousands of people marched through the streets of Manhattan. Earlier today, President Trump called the protests a "full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty."
He also called the protesters "rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country."
Trump claims to fight 'a foreign enemy' in Los Angeles
US President Donald Trump called the protesters against his immigration enforcement in Los Angeles "animals" and "a foreign enemy" during a speech on Tuesday.
"We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. That's what they are," Trump said, while calling Los Angeles a "trash heap" with "entire neighborhoods" under the control of criminals.
In a speech that was supposed to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the US Army, Trump condemned the protesters, while also repeating his false claims that the 2020 presidential elections, which he lost to Joe Biden, had been rigged.
"What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country," the US president said.
Trump linked the protesters to what he called "uncontrolled migration" and said that Europe must act against it as well. "We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean, and safe again," he said.
More than 100 arrested at LA protests, police say
Dozens of people were arrested as part of the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles, local police (LAPD) said in a statement.
According to LAPD, 96 people were arrested for failing to disperse, while one arrest was made due to the alleged assault with a deadly weapon, one for resisting arrest and one for vandalism.
Fourteen more were arrested for looting, the LAPD said regarding the situation on Monday and the morning of Tuesday.
California asks court to block troop deployment
The state of California is seeking a restraining order to prevent US troops being deployed on the streets of Los Angeles.
"Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy," Governor Gavin Newsom said.
"Donald Trump is behaving like a tyrant, not a President. We ask the court to immediately block these unlawful actions."
California's government accuses Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth of seeking "to bring military personnel and a 'warrior culture' to the streets of cities and towns where Americans work, go to school, and raise their families," according to the court filing, AFP reported.
"To put it bluntly, there is no invasion or rebellion in Los Angeles; there is civil unrest that is no different from episodes that regularly occur in communities throughout the country, and that is capable of being contained by state and local authorities working together," the filing said.
It added that "nothing is stopping the President from enforcing the laws through use of ordinary, civilian mechanisms available to federal officers."
According to US Broadcaster CNN, the case has been assigned to senior US District Judge Charles R. Breyer of the federal trial-level court in San Francisco.
California lawmakers decry 'manufactured crisis' in LA
Democratic members of California's congressional delegation in the US House of Representatives organized a press conference at the US Capitol on Tuesday morning to address the situation in their home state.
The lawmakers accused President Donald Trump of creating a "manufactured crisis" in Los Angeles.
"It's a deliberate attempt by Trump to incite unrest, test the limits of executive power and distract from the lawlessness of his administration," said Representative Jimmy Gomez.
Representative Nancy Pelosi, former House speaker, criticized Trump's actions today with his handling of the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol in 2021.
"We begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it," Pelosi said.
"And yet, in a contra-constitutional way, he has sent the National Guard into California. Something is very wrong with this picture," she added.
Los Angeles troop deployment to cost $134 million
The Pentagon's acting comptroller, Bryn MacDonnell, said that the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles will cost at least $134 million (€117 million).
MacDonnell said the figure would cover travel, housing and food expenses for the troops while they are on site. The money is expected to be drawn from operations and maintenance accounts.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said those troops would stay in Los Angeles for 60 days. In total, the Pentagon has said that 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines will be deployed.
"We stated very publicly that it's 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we're not going anywhere," Hegseth told members of the House appropriations defense subcommittee during a congressional hearing.
