Here’s where things stand on Wednesday 11 June 2025:

• Los Angeles police say they’re conducting “mass arrests” after mayor Karen Bass declared a curfew for parts of downtown LA
• Bass imposed the curfew at 20:00 local time (04:00 BST) in response to looting and violence during protests against immigration raids
• Meanwhile, in Texas, the governor has deployed the National Guard ahead of planned protests
• Demonstrations have spread to other cities in the US, with multiple arrests in New York
• Earlier, California Governor Gavin Newsom said President Donald Trump had “inflamed a combustible situation” by deploying the National Guard

Mounted LAPD officers push back protestors

Mounted officers with the Los Angeles police department are riding through the streets in downtown LA, pushing back protestors.

Massive law enforcement presence – but no sign of Marines or National Guard

There’s a massive law enforcement presence in Los Angeles – and dozens of people are being arrested for defying curfew — but there’s no sign of US Marines or National Guard troops out on the streets.

The deployment of federal troops is controversial — but they are not visibly out patrolling demonstrations or arresting people during protests.

‘Mass arrests’ in LA, police say

The LA police department says that with the curfew in effect in parts of LA, “mass arrests are being initiated”.

In a post on X, the LAPD said: “Multiple groups continue to congregate on 1st St between Spring and Alameda.

“Those groups are being addressed and mass arrests are being initiated. Curfew is in effect.”

If you’re just joining us…

Let’s take a moment to look at the key developments from the day:

• Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has imposed a partial curfew to tackle looting and violence during protests against immigration raids
• Bass said one square mile of the city’s more-than-500 square mile area would be off-limits from 20:00 local time (04:00 BST) until 06:00 (14:00 BST) for everyone apart from residents, journalists and emergency services
• California Governor Gavin Newsom used a televised address to accuse Donald Trump of inflaming protests. “Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy,” he said.

• Earlier, Newsom had filed an emergency motion with the courts to prevent Trump’s expansion of the military in LA – a federal judge denied it and set the hearing for Newsom’s lawsuit for Thursday
• Speaking to members of the US army at a North Carolina military base, Trump blasted the protests as a “full-blown assault on peace and public order”
• The protests against immigration raids have spread from Los Angeles to at least nine other US cities, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Protests have spread to at least 10 US cities

Protests against immigration raids have spread from Los Angeles to New York to multiple cities in Texas.

The protests in New York are mostly peaceful, but “multiple” arrests have been made, as we reported earlier.

The National Guard has been deployed in Texas. As BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher reports, Conservative-dominated Texas “appears determined to present a sharp contrast to how the situation has unfolded in Los Angeles”.

Altogether, protests have started in at least ten US cities, including LA, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Austin and San Francisco.

Police firing round after round of rubber bullets in curfew crackdown

Police are moving through downtown clearing streets one by one … firing round after round of rubber bullets as they go.

One protester has just run past showing me a large weald on his chest. At one junction we show our press passes but are told by the police to get off the street.

When we attempt to say that the mayor and police chief have made it clear that the media are free to operate in the curfew zone, one officer tells us, “we can arrest you, whoever you are”.

Where we are on San Pedro street, the crowd has thinned out considerably. Just a few small clusters of protesters, in twos and threes, some still carrying flags, engaged in a game of cat and mouse across this square mile of city centre space.

Texas governor confirms National Guard deployment

Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, has just confirmed media reports that National Guard forces will be deployed in his state.

“Texas National Guard will be deployed to locations across the state to ensure peace & order,” Abbott says in a post on X, external.

“Peaceful protest is legal. Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest. Texas Guard will use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order,” he adds.

LA police on horseback trying to disperse protesters

The protesters gathered around North Main and Temple streets have pulled back 50 metres or so, opening a gap between themselves and the line of police blocking this end of the street.

A row of LA police officers are on horseback and well over 100 officers on foot – armed with zip ties.

The police officers on horseback are now moving forward.

‘Multiple’ arrests at New York protests

NYPD confirm to us that “multiple” arrests have been made at ICE protests in New York tonight.

The protests have been largely peaceful as what seemed like a couple of thousand protesters made their way into lower Manhattan.

The police said in a statement: “Upon arrival, officers observed multiple individuals sitting in the roadway, blocking vehicular traffic. The demonstrators were instructed verbally numerous times to vacate the roadway and did not comply. As a result, multiple individuals were taken into custody.”

New York Mayor Eric Adams earlier said protests like those in LA were “unacceptable and will not be tolerated if attempted in our city.”

National Guard forces also deployed in Texas, local media outlets report

As the protests against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement actions spread to other American cities, one of the largest Republican-controlled states appears determined to present a sharp contrast to how situation has unfolded in Los Angeles.

Conservative-dominated Texas has frequently served as a political mirror image to California. Now its governor, Greg Abbott, has ordered his state’s National Guard to deploy in advance of planned demonstrations in San Antonio.

According to local media, Abbott’s office stated: “Texas National Guard soldiers are on standby in areas where mass demonstrations are planned in case they are needed … Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles.”

The move may indicate a lack of confidence by the governor in the police force of one of his largest cities. More than that, however, it is meant as a message – to California, to the Abbott’s allies in the Trump administration and to the American public – that Republicans know how to maintain law and order.

The move is not without risk, however. It could provoke larger demonstrations in the state’s Democratic-dominated big cities. And if Texas protests turn violent anyway, it could undercut the Republican case that they know better than Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Democrats.

Protesters are still on the ground, despite curfew

Curfew has started and I’m reporting next to a large group of protesters facing off against the police.

Announcements are being made that this is an unlawful protest and if they don’t leave the area they will be arrested.

A helicopter is circling overhead shining a search light onto the crowd below.

Many people in LA seem unaware of the curfew

Shortly after the curfew began, at 8pm local time, a lot of people were still in cars, seemingly shocked about the fact that it’s illegal for them to be out there.

Many people are stuck downtown – either by accident or defying curfew.

There is a massive police presence. We are still waiting for details to see if police will start detaining people.

What’s the scope of the LA curfew?

With the curfew in LA now in place, let’s take a look at some key details:

• Parts of downtown LA will be placed under curfew from 8pm to 6am, starting tonight, LA Mayor Karen Bass announced, stressing that only 1 square mile of LA would be affected
• The situation is expected to last several days while she consults elected officials on the way forward
• The curfew will not apply to residents within designated areas, those experiencing homelessness, emergency care workers or credentialed media
• Bass said she has reached out to Trump today, reiterating her call for him to stop the ICE raids against immigrants

Curfew has just started in LA

It’s 12 minutes past 20:00 in Los Angeles now (04:12 BST) – and the city is in its first night of curfew after five days of protests.

The LA government has sent out an alert to phone users. It reads: “The City of Los Angeles has declared that a curfew is in place from 8pm to 6am … Travelling to and from work, seeking or giving emergency care, and emergency responders are exempt.”

Our reporters are on the ground in LA to cover the latest. Stay with us.

Here’s where things stand on Tuesday 10 June 2025:

• United States President Donald Trump has doubled down on his decision to deploy about 700 Marines to control Los Angeles protests against his immigration policies, while doubling the number of National Guard members to 4,000.
• California Governor Gavin Newsom, who said yesterday he would sue the Trump administration over the National Guard deployment, has accused the president of using members of the military as “political pawns”.
• Trump is set to deliver a speech at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg later today, marking the army’s 250th anniversary days before a massive Washington, DC parade on Saturday.
• High-level US-China trade talks have been continuing in London for a second day, with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying negotiations are going well.

Protests at military parade to be met with ‘very big force’: Trump

As US President Donald Trump sends troops to protests in Los Angeles, he has also warned about upcoming demonstrations in the US capital.

Several groups are planning to protest during Saturday’s military parade, a much-hyped event that coincides with Trump’s birthday.

“For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”

Trump says Iran ‘much more aggressive’ in nuclear talks

The US president says the tone from Iranian officials has changed in recent days, amid talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

“Iran is acting much differently in negotiations than it did just days ago,” Trump said in an interview with Bret Baier of Fox News.

“Much more aggressive. It’s surprising to me. It’s disappointing, but we are set to meet again tomorrow – we’ll see,” he said.

The statements come as the US and Iran have remained at odds over whether Tehran should be allowed to keep its civilian nuclear enrichment programme. Talks were set to continue later this week, although both sides have offered conflicting accounts of when.

On Monday, Iran said it would present a counterproposal to the Trump administration, saying an earlier US offer was “unacceptable”.

‘What happens next?’: Lawmakers warn LA troop deployment just the beginning

Lawmakers from the Congressional Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American caucuses have held a news conference, warning that the military deployment to Los Angeles could just be the beginning.

“Don’t fall for the lie. This is not about protecting public safety. It’s about stoking fear and silencing peaceful dissent. It’s about turning us one against one another,” said Yvette Clarke, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“This is a direct attack on civil rights, due process and our democratic norms, targeting Black and communities of colour,” she said.

“Perhaps the most sobering truth is this: for Donald Trump, Los Angeles is only the beginning. If this president is willing to send military troops into an American city over peaceful dissent, we must ask, what happens next?”

Former UN official condems US sanctioning of Palestinian rights group

Craig Mokhiber, a human rights lawyer and former UN official, has condemned the Trump administration’s sanctioning of the Addameer Prisoner Support group.

In a post on X, Mokhiber called the group a “celebrated & long-serving Palestinian human rights organisation”.

“The US, on behalf of an oppressive foreign regime, is criminalizing humanitarian & human rights work,” he wrote, referring to Israel.

Earlier today, the US State Department said it was sanctioning five individuals and what it called five “sham” charity networks.

The State Department claimed that the Ramallah-based group Addameer coordinated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the US designates as a “terrorist” organisation.

Noem ‘condemns’ Mexico’s president for protest response

Speaking from the White House, the Homeland Security secretary accused Sheinbaum of supporting violent protests.

“Claudia Sheinbaum came out and encouraged more protests, and I condemn her for that,” Noem said. “She should not be encouraging violent protests that are going on.”

Noem’s characterisation was at odds with Sheinbaum’s actual statements.

Speaking yesterday, Mexico’s President Sheinbaum said her government does “not agree with violent actions as a form of protest”.

“We call on the Mexican community to act peacefully and not allow itself to be provoked,” she said, while calling for authorities in the US to respect human rights and due process, regardless of people’s immigration status.

Pentagon chief’s support for troop deployment a pivot from Trump’s first term

Pete Hegseth has been fielding questions before a congressional committee. Looming over the whole session has been President Trump’s decision to send first the National Guard and then Marines into Los Angeles.

The Secretary of Defense was questioned closely about this decision. He said he backed it completely, linking it to President Trump’s attempts to curb what he sees as illegal immigration.

One must remember, though, that in President Trump’s first term, when he wanted to deploy troops within the US, there was a lot of pushback from the then Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, as well as the then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley.

They both pushed back against this decision. Eventually, they put themselves in a situation where they did not deploy any military troops, and this was something that President Trump regrets and still argues about to this day.

Marine Corps head questioned over possible use of force in LA

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, has questioned Marine Corps head General Eric Smith about potential use of force by troops deployed to Los Angeles that could result in injuries or deaths.

“I am not concerned. I have great faith in my Marines and their junior leaders and their more senior leaders to execute the lawful tasks that they are given,” Smith responded.

Smith, who was testifying at a budget hearing, said the deployed Marines are trained for crowd control and they would have shields and batons as their equipment. An official had previously told the Associated Press they would also be carrying their service weapons.

Smith added the deployed have no arrest authority and are only there to protect federal property and federal personnel.

Trump says he would ‘certainly’ invoke Insurrection Act ‘if there’s an insurrection’

The US president has been speaking during an event in the Oval Office.

“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it,” he said of the law, which would allow the military to take part in domestic law enforcement.

“If we didn’t get involved right now, Los Angeles would be burning just like it was burning a number of months ago,” he said, again connecting the protests to his earlier criticism of California’s response to wildfires in southern California last year.

Trump claimed that in certain areas of Los Angeles last night you “could have called it an insurrection. It was terrible.”

Experts have pushed back on the notion that the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles have resembled an insurrection.

Protests over Trump’s immigration raids spread across US

Protests against Trump’s immigration raids spread to other US cities as the president said he would deploy a Marine battalion to guard federal buildings in Los Angeles.

Republicans defend LA troop deployment

House Speaker Mike Johnson has defended Trump’s response to protests in Los Angeles, while taking his own jabs at California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Johnson initially maintained it’s “not my lane” when asked if Newsom should face legal consequences such as arrest, as floated by the Trump administration.

He added that Newsom should be “tarred and feathered … for standing in the way of the administration and the carrying out of federal law”.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, meanwhile, said there were “clear failures on the part of state and local officials” and that the “federal response” was necessary.

Troop deployment to Los Angeles to cost $134m: Official

The deployment of about 700 Marines and over 4,000 National Guard troops is set to cost about $134m, a senior Pentagon official has told lawmakers.

Bryn MacDonnell, who is performing the duties of comptroller at the Pentagon, said the cost included travel, housing and food for the troops.

The deployment comes at a time when the Trump administration has sought to slash overall government spending, while simultaneously surging defence funding.

A military parade hosted in Washington, DC on Saturday, coinciding with Trump’s birthday, is estimated to cost at least $45m, as well as millions of dollars more in possible damage to the city streets.

If you’re just joining us

Here are the latest updates:

• Trump and his top officials have been defending a decision to deploy Marines and National Guard troops to California to respond to protests.
• Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has been grilled on the cost of the deployment during a congressional hearing, but largely evaded the topic.
• The head of the Marine Corps said he had “faith” in the deployed troops, when asked about the possible use of force on civilians.
• The US commerce secretary has struck an optimistic tone on the second day of US-China trade talks.

Is it legal for Trump to deploy Marines, National Guard to Los Angeles?

It’s complicated.

Trump has cited Title 10 of the US Code in justifying deploying National Guard troops, who answer to both California’s governor and the president.

The law “allows the president to deploy National Guard units into federal service if the US is invaded, there is a “rebellion or danger of rebellion”, or the president is “unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States”.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, in a legal challenge, has said neither of those standards have been met, while also arguing the law requires Trump to get his approval to deploy National Guard troops.

When it comes to the Marines, the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act mostly forbids the military from taking part in domestic law enforcement. However, troops can be deployed to provide logistical support and to protect federal property.

However, the Insurrection Act of 1807, when invoked, suspends the limitations on the military’s legal ability to conduct domestic law enforcement.

The Trump administration has not yet invoked the law, but Trump, his vice president and his top adviser have all referred to the California protests as an “insurrection”, in what analysts say could be laying the groundwork to do so.

US NIH director says hopeful about settlement with universities over suspended grants

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya has told a US Senate panel he was hopeful that President Donald Trump’s administration would reach a settlement with universities that have had research grants suspended.

“I’m very hopeful that a resolution being made with the universities where those decisions have been made, where those grants have been paused,” Bhattacharya said while appearing at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on the NIH’s 2026 budget request.

The NIH has terminated 2,100 research grants totaling about $9.5bn and an additional $2.6bn in contracts since Trump took office on January 20, dozens of scientists, researchers and other employees at the agency said in a public letter. The contracts often support research, from covering equipment to nursing staff working on clinical trials.

Hegseth grilled on cost of LA troop deployment

The Pentagon chief has been taking questions during a hearing in front of House Defense Appropriations subcommittee.

In one exchange, Representative Betty McCollum, a Democrat, questioned Pete Hegseth on the troop deployment to Los Angeles, which includes about 700 Marines and more than 4,000 members of the National Guard.

Hegseth mostly evaded the question, except to say the department has a budget increase and the money to cover the costs.

US ambassador to Israel questions whether Palestinian state needs be in Palestinian territory

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has indicated a shift from Washington’s longstanding support of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

Speaking during an interview with Bloomberg News published today, Huckabee did not oppose the creation of a Palestinian state, but questioned if it had to be on what is currently occupied Palestinian territory.

“Where is it going to be? Does it have to be in Judea and Samaria?” he said, referring to the biblical name for the occupied West Bank often used by the Israeli government.

“Does it need to be somewhere different? Does it need to be an opportunity for people to have a true place that is completely their own? Or is it going to be in the existing areas that are currently under the dominion of the PA [Palestinian Authority]?” he asked.

Huckabee, a staunch evangelical Christian, has supported illegal Israeli settlements that rights groups say represent the largest impediment to a future Palestinian state.

During his Republican presidential campaign, he maintained that “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian”.

Why is the LAPD opposing Trump’s deployment of US Marines?

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has said the deployment of Marines to the city will make its job harder.

On Monday, Police Chief Jim McDonnell released a statement saying the LAPD had not received a formal notification that the Marines would be coming to LA.

“The possible arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles absent clear coordination presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city,” he said.

McDonnell added that the LAPD and its partners “have decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively”.

History indicates that a lack of communication, coupled with differences in approach based on different agencies’ training, can inflame already tense situations that law enforcement officials confront.

Read more here.

Pentagon chief says troops deployed to LA to ‘protect’ ICE agents

Speaking during a congressional hearing, Pete Hegseth framed the deployment of Marines and National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles as meant to bolster immigration agents as they conduct raids throughout the city.

“We believe ICE agents should be allowed to be safe in doing their operations, and we have deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them in the execution of their duties,” he said.

Facing immigration enforcement resource shortages, the Trump administration has long eyed a potentially military role in its mass deportation campaign.

Trump had already deployed active troops to the US border to support immigration agents there, although the Marines can only provide logistical support under US law.

Photos: Rally in solidarity with LA protests against ICE in Austin, Texas

US Homeland Security secretary vows more immigration raids

Kristi Noem has defended Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard and Marine troops to Los Angeles, while vowing to continue the immigration raids that sparked the protests.

Noem made the comments in an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News yesterday, in which she accused Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of protecting “criminals” in the city.

“She’s holding press conferences, talking about the fact that people have the right to peacefully protest and that they’re a city of immigrants,” Noem said. “They’re not a city of immigrants, they’re a city of criminals because she has protected them for so many years.”

Noem last week pressured immigration agents to reach a quota of 3,000 arrests a day, far above the previous 1,000 arrests per day quota that the agency was already struggling to meet.

Immigration advocates have said the quotas put pressure on agents to take increasingly drastic measures to make arrests, leading them to target longtime community members.

US commerce secretary says China trade talks going well

The positive prognosis comes as trade talks between the two economic giants entered their second day in London.

Both sides had agreed to step back from a full-blown trade war at a first round of talks in Geneva in May. They are now seeking a breakthrough on a raft of recently imposed export controls.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday that the US could lift controls on goods such as semiconductors if China sped up the delivery of rare earths and magnets that are crucial to its economy.

“[Talks went on] all day yesterday, and I expect [them] all day today,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters today. “They’re going well, and we’re spending lots of time together.”

The talks come after US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping talked by phone last week.

Trump hints at ‘big speech’ at Fort Bragg

The US president is set to speak at the North Carolina military base at 4pm local time (20:00 GMT) today, marking the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army.

Trump will on Saturday be holding a massive – and controversial – military parade in Washington, DC, marking the anniversary. The parade also falls on Trump’s 79th birthday.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said there would be a “big speech, amazing crowd!” later today.

Newsom accuses Trump of using Marines as ‘political pawns’

California’s governor has accused Trump of a “blatant abuse of power” in his response to the Los Angeles protests.

Yesterday, Gavin Newsom launched a lawsuit against Trump, saying the deployment of the National Guard without his consent was illegal.

In a post yesterday, he accused Trump of using Marines as “political pawns”.

“The Secretary of Defense is illegally deploying them onto American streets so Trump can have a talking point at his parade this weekend,” he said, referring to a military parade scheduled for Washington, DC on Saturday.

“We will sue to stop this,” he said.

Trump doubles down on deployment of troops to Los Angeles

The president has begun his day defending his decision on Truth Social to send Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles.

“If I didn’t ‘SEND IN THE TROOPS’ to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now, much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in LA due to an incompetent Governor and Mayor,” he said, referring to the fires that ravaged multiple areas of Los Angeles in January.

State officials have repeatedly pushed back on that characterisation, with the head of the LAPD saying the increase in troops actually posed logistical and coordination challenges with local law enforcement.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and other state officials have maintained that local law enforcement were well within their ability to respond to the protests that began on Friday.

Instead of restoring order, they have accused Trump of escalating the situation.

Here’s what happened yesterday

• The administration of US President Donald Trump deployed 700 US Marines to Los Angeles in what it described as a mission to protect “federal personnel and federal property”. The administration also doubled the number of National Guard members deployed to the city to 4,000.
• California state officials condemned the move, with Governor Gavin Newsom vowing more legal action after earlier in the day suing Trump over the National Guard deployment.
• Protests over Trump’s hardline immigration policies continued across the US, with advocates accusing the federal authorities of taking increasingly drastic measures to reach arrest quotas.
• The United States and China concluded their first day of trade talks in London.

Welcome to our live coverage

Hello, and thank you for joining our live coverage of United States President Donald Trump’s administration and the response to ongoing protests against its hardline immigration policy.

Stay with our live team as we bring you all the latest developments, analyses and reactions throughout the day.

Here’s where things stand on Tuesday 10 June 2025:

• California Governor Gavin Newsom rejects US President Donald Trump’s claim that he called him before deploying the Marines and says that “Americans should be alarmed”.
• Trump has doubled down on his decision to deploy about 700 Marines to control Los Angeles protests against his immigration policies, while doubling the number of National Guard members there to 4,000.
• Trump is set to deliver a speech at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg later today, marking the US Army’s 250th anniversary days before a massive Washington, DC parade on Saturday.
• High-level US-China trade talks have been continuing in London for a second day, with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying negotiations are going well.

‘We want to show off a little bit’: Trump hypes military parade

The US president is speaking at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, marking the 250 year anniversary of the US Army.

But Trump was already looking ahead to his controversial military parade in Washington, DC on Saturday, which coincides with his 79th birthday.

“Saturday is going to be a big day in Washington, DC. You know, a lot of people said, ‘we don’t want to do that,’” he said.

“We want to show off a little bit,” he said.

Trump’s military officials had resisted his request for a military parade that showed off US military hardware during his first term.

Defence secretary says Trump will restore ‘warrior ethos’

In his warm-up remarks to soldiers in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth played up the Trump administration’s platform of “peace through strength”.

He also promised to “restore the warrior ethos” that he said was lost in past administrations.

“We’re getting back to basics: standards, accountability, readiness training, war fighting, lethality,” Hegseth said. “We’re not a college or a university. We’re not interested in your woke garbage and your political correctness. We’re war fighters who close with and destroy the enemy on behalf of our nation.”

A minute later, Trump himself took the stage.

Hegseth warms up the crowd at Fort Bragg

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has arrived on stage at Fort Bragg, an Army installation in North Carolina, to hype up the crowd ahead of President Trump’s speech.

Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, played up Trump’s sense of authenticity and candor as he spoke to the crowd.

“It doesn’t matter the situation, whether he is meeting with foreign leaders, we’re meeting in the Oval Office, or he is talking to soldiers,” Hegseth said. “He’s the same leader we know and love. He’s laser-focused on America First, on peace through strength, and then supporting our American war fighters and vets.”

“You know exactly where his compass is. You know exactly what he believes.”

Sheinbaum says US homeland security secretary ‘mistaken’ after condemnation

The Mexican president has responded to Kristi Noem’s claim earlier today that she supported violent protests. Sheinbaum said she, in fact, did the opposite.

In a post on X, Sheinbaum said Noem “mistakenly mentioned” that she encouraged violent protests, which was “absolutely false”.

Sheinbaum shared a video of her original comments on Monday.

“Here is my statement from yesterday, in which I clearly condemn violent demonstrations. We have always been against them, and even more so now in the high office I hold,” Sheinbaum said.

The Mexican leader, whose government is in the middle of trade negotiations with the Trump administration, said she was certain the “misunderstanding will be cleared up”.

US Commerce Secretary again strikes optimistic tone on China talks

Howard Lutnick has said trade talks with Chinese officials were going well and he hoped they would end on Tuesday night.

However, he said the talks could run into Wednesday.

“I think the talks are going really, really well. We’re very much spending time and effort and energy – everybody’s got their head down working closely,” Lutnick told reporters at Lancaster House in London, where teams from both countries have met for two days.

“I hope they end this evening, but if they need be, we’ll be here tomorrow, but I hope they end this evening,” he said.

Hegseth says US ‘entering another phase’ in how National Guard deployed

The Pentagon chief has indicated that Trump’s National Guard deployment in California may be part of a larger policy shift.

“I think we’re entering another phase, especially under President Trump with his focus on the homeland, where the National Guard and Reserves become a critical component of how we secure that homeland,” Pete Hegseth told lawmakers during a congressional hearing.

National Guard are typically part-time forces answering both to a state governor and the US president. In recent history, National Guard troops have exclusively been deployed with the consent of a governor.

Prior to the California deployment, the last time a president activated National Guard troops without the consent of a governor was in 1965.

Second day of US-China trade talks in London stretch into the night

A US Treasury spokesperson told reporters that talks were paused for a break, but resumed at about 8pm local time (19:00 GMT).

Both sides have been pushing for a breakthrough on duelling export controls that have threatened to unravel a delicate tariff truce reached last month. The spokesperson did not provide further details of the talks.

A White House official also said the talks were going “fine”, but declined to provide further details.

California governor files emergency motion to block Marine deployment

In a post on X, Newsom has said he filed “an emergency motion to block Trump’s illegal deployment of Marines and National Guard in Los Angeles”.

He did not immediately say on what grounds the motion is seeking to block the Marine deployment, but Newsom yesterday filed a lawsuit against Trump’s use of the National Guard in California.

“Trump is turning the US military against American citizens,” Trump posted on X. “The courts must immediately block these illegal actions.”

If you’re just joining us

Here are the latest updates:

• A Pentagon official has estimated Marine and National Guard deployment to Los Angeles will cost $134m.
• US President Donald Trump said he would “certainly invoke” the Insurrection Act of 1807 if he deems protests in California to be an insurrection.
• The US state’s governor has denied Trump’s claim he called him “a day ago”.
• Trump said Iran was “much more aggressive” in its latest dealings related to nuclear talks.

LA mayor says she’ll call Trump, tell him to stop immigration raids

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says she would try to call US President Donald Trump to tell him to stop federal immigration raids and instead focus attention on the 2026 World Cup, which will include some matches in the city.

“I’m going to put out a call to him today,” Bass told a press conference. “I want to tell him to stop the raids.”

‘No call. Not even a voicemail’: Newsom says Trump claim false

California’s governor has rejected the US president’s claim that he called him “a day ago”.

Trump made the statement today from the Oval Office, saying he told Newsom to “do a better job, he’s doing a bad job”.

In a post on X, Newsom wrote: “There was no call. Not even a voicemail.”

“Americans should be alarmed that a President deploying Marines onto our streets doesn’t even know who he’s talking to,” he said.

What are the ‘less lethal’ weapons used by law enforcement in Los Angeles protests?

Law enforcement officials in Los Angeles began deploying “less lethal” munitions on Sunday as they clashed with crowds protesting federal immigration raids.

“Less lethal” or “less-than-lethal” weapons are designed to cause pain and discomfort, normally to disperse hostile crowds, but have caused serious injury and death in the past.

Here is a list of the less lethal weapons:

Sponge rounds

The LAPD do not use rubber bullets, the department told Reuters.

Instead, the LAPD uses foam rounds, a condensed sponge projectile that resembles a hard Nerf ball. They are designed to cause pain on impact without penetrating the skin. Police are forbidden from aiming sponge rounds at the head, neck, groin, and spine.

Bean bag rounds

Bean bag rounds are normally 37mm cloth bags filled with 1.4oz of lead or rubber pellets. They are fired from shotguns and spread out as they fly toward the intended target. They are designed not to penetrate the skin but to cause an impact hard enough to render a target temporarily immobile.

Flash bangs

Flash bangs, otherwise known as “distraction devices” or “noise flash diversionary devices”, produce an ear-piercing bang and bright light to disorient targets by temporarily disrupting their sight and hearing.

They are often used to target protesters who have become violent in a section of a crowd, and also to allow police to enter a section of a crowd to extract offenders.

Tear gas

Tear gas, one of the most common riot control tools, is designed to temporarily incapacitate people by causing excessive irritation to the eyes, nose, lungs, and skin. It can cause temporary blindness, streaming eyes and nose, coughing, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing. Tear gas canisters usually contain CS gas, a chemical compound, or OC gas, which stands for oleoresin capsicum, the active ingredient in pepper spray.

Pepper spray

Pepper spray, which has similar impacts as tear gas, is sprayed from a handheld canister and is often used when police come into close quarters with rioters or are engaged in hand-to-hand encounters. It mainly irritates the eyes, causing temporary blindness.

Pepper balls

Pepper balls mirror the effects of pepper spray, but are delivered in a projectile similar to a paintball. On impact, the ball bursts open, releasing powdered OC into the air. Police often do not fire pepper balls directly at a person, but at street signs, onto buildings or into the ground to cause them to burst open.

Baton

Known as the oldest less lethal weapon, the baton has been used for crowd control for decades. Police officers have been using batons to push and strike protesters in recent days.

Protests at military parade to be met with ‘very big force’: Trump

As US President Donald Trump sends troops to protests in Los Angeles, he has also warned about upcoming demonstrations in the US capital.

Several groups are planning to protest during Saturday’s military parade, a much-hyped event that coincides with Trump’s birthday.

“For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”

Trump says Iran ‘much more aggressive’ in nuclear talks

The US president says the tone from Iranian officials has changed in recent days, amid talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

“Iran is acting much differently in negotiations than it did just days ago,” Trump said in an interview with Bret Baier of Fox News.

“Much more aggressive. It’s surprising to me. It’s disappointing, but we are set to meet again tomorrow – we’ll see,” he said.

The statements come as the US and Iran have remained at odds over whether Tehran should be allowed to keep its civilian nuclear enrichment programme. Talks were set to continue later this week, although both sides have offered conflicting accounts of when.

On Monday, Iran said it would present a counterproposal to the Trump administration, saying an earlier US offer was “unacceptable”.

‘What happens next?’: Lawmakers warn LA troop deployment just the beginning

Lawmakers from the Congressional Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American caucuses have held a news conference, warning that the military deployment to Los Angeles could just be the beginning.

“Don’t fall for the lie. This is not about protecting public safety. It’s about stoking fear and silencing peaceful dissent. It’s about turning us one against one another,” said Yvette Clarke, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“This is a direct attack on civil rights, due process and our democratic norms, targeting Black and communities of colour,” she said.

“Perhaps the most sobering truth is this: for Donald Trump, Los Angeles is only the beginning. If this president is willing to send military troops into an American city over peaceful dissent, we must ask, what happens next?”

Here’s where things stand on Tuesday 10 June 2025:

• US President Donald Trump is deploying more National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles as protests in the city continue
• Monday’s protests were generally calmer, our correspondent Peter Bowes writes, but the prospect of Marines on the streets has sent shivers through communities
• California Governor Gavin Newsom says he will take legal action against the deployments, calling Trump “deranged” and “dictatorial”
• Demonstrations in the city continued into a fourth day on Monday, with new rallies starting up across the US against immigration authorities
• Rubber bullets, stun grenades and other non-lethal weapons have been used against the protesters

AI chatbots mislead users querying LA National Guard photos

AI chatbots are being increasingly used as fact-checking tools, with social media users asking them whether something they have seen online is true or not.

However, incorrect answers from two chatbots are misleading users about the origin of two news photos showing National Guard troops sent to Los Angeles sleeping on bare floors.

California Governor Gavin Newsom posted two images on Monday which he claimed showed the troops “being, external forced to sleep on the floor, piled on top of one another”, external.

People who used ChatGPT, designed by OpenAI, to authenticate the pictures were told they dated back to Joe Biden’s withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in August 2021 – referring to the metadata on the images, external.

Grok, owned by xAI, gave a similar answer to multiple users enquiring about the images. It said claims the images were linked to the recent unrest in LA “lack, external credible support”, external.

When we asked ChatGPT where the pictures came from it told us they were most likely captured during the “National Guard deployment to Washington DC in January 2021”.

The reality is the two images were first published by the San Francisco Chronicle, external on Monday. The paper said it had exclusively obtained the images, which it said showed National Guard troops sleeping on the floor of “one or more” of the federal buildings in Los Angeles that they’d been sent by the Trump administration to protect.

BBC Verify ran a reverse image search on both photos and found no earlier copy of them online before 9 June.

Trump to address soldiers at North Carolina military base

President Donald Trump will visit the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina later today, where he is expected to deliver remarks.

This comes as his administration announced it would deploy 700 Marines to Los Angeles in response to street protests that started on Friday and continued over the weekend. National Guard troops have already been deployed to the city.

Fort Bragg is home to some 50,000 active-duty soldiers.

Trump’s visit comes ahead of a major parade in Washington to celebrate the US Army’s 250th anniversary on Saturday.

Marines could start arriving later today – reports

As we’ve been reporting today, US President Donald Trump has deployed 700 Marines to Los Angeles following several days of protests in the city.

The Marines could start arriving as soon as today, a defence official told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

They will “seamlessly integrate with National Guard troops who are “protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area”, according to a statement from the US Northern Command.

California Governor Gavin Newsom suggested on Monday that he might take legal action over the planned use of Marines, calling it “illegal” and a “blatant abuse of power”.

Like the National Guard troops, Marines are prohibited from conducting law enforcement activity, such as making arrests.

Having the Marines deployed to protect federal buildings allows them to be used without invoking the Insurrection Act, according to US media reports citing US officials.

The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the president to use active-duty military personnel to perform law-enforcement duties inside the US. But it’s used very rarely.

One US official told CNN that Marines have not been mobilised within the US, like they are in California, since 

LA council member says Trump responsible for ‘escalation’

A Los Angeles City Council member tells BBC World Service’s Newsday that US President Donald Trump’s actions have been “truly despicable”.

Hugo Soto-Martinez’s constituency covers the Paramount area, where immigration officials carried out raids.

“Much of the escalation has been bought on by Trump’s tactics,” Soto-Martinez says.

He says he doesn’t buy claims that the National Guard and Marines have been bought in to keep law enforcement officials safe.

“We’ve had protests in the city, we know how to handle situations,” he says. “We didn’t feel overwhelmed…[Trump] is simply using this situation to bring terror and fear and division.”

Soto-Martinez adds that the Latino community in Paramount are terrified: “This is beyond the pale, I don’t even have words for his actions.”

US official says law enforcement will double efforts on Tuesday

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Los Angeles a “city of criminals”, during an interview with Fox News on Monday night.

Noem said that immigration officials in LA have been going after “the worst of the worst”, targeting those that have committed serious crimes.

She added that law enforcement agencies will look to double their efforts on Monday.

“We conducted more operations today than we did the day before. And tomorrow, we’re going to double those efforts again,” she said.

US cities follow LA’s protests

US cities follow LA’s protests

A number of US cities joined Los Angeles in protests on Monday.

Protesters were filmed in cities including Boston, Houston and Philadelphia, as demonstrations entered their fourth day in LA.

How did we get here?

Dozens of people have been arrested in Los Angeles after immigration raids in the city triggered four days of protests.

The demonstrations began on Friday after it emerged Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were carrying out raids in parts of LA with a large Latino population.

The BBC’s US partner CBS News reported that operations took place in the Westlake district and in Paramount, south of LA, where the population is more than 82% Hispanic.

ICE later told CBS that 44 unauthorised immigrants were arrested in a single operation at a job site on Friday. Another 77 were also arrested in the greater LA area on the same day.

Demonstrations followed.

While they started out peaceful, five self-driving vehicles were set on fire, protesters shut down a major freeway, and there were reports of looting in parts of America’s second largest city.

US President DonaldTrump has since deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city.

LA has the resources to deal with protests, district attorney says

“The political talking is not helpful at all,” Los Angeles district attorney Nathan Hochman tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“We’re dealing with a situation where we have thousands of people who are legitimately going to voice their protest over the policies the federal government is involved with,” he says, “and that’s fine”.

But, he goes on to say, there are “individuals who have gone beyond the lines of protected speech”.

He tells the BBC that LA authorities “do not need the additional forces that the National Guard and Marines present,” and believes it hasn’t reached the point where the unrest is beyond the means of local law enforcement.

Hochman says he won’t get involved in the debate between President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom but, he says, “we believe we have the resources right now to deal with the situation.”

Protests in LA have largely died down, US media reports

With it now past midnight in Los Angeles, US media has been reporting the protests have largely died down for the night.

The Los Angeles Times says the protests had dispersed by 23:00 local time and, as we’ve been reporting, says Monday’s protests were much calmer than those on the day before.

Meanwhile the New York Times reports around an hour ago that, while police are still seeing some flashpoints across the city, the protests have been much more subdued.

How many troops have been sent to LA?

US President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of the National Guard – and now Marines – to Los Angeles, in response to the protests.

Let’s take a look at the numbers:

• 4,000 National Guard troops have been mobilised since the beginning of the protests. Nearly 2,000 members are currently operating in the city, and on Monday Trump called up another 2,000 troops
• More than 700 Marines based in California have also been mobilised, in an order from Trump announced on Monday. They could arrive as early as Tuesday evening
• California Governor Gavin Newsom also announced on Monday that an additional 800 state and local police officers would be deployed, to help the LA Police Department’s response to protestors.

Newsom said he would take legal action against the deployment of troops, and called Trump’s activation of Marines in LA a “deranged fantasy”.

Prospect of Marines on the streets sends shivers through communities

It’s generally been much calmer in Los Angeles compared to the weekend.

A growing number of people were on the streets on Monday as the day went on, but we didn’t see the violence or the opportunistic vandals that we saw towards the end of the day on Sunday.

But there is still tension around the city, especially with the news that 700 active duty Marines are being deployed, possibly in the next few hours.

It seems the role of the Marines and the National Guard troops will be to protect federal property and personnel, such as the immigration agents involved in the raids on Friday that started all this.

This is an escalation.

The prospect of the Marines on the streets of Los Angeles, which is a highly unusual situation, has sent shivers through many communities across this sprawling city.

What is ICE?

Demonstrations began in Los Angeles on Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city.

ICE is the federal agency that identifies people in the US illegally and carries out arrests and deportations.

Donald Trump returned to power in January, promising mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Since then, arrests have increased.

Data from CBS, the BBC’s US partner, shows ICE arrests during Trump’s second term have now passed 100,000.

On Monday, new rallies started up across the US against the immigration authorities – from Tampa, Florida to Boston, Massachusetts to Houston, Texas.

No plans to arrest California governor, Trump’s border tsar says

US President Donald Trump’s “border tsar” Tom Homan says there are no plans to arrest California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Earlier, Homan had warned that any state official that hinders federal immigration enforcement could face obstruction of justice charges.

Newsom responded on social media, writing “Trump’s border czar is threatening to arrest me for speaking out. Come and get me, tough guy.”

Asked on CNN on Monday night whether Newsom had done anything to warrant an arrest, Homan said “not at this time. Absolutely not.”

LA mayor: ‘Stop the raids’

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has urged officials to “stop the raids”, in a post on X.

As a reminder, protests kicked off in LA on Friday after it emerged Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were carrying out raids across the city.

“There is a real fear in Los Angeles right now. Parents, workers, grandparents, young people scared to go about their daily lives,” Bass writes.

“We are a city of immigrants. Washington is attacking our people, our neighbourhoods and our economy,” she adds.

In pictures: Protests continue into the evening

It’s now 23:30 in Los Angeles on the fourth day of protests in the city.

Here are some pictures taken of the unrest this evening.

National Guards ‘not needed there’, says ex-officer

A former National Guard officer has criticised Trump for deploying the force to Los Angeles.

The National Guards are “not needed” there, retired Lt Gen Russel Honoré tells the BBC’s Newsday.

Honoré calls this “an escalation that’s being perpetrated by the White House to be able to deploy federal troops anytime, anywhere in America.”

“There are 10 million people in LA County and we’re talking about two small areas with maybe at best a few thousand protesters in each area.

“We get more, bigger protests or civil activities when the Dodgers win the World Series,” he adds.

Incident involving journalist ‘horrific’, Australian PM says

Footage showing a police officer turning their gun towards a news camera and firing, striking an Australian reporter with a rubber bullet, has been making headlines here.

Channel Nine’s Lauren Tomasi was hit in the leg while reporting on the unrest in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called the footage “horrific” and said there was “no ambiguity” that Tomasi was a journalist.

“We have already raised these issues with the US administration. We don’t find it acceptable that it occurred,” he said in a speech on Tuesday.

He added that he had spoken with Tomasi, who has told local media she is sore and bruised.

“She’s going OK. She’s pretty resilient,” Albanese said.

A British news photographer underwent emergency surgery after he was also shot in the leg with a non-lethal bullet on Sunday.

The war of words between Trump and Newsom

Throughout the day, President Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom have been exchanging jabs through their social media accounts.

Here’s a breakdown of the things they’ve said to and about each other:

Trump calls Newsom ‘incompetent’

In a post to his Truth Social account, Trump says LA would be “obliterated” without him.

“The very incompetent ‘Governor,’ Gavin Newscum, and ‘Mayor,’ Karen Bass, should be saying, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SIR.'”

Newsom hits back after Trump calls for his arrest

Trump told reporters he thought it would be “great” if Newsom was arrested.

Newsom responded on social media, calling it an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism”.

Earlier, when Trump border czar Tom Homan threatened the same thing, Newsom didn’t mince his words: “Arrest me,” he said. “Let’s get it over, tough guy.”

‘If they spit, we will hit’

Trump accused Newsom of inspiring the riots and spitting in the faces of the National Guard.

“I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” he said in a Truth Social post.

Newsom says Trump is acting like a dictator

In a post on X, Newsom says Trump’s activation of Marines in LA is a “deranged fantasy”.

He continued by saying Trump is a “dictatorial president. This is un-American.”

Newsom tells Trump to ‘grow up’

Newsom used the words to caption an interview clip in which he said Trump should, “Arrest me. Get it over with”.

On Saturday, Trump’s border tsar, Tom Homan, threatened to arrest individuals who obstruct the immigration enforcement effort.

Governor Newsom threatens to sue over deployment of Marines

California Governor Gavin Newsom has said he “will sue” over the deployment of US Marines to LA.

Newsom and California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta have already sued the Trump administration for deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles without Newsom’s authorisation.

Newsom wrote on social media earlier, urging people to “WAKE UP!”

“US Marines serve a valuable purpose for this country – defending democracy. They are not political pawns.

“The Secretary of Defense is illegally deploying them onto American streets so Trump can have a talking point at his parade this weekend. It’s a blatant abuse of power. We will sue to stop this,” Newsom wrote.

Here’s where things stand on Monday 9 June 2025:

• California is suing the Trump administration over its deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles during protests over immigration raids, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said.
• Police in Los Angeles have called on immigration protesters to clear the city’s downtown, a day after United States President Donald Trump deployed the US National Guard in a move that local officials say has escalated unrest.
• At least 60 people have been arrested in San Francisco during protests against immigration raids, and other countries, including China, are warning citizens in the city to boost their personal security during the unrest.
• Trump’s near-blanket travel ban on 12 countries has gone into effect despite charges that the policy is discriminatory.

Pentagon to deploy around 700 Marines to Los Angeles: Official tells Reuters

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, has told the news agency a Marine battalion would be sent to the city.

However, the official maintained that for now, Trump was not invoking the Insurrection Act, which would suspend another law that prohibits federal forces from taking part in domestic law enforcement.

The official said the Marines would only be acting in a support capacity, adding that the situation was fluid and could change. CNN also reported the deployment, but put the number of Marines at about 500.

Trump had previously deployed Marines to the US border to provide support and logistics to ICE agents.

Waymo suspends operations in downtown Los Angeles

The robotaxi company Waymo has suspended service in downtown Los Angeles, after several of its self-driving cars were set ablaze during protests over the weekend.

Waymo confirmed to The Associated Press that five of its robotaxis were impacted and removed from downtown Los Angeles. The company added that it would not be operating in this area of the city for the time being, citing guidance from local law enforcement.

Waymo’s services in other parts of Los Angeles county remain available, it said. The self-driving taxis were first introduced in the city last year.

Trump offers little news on trade talks with China

Asked if he has any new information to share about US talks with China over trade, the US president mostly stayed mum.

“If we don’t open up China, maybe we won’t do anything,” Trump said at the White House. “But we want to open up China.”

Study finds that looser US gun restrictions linked to more child shooting deaths

A paper published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics has found that US states that loosened existing gun regulations after a court ruling saw thousands of additional childhood deaths from firearms.

“Mortality from car accidents has fallen dramatically, but at the same time, firearm mortality rose and replaced car accidents as the leading cause of death in children over the age of one,” said Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and lead author of the paper. That trend is unique among peer nations.

The study, based on an excess mortality analysis, found more than 7,400 excess pediatric firearms deaths in states that loosened gun laws.

Trump says Marines could be sent to Los Angeles

Despite stating that the situation in Los Angeles is “heading in the right direction”, the US president says that the Marines could still be deployed to the southern California city.

“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said when asked if the Marines could still be sent in.

Hundreds take part in protests in Boston

Rallies in solidarity with Los Angeles and against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown are being held across the country with hundreds of people gathering near City Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, to protest against the detention of California union leader David Huerta.

“An immigrant doesn’t stand between an American worker and a good job – a billionaire does,” said Chrissy Lynch, Massachusetts president of the national union American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.

People held signs reading, “Come for one, come for all,” “Free David, free them all” and “Massachusetts stands with our neighbors in Los Angeles.”

Trump returns to claims about California wildfires

Reprising a familiar line of attack against California and the state’s political leadership, Trump has said that the state’s response to a series of wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year demonstrates a problem with incompetence.

During those fires, Trump made a series of false or misleading claims about the blazes, accusing the state of denying the city adequate water to combat them.

“You have a governor who let the city burn down, he didn’t want water to be sent down to him. And I sent billions of gallons of water,” said Trump.

Social justice advocate Father Greg Boyle tells undocumented community: ‘We will not abandon you’

Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest well-known for his social justice work in the Los Angeles area, including involvement in the movement to offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants and refugees fleeing violence in Central America during the 1980s, has offered his support to the undocumented community, who he says is living with “unnecessary” fear.

“To our undocumented sisters and brothers who live in fear at the moment, in a way that is completely unnecessary, to them we say we will not abandon you ever,” Boyle said in remarks posted by Homeboy Industries, a group he founded that offers services and support to former gang members seeking to change their lives.

“We stand with anybody who is demonised or left out or excluded or seen as disposable. We stand with them. We will never abandon you ever,” he added.

Trump says he could send more national guard soldiers to California if needed

The US president says he stands by his decision to send the national guard to Los Angeles over the objections of state authorities, adding that he could send more soldiers to the city.

“If I didn’t get involved and we didn’t bring the guard in – and we would bring more in if we needed it because we have to make sure there’s going to be law and order – you had a disaster happening,” Trump said.

Trump officials call protesters ‘insurrectionists’. What could that mean?

Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance have called protesters in Los Angeles “insurrectionists”, with White House adviser Stephen Miller also calling the protests an “insurrection”.

Critics have said there is no evidence that protesters opposing Trump’s immigration policies are seeking the wider overthrow of the US government. Opponents have also said Trump’s use of the term is hypocritical, pointing to Trump supporters storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an effort to overturn his election loss.

But the Trump administration’s use of the term may be intentional. So far, Trump has used a more limited federal authority to deploy National Guard troops, which California’s governor is challenging as “unlawful”.

Despite speculation, Trump has not yet invoked a more wide-ranging law, the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would suspend another law that prohibits federal authorities from conducting civilian law enforcement.

A president can invoke the Insurrection Act after determining that “unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion” against the federal government make it “impracticable to enforce” US law “by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings”.

The Insurrection Act is broadly written and does not define the terms “insurrection” or “rebellion”.

US stocks drift higher amid latest trade talks with China

The S&P 500 has risen 0.3 percent in afternoon trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 100 points, or 0.2 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rising 0.4 percent as of 2:05pm local (18:05 GMT).

The upward drift comes as high-level delegations from the United States and China were meeting in London, in the latest effort to avert a global economy roiling trade war.

The economic giants last month agreed to cool the temperature, temporarily rolling back newly imposed tariffs, although both countries have traded barbs since.

Today’s meeting comes after US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call last week.

Press freedom group says at least four journalists injured at protests

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says at least four reporters have been injured when they were hit by nonlethal rounds as they covered the protests in Los Angeles.

It said officers shot Ryanne Mena, a crime reporter with the Los Angeles Daily News, and freelance reporter Sean Beckner-Carmitchel with pepper balls and tear-gassed them on Friday and Saturday.

Nick Stern, a British freelance photojournalist based in Los Angeles, had emergency surgery after a 7.5cm (3-inch) plastic bullet struck his leg on Sunday. Stern said he was wearing his press credentials and carrying a camera when he was struck.

Lauren Tomasi, a reporter for Australia’s 9News, was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet as she reported live on Sunday.

CPJ said Adam Rose, secretary of the Los Angeles Press Club, has also documented more than 20 incidents of obstruction and attacks against journalists since the protests kicked off on Friday.

“We are greatly concerned by the reports of law enforcement officers’ shooting non-lethal rounds at reporters covering protests in Los Angeles. Any attempt to discourage or silence media coverage by intimidating or injuring journalists should not be tolerated,” CPJ US, Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen said in a statement. “It is incumbent upon authorities to respect the media’s role of documenting issues of public interest.”

If you’re just joining us

Here are the latest events:

• US President Donald Trump has hailed his decision to deploy National Guard troops to California, while suggesting he would support authorities arresting California’s Governor Gavin Newsom if he interferes with immigration enforcement.
• This came shortly after Newsom announced he was suing the Trump administration, claiming the president had overstepped his authority in deploying the forces.
• Protesters were again gathering in Los Angeles and cities across the country to protest Trump’s immigration policies, including a travel ban on 12 countries that went into effect today.
• A Trump official said rare earth metals would be a priority in high-level trade talks with China in London today.

About 1,000 National Guard members on the ground in Los Angeles: Report

US officials have told The Associated Press that there are currently about 1,000 National Guard members in the city under federal orders, and more will be flowing in all day.

The officials said that they believe that the full 2,000 that the president has ordered will be on the ground there by the end of the day.

The increase in members, who numbered about 300 yesterday, indicates the Trump administration is not backing away from the deployment despite pressure from state officials.

Despite hype, National Guard have played little role thus far.

When Donald Trump said the city of Los Angeles would have been “obliterated” without the National Guard being here, that’s utterly preposterous, because the National Guard actually did nothing during those protests yesterday.

They just stood around in front of the federal building where the ICE detainees were being held. They didn’t participate at all in any crowd control.

That was all down to the local law enforcement, the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, and others. The Guard had nothing to do with that whatsoever.

California sues Trump administration over National Guard deployment

In a statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta confirmed the state had filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

In a statement, he said Trump is “trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends”.

“Federalising the California National Guard is an abuse of the President’s authority under the law – and not one we take lightly,” Bonta said. “We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order.”

California sues Trump administration over National Guard deployment

In a statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta confirmed the state had filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

In a statement, he said Trump is “trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends”.

“Federalising the California National Guard is an abuse of the President’s authority under the law – and not one we take lightly,” Bonta said. “We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order.”

‘Simply a nightmare’: LA Indigenous leader condemns ICE raids

Indigenous community leader Perla Rios has spoken at a news conference with family members of workers arrested during the ICE raids in Los Angeles that have sparked widespread protest.

Standing in front of Ambiance Apparel, one of the businesses targeted in the raids, Rios called for legal representation and due process for those detained.

“What our families are experiencing is simply a nightmare,” Rios said.

Immigrant rights advocates have accused the Trump administration of pursuing unrealistic immigration arrest targets, which increase pressure on agents to target longtime undocumented residents with deep community ties.

Service employees union holds DC rally in support of LA union members

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) says its members have staged a rally in Washington, DC, in solidarity with their counterparts in Los Angeles, where the Trump administration has detained the union’s California branch president.

“We are rallying in solidarity with our union brother and SEIU California President David Huerta,” the group said in a social media post.

“From Massachusetts to California, we call for his immediate release and for an end to ICE raids that are tearing our communities apart.”

The US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said Huerta has been charged with conspiracy to impede an officer during immigration enforcement operations.

Democratic Senate leader says Trump using protests as a ‘diversion’

Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the US Senate, has said that Trump is using events in Los Angeles to divert attention from his policy agenda.

“Donald Trump — in the midst of a war with Elon Musk and his ugly tax bill that would rip healthcare from 17 million people — is in desperate need of a diversion. His order to deploy the National Guard in California is unnecessary, inflammatory, and provocative,” said Schumer.

“Trump should immediately revoke his command to use the National Guard, and leave the law enforcement to the governor and the mayor, who are more than capable of handling the situation,” he said. “Americans do not need or deserve this unnecessary and provocative chaos.”

Latinas for Trump founder calls president’s actions ‘unacceptable and inhumane’

Condemnation of the Trump administration’s deportation drive has come from an unlikely place: the founder of a group that rallied Latino voters to support Trump.

Over the weekend, Ileana Garcia, a Florida state senator who founded Latinas for Trump, called Trump’s actions “unacceptable and inhumane”.

“I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings – in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims – all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal,” she said.

Garcia referred to Stephen Miller, the key architect of Trump’s deportation drive.

Despite largely turning off Latino voters during his 2016 campaign, Trump made major inroads in the community during the 2024 election season. He gained 42 percent of the community’s vote, setting a record for a Republican candidate, according to the Americas Society/Council of the Americas.

National Guard deployment distraction from ‘authoritarian power grab’: Congresswoman

US Representative Pramila Jayapal has spoken at a rally in front of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

She was joined by members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), whose California leader, David Huerta, was arrested on Friday while protesting ICE immigration raids in Los Angeles.

She called Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops, despite opposition from California’s governor, an intentional distraction from Trump’s “authoritarian power grab on the backs of working people”.

“Today we are here to say free David Huerta. We are here to say free the immigrants that have been arrested. We are here to say end the ICE raids,” she said.

“We are here to say stand up for our protected constitutional rights to free speech, to a democracy that works for all of us,” she said.

Farm workers union condemns ‘reckless deployment’ of National Guard

The United Farm Workers (UFW) union, a powerful organisation that has long been involved in issues of economic and immigrant justice in California, has issued a statement condemning the Trump administration’s crackdown in California.

“The Trump admin’s reckless deployment of the National Guard against California — where immigrant workers are the lifeblood of our economy and community — is a real and violent attack on all Californians,” the group said.

“Farm workers, garment workers, day laborers, or union leaders are not the people undermining public safety. The threat to public safety is the militarized forces being deployed against us.”

State Department says committed to ‘protecting our nation’

As a controversial ban on entry into the US by people from several countries takes effect, the State Department has said the move is necessary to protect the country.

“The Department of State is committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,” the department said in a social media post.

UN warns against ‘further militarisation’ of protest crackdown

The United Nations has responded to the protests and resulting crackdown in Los Angeles.

Spokesman Farhan Haq called on state, local and federal authorities to work together rather than further escalate the unrest.

“We do not want to see any further militarisation of this situation, and we encourage the parties at the local, state and federal levels to work to do that,” Haq said.

Republican senator reiterates opposition to Trump spending package

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has said he will continue to oppose Trump’s massive spending bill, stating that it would ramp up government debt.

Trump has previously chastised Paul and other Republicans opposed to the bill, calling on them to lend their support to what is a major legislative priority for the administration.

“Adding $4 trillion to the national debt is a nonstarter for me,” Paul said in a social media post. “That’s not fiscally conservative. At all.”

Trump suggests he would support arrest of California’s governor

Trump has weighed in on border czar Tom Homan’s Saturday threat, in which Homan said he was prepared to arrest anyone who obstructs immigration enforcement efforts in the state, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Newsom responded during an NBC News interview by challenging Homan to “just get it over with” and move ahead with the arrest.

Asked on Monday about Newsom daring Homan to arrest him, US President Donald Trump replied: “I would”.

Why is the national guard front and centre in debate over LA clashes?

Trump has taken the rare step of mobilising the national guard without the consent of state authorities, an act no US president has taken since 1965, and one that critics say is an effort to escalate tensions.

What is the national guard, and how does it fit into the events unfolding in Los Angeles? You can read our explainer here.

Protests in LA, NYC over Trump travel ban

Trump’s latest travel ban blocks nearly all visa applications for citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Critics have called it racist and unnecessary.

Speaking at a protest in New York City today, Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said the policy was “a continuation of the Muslim and travel ban under the first Trump administration, which separated families and harmed our communities”.

The policy, he said, is creating “an immense amount of fear”.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, meanwhile, planned to hold protests at the international airport in Los Angeles.

Local elected officials warn protesters not to give in to Trump ‘provocations’

Today is a work day, unlike yesterday, so people have to go to their jobs, and that makes it less likely that there will be as many people available to protest. That’s just a common-sense observation.

But certainly there will be people who will want to continue to protest, and there is a large peaceful gathering being set up today by labour unions and other organisations in the centre of town.

They hope that a maximum number of people will turn out to make their presence known and make their voices heard.

California’s governor, Los Angeles’s mayor, other elected officials, union officials, and leaders in the immigrant advocacy community are asking for people to be peaceful and not to let this “provocation”, as they see it by the Trump administration, devolve into more violence.

US-China talks seem likely to continue

Today’s talks have involved US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in conversation with several Chinese officials, including Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen a bit of a change in the temperature between these two countries. There are concerns from the US side about access to certain rare earths, the critical minerals that are used in semiconductors and electric vehicles.

The Chinese concern is that travel from the US to China of certain products, particularly around software and some parts, is being slowed down by export restrictions on the US side.

An effort to try to lift some of those restrictions in particular will be something they’ll be focused on in those conversations.

What’s not clear is whether these talks will continue beyond today, but it looks likely that they will.

Here’s where things stand on Monday 9 June 2025:  

• Protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles continue for a third day, with police saying downtown LA is now an “unlawful assembly” area
• Vehicles have been set on fire and there have been some reports of looting
• A British photographer needed surgery after being shot with a sponge bullet, while an Australian reporter was shot with a non-lethal round while reporting
• The protests gave Trump an opening to follow through on his promise to use his presidential powers to clamp down on left-wing lawlessness, writes North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher
• The president has already called in the National Guard – against the wishes of California’s governor, Gavin Newsom
• The protests have been mainly limited to downtown LA – our correspondent Peter Bowes says things seemed quieter on Sunday night, after a violent day

What we know so far about the National Guard deployment

As 2,000 National Guard troops arrive in LA, let’s take a look at a memorandum from the White House which mobilised the troops to respond to the protests.

In the memo, the White House says the National Guard are needed because of “violent protests threaten the security of and significant damage to Federal immigration detention facilities and other Federal property”.

It also adds that protests which “directly inhibit the execution of the laws … constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States”.

The memo calls for 2,000 troops to be mobilised for 60 days, “or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense”.

It also leaves the door open for other US Armed Forces members to be deployed to LA. The memo states that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “may employ any other members of the regular Armed Forces as necessary to augment and support the protection of Federal functions and property in any number determined appropriate in his discretion”.

LA police chief says department can’t enforce immigration

A little earlier, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Jim McDonnell responded to accusations suggesting his officers were slow to respond to the unrest.

McDonnell pointed out that his force cannot “participate in any way in civil immigration enforcement”. As a reminder, the protests were sparked by a series of federal raids on undocumented migrants.

He says that his department must comply with the California Values Act, which prevents local and state law enforcement from assisting federal agencies with immigration enforcement, the BBC’s US partner CBS reports.

“Federal partners have been reticent to provide information to us before something happens because of that reason,” McDonnell adds.

This is a fight Trump is ready for

On the campaign trail last year, Donald Trump promised that he was not going to tolerate left-wing lawlessness on American streets and would use the full force of his presidential powers in response.

The protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts in California on Saturday night gave him an opening to follow through on that promise.

Trump administration officials said that immigration agents were being targeted and injured – and that local law enforcement had been too slow to respond.

Never mind that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said that the protests were largely peaceful, or that local authorities said they could handle the clashes that did turn violent.

By Sunday morning, Trump was declaring victory and thanking the National Guard for restoring peace, even though the guard had yet to fully assemble.

The speed with which Trump reacted suggests that this is a fight his administration is prepared for – and even eager to have.

Former Trump adviser says president trying to ‘carry out law’

Sam Nunberg, a strategist on Trump’s 2016 campaign, says the president is trying to “carry out the law” and the situation would have escalated if the White House hadn’t deployed the National Guard.

Speaking to BBC’s Today programme, Nunberg says California prides itself with not cooperating with immigration authorities and claims the state is at the “forefront of lawlessness”, particularly in regard to illegal immigration. This will not be accepted by the White House, he says.

“These people have no right to be in this country. It’s one of the main reasons President Trump was elected.”

Asked whether the deployment of the National Guard – without the governor’s permission – was a proportionate response Nunberg says: “It’s only provocative to people who don’t agree with the policy.”

As a reminder, California Governor Gavin Newsom has called Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard

Around 60 arrests in San Francisco

Around 60 people were arrested and three officers injured following unrest in San Francisco on Sunday, police say in a statement.

The San Francisco Police Department say individuals became “violent and began to commit crimes ranging from assault to felony vandalism and causing property damage” on Sunday evening, prompting the department to declare an unlawful assembly in an area.

The department says many left the scene but “several individuals remained and continued engaging in illegal activity,” including vandalising buildings and a patrol vehicle.

Two officers suffered non-life threatening injuries and one was transported to a local hospital.

In response to the statement, the Mayor Daniel Lurie says everyone “has a right to make their voice heard peacefully” but “we will never tolerate violent and destructive behaviour”.

Lurie says the protest has now “wound down” before adding that “efforts to target members of our immigrant community who contribute to our city, support our economy, and raise their families here make our city less safe”.

How was Trump able to mobilise the National Guard?

About 2,000 National Guard troops have been deployed in Los Angeles by the federal government, against the wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom. US President Donald Trump has also suggested that he could deploy the Marine Corps to respond to the protests.

Trump used a law that says National Guard deployment can be federalised if the US “is invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation”; “there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion” against the government; or “the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States”.

Trump has said that the protests constitute a rebellion against the federal government.

Another mechanism also exists: the Insurrection Act of 1807.

The president did not use the Insurrection Act to call in National Guard troops to LA – but it can be invoked by presidents to activate the military to respond to domestic unrest.

The 19th century law means that a president can use active-duty military personnel to perform law-enforcement duties in the US.

It has been used a handful of times: once by Abraham Lincoln during the US Civil War, again by Ulysses S Grant against a wave of racist violence carried out by the Ku Klux Klan, and by Dwight Eisenhower to protect black students trying to attend school in Arkansas during the civil rights movement.

It was most recently invoked in 1992 during the LA riots, which followed the the acquittal of four white police officers in the beating of Rodney King, a black man.

Trump campaigned to tackle immigration – and his message cut through

There’s no surprise that President Donald Trump is tackling immigration – he campaigned on this issue.

In large part, it is certainly one of the reasons why he was elected, and he had a lot of support in the city of Los Angeles, and a lot of opposition as well. That support was among some of those groups of immigrant residents of Los Angeles, including Hispanic communities.

That is why this is such a difficult and complex issue to unravel and to get your head around.

Earlier, we heard the Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, say: “What we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration”. Essentially, Bass is saying the president knew what the reaction would be if he brought in the National Guard members.

And it appears there’s still the threat of bringing in Marines. In the last hour the president has posted on social media: “Looking really bad in LA. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!”

City of Glendale terminates ICE contract

The City of Glendale in California has announced that it will terminate its contract with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to the release, the city has jointly operated a facility that houses federal immigration detainees with the DHS and ICE since 2007.

“The City recognizes that public perception of the ICE contract—no matter how limited or carefully managed, no matter the good – has become divisive,” it says in a news release issued around 19:00 local time on Sunday (03:00 BST Monday).

It adds that the decision “is not politically driven. It is rooted in what this City stands for—public safety, local accountability, and trust.”

What sparked the Los Angeles protests?published at 09:5709:57

The protests began on Friday after it emerged Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were carrying out raids across the city.

CBS reports that operations took place in the Westlake district as well as in Paramount, south of LA – where the population is more than 82% Hispanic.

There were also reports of an ICE raid at a Home Depot store in Paramount, which officials told the BBC were false.

Immigration raids have ramped up under President Donald Trump’s administration, which last month asked federal agents to arrest 3,000 people a day.

ICE later told CBS that 44 unauthorised immigrants were arrested in a single operation at a job site on Friday. Another 77 were also taken in in the greater LA area on the same day.

Following the raids, the Federal Building in downtown LA became the focus of protests after it emerged that detainees were allegedly being held there.

Graffiti was sprayed on the building and objects were thrown at police, CBS reports, leading to an unlawful assembly declaration.

Protests continued into Saturday, prompting Trump to deploy 2,000 National Guard members to the Los Angeles area – a move condemned by California’s Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.

Photos show anti-ICE protests unfolding in LA

After a third day of protests in Los Angeles, we’re receiving photos through to our newsroom showing protesters and law enforcement clashing around the city.

Trump wants to create unrest, claims Latin American civic rights group

Jose Barrera, the national vice president of the League of United Latin American citizens (LULAC), tells the BBC’s Today programme that the White House wants “to create civic unrest” in Los Angeles.

Barrera says there is “no need” for Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard when there are 17,000 police personnel in Los Angeles.

He says deploying the troops “increases tensions” and confrontation, which sets a “dangerous precedent”.

Speaking about the situation in LA, Barrera says: “There’s a lot of unrest but also there’s a lot of unity, where we’re seeing the members of the community standing up, going out, peacefully protesting and looking to defend the immigrants here in the United States.”

Barrera says there are “outliers” involved in violent unrest – but the majority of people are protesting peacefully, he says. He adds that much of the city is continuing as “business as usual”.

Australian correspondent hit by ‘rubber bullet’ while reporting

An Australian news correspondent reporting from the LA protests was struck by what appears to be a rubber bullet fired by law enforcement.

Lauren Tomasi, with Australia’s Channel Nine, was broadcasting live when she was struck in the leg by the non-lethal round.

A law enforcement officer can be seen turning towards news cameras and firing the round before Tomasi was struck.

Phone alert sent to protesters near Civic Center

As we’ve reported, downtown Los Angeles has been declared an “unlawful assembly” area, with protesters told to leave.

Now police say a phone alert has been sent to people in the Civic Center area.

A post by the LAPD Central Division on X says: “Those with cell phones in the area of the Civic Centre have received the alert.”

Newsom says ‘come and get me’ after alleged arrest threat

California Governor Gavin Newsom has responded to an alleged arrest threat by a member of Trump’s cabinet.

“Trump’s border czar is threatening to arrest me for speaking out. Come and get me, tough guy. I don’t give a damn. It won’t stop me from standing up for California,” he writes on X.

On Saturday, Trump’s “border czar”, Tom Homan, said that immigration raids would continue regardless of the protests – and hinted that people could be arrested if they interfered with officers.

Speaking to NBC News, Homan said he would apply the same rule to anyone, including elected officials – but stopped short of accusing politicians of actually impeding officers.

“You cross that line, it’s a felony to knowingly harbour and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job,” he told NBC.

Police receive reports of looting

The Los Angeles Police Department says that business owners are reporting looting.

On X, the LAPD Central Division writes: “Business owners are reporting stores are being looted in the area of 6th St and Broadway. Officers are en route to the location to investigate.”

A violent day, but things seem quieter in Los Angeles – for now

It is much quieter out on the streets now in Los Angeles, but still very tense.

There’ve been pockets of flare-ups in the last few hours and more intentional vandalism than peaceful protest, at least towards the end of the day.

Sunday started quite quietly – relatively small groups of people protesting about those immigration raids – but things deteriorated with the crowds much bigger, reaching thousands of people in the afternoon.

There was violence, there were attacks on police and police vehicles on the 101 freeway, which has been closed on and off.

Some pretty devastating damage has been done to police vehicles as people tried to set them alight. Police eventually moved in to disperse those crowds.

As we get into night-time hours here, it’s still quite tense. There’s a lot of uncertainty about how things are going to develop overnight.

Trump says ‘Bring in the troops!’ and things ‘looking really bad in LA’

On his Truth Social platform, the US president is calling for an end to the protests and urging for a crackdown on demonstrators.

In one post, Trump writes that the LA police chief, Jim McDonnell, has said he will “reassess the situation” about bringing in troops to LA.

“He should, RIGHT NOW!!! Don’t let these thugs get away with this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump writes.

In another post, the president writes: “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!”

A third post that was published a short time later reads: “ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS, NOW!”

‘There was blood pouring down my leg’: UK photographer hit by ‘sponge’ bullet

A British photographer covering the LA protests was struck by a non-lethal bullet as law enforcement tried to disperse crowds.

Nick Stern, who has lived in the US since 2007, tells the PA news agency that the 14mm “sponge bullet” hit his thigh.

“My initial concern was, were they firing live rounds?” he says.

“Some of the protesters came and helped me, and they ended up carrying me, and I noticed that there was blood pouring down my leg.”

He sought help from a nearby medic who told him to go to the hospital. Stern has now had surgery on his leg.

Stern says he will return to work once he is well enough. “This is too important and it needs documenting,” he says.

If you’re just joining us

The time is just after 22:00 in Los Angeles (06:00 BST).

If you’re just joining us, this is what we know so far:

• Downtown Los Angeles has been declared an “unlawful assembly” area by the LAPD, following a third day of demonstrations in the city. Protests are continuing into the night
• At least 10 people were arrested on Sunday during the unrest, prompted by immigration raids by US officials
• Law enforcement officers have used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters, who forced a major freeway to close
• At least 300 members of the California National Guard were deployed to three spots in the Los Angeles area, while 500 Marines are in a “prepared to deploy” status at a base around 230km east of Los Angeles
• US President Donald Trump has defended his unprecedented deployment of National Guard troops – without a request from California Governor Gavin Newsom – as necessary for “law and order”
• Gavin Newsom said that Trump’s actions are “illegal” and “immoral”, and has threatened to sue the administration
• Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said “what we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration” and called on protesters to demonstrate peacefully

Waymo driverless car set on fire in LA

We can now bring you footage of the driverless cars going up in flames in Los Angeles amid the ongoing protests.

At least three self-driving Waymo cars were burned, with two others vandalised.

What are Waymos, the cars set alight by protesters?

As we reported earlier, protesters set fire to Waymo vehicles, which are fully driverless.

Waymo, which is owned by Google, started offering robotaxis to the public in 2020.

Three years later, it introduced its fully-driverless service in Los Angeles.

In LA, its service usually covers 89 square miles from Santa Monica to the downtown area.

Threat to deploy Marines ‘escalating’ situation’, California Governor says

California Governor Gavin Newsom has said US President Trump’s threat to deploy Marines to the demonstrations in Los Angeles is “escalating the situation”.

In a post on X, Newsom said Trump’s move came “despite protests already being managed by the LAPD”.

“Los Angeles: Remain peaceful. Don’t fall into the trap that extremists are hoping for,” he added.

Protesters must leave downtown area immediately, LAPD says

Now into the night, the LA police say protesters have “splintered into and through out the Downtown Area”.

The police force is warning residents, businesses and visitors to “be alert and report any criminal activity”.

“Officers are responding to several different locations to disperse crowds. An ‘UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY’ is in effect for the Civic Center area of [Downtown Los Angeles],” it wrote on X.

In a second post, the LAPD declared, “Downtown Los Angeles has been declared as an UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY. You are to leave the Downtown Area immediately.”

Protests continue into the night in Los Angeles

I’m in downtown Los Angeles with our BBC team and there’s been a constant stream of booms echoing as police work to clear protests.

The sun has set and street lights came on but many people remain here.

We’ve seen police using flash bangs and police on horses working to clear streets that are shuttered due to the unrest. At least five cars burned to a crisp within a block of here and multiple cars used by authorities were pelted with objects, including scooters.

Protesters have split up across the downtown area with some sitting on streets with flags and signs and others facing off with officials. The 101 – a major highway here – is partially blocked off due to the unrest.

Newsom threatens to sue Trump, calls his actions ‘illegal’

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard an “illegal” and “immoral” act and threatened to sue the administration.

“Donald Trump has created the conditions you see on your TV tonight. He’s exacerbated the conditions… he’s putting fuel on this fire,” he said in an interview with MSNBC.

“An unconstitutional act, and we’re going to test that theory with a lawsuit tomorrow.”

Newsom also called Trump a “stone cold liar”, saying the president never brought up the National Guard with him during a phone call after the protests had started.

Typically, a state’s National Guard force is activated at the request of the governor.

In this case, Trump has circumvented that step by invoking a specific provision of the US Code of Armed Services titled 10 U.S.C. 12406, external, which lists three circumstances under which the president can federalise the National Guard.

You can read more about how a president can deploy the National Guard here.

‘Incendiary devices’ thrown at police horses, LAPD says

As clashes continue, LA police have said “incendiary devices” have been used against police horse patrols.

The police force warned on X that “less lethal munitions have been authorised” to respond to such attacks.

“Less lethal munitions may cause pain and discomfort,” it added.

A thick stench of chemicals hangs in the air

Protesters have taken over several streets in downtown, with booms echoing from both fireworks and police munitions.

Near Union Station – the city’s most utilised transport hub – the remains of five cars sit. The Waymo self-driving vehicles are electric and appear to have almost entirely dissolved. Only the hubcaps and some of the frame of the car remains. There is a thick stench of chemicals in the air and the smell of smoke.

Waymo suspends service in downtown LA

BBC News understands driverless taxi firm Waymo is suspending its service in downtown Los Angeles after several of its cars were set on fire amid the unrest.

The company is understood to still be operating in the city but has been removing vehicles from the downtown area and is not currently offering services there.

The Police Department warned, external earlier that burning electric vehicles can “release toxic gases”.

The day in pictures

The sun is setting in Los Angeles after a third day of demonstrations following immigration raids by US officials. The demonstrations are ongoing.

This is the day so far in pictures:

101 Freeway closes again

The LAPD have closed a major road again, shortly after it reopened, posting on X, “Due to demonstrators throwing objects onto the [South Bound] lanes of the 101 Freeway and damaging multiple police vehicles, the 101 SB Freeway will remain closed until further notice.”

What a Home Depot and a business park reveal about the protests

There is some uncertainty among people in Paramount, in the south of LA county, over how the protests and clashes with law enforcement started on Saturday. Many who live in the community told the BBC they saw immigration enforcement vehicles in the area.

It caused instant fear and panic – then came reports about raids and the arrests of day labourers at Home Depot, a place where many undocumented migrants across the US go to find work.

Typically, the Home Depot’s parking lot is filled with dozens of day labourers looking for work, people gathered there today told me.

“No one really knows what happened,” a man named Juan told me, as he and two friends gathered around a small pickup in the parking lot. He used to be among the men looking for work there. He still meets with them here on weekends to chit-chat and catch up with old friends in the community.

“No one is here today. Everyone is too scared to be here,” he says of the workers.

While dozens of migrants have been detained by authorities elsewhere in the area, the rumours of raids at the store were misinformation, according to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“Despite false reports, there was no ICE ‘raid’ at a Home Depot in LA,” the DHS told the BBC.

You can read our full story here.

Trump implies without evidence that protesters are ‘paid insurrectionists’

US president Donald Trump has posted, without providing evidence, the words ‘Paid Insurrectionists!’ on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns.

The post came shortly after Trump wrote, “Governor Gavin Newscum and “Mayor” Bass should apologize to the people of Los Angeles for the absolutely horrible job that they have done, and this now includes the ongoing LA riots. These are not protesters, they are troublemakers and insurrectionists. Remember, NO MASKS!”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass urged protests earlier to keep their demonstrations peaceful and said ‘We stand with all Angelinos’.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said that Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to demonstrations was “purposefully inflammatory”.

Here’s where things stand on Monday 9 June 2025:

• Protests have flared up again in Los Angeles, as demonstrators against immigration raids face off with law enforcement for a third day. Watch live coverage at the top of this page
• National Guard units deployed by President Donald Trump use tear gas to force back protesters downtown
• Law enforcement move in to clear demonstrators as they block the major 101 freeway in the city
• Trump defends his move to send in the National Guard, saying they will “make sure there’s law and order”
• California’s governor urges Trump to revoke the troop deployment, which other Democratic governors call an “alarming abuse of power”
• Demonstrators have “ignited” self-driving vehicles in downtown Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Police Department

Trump implies without evidence that protestors are ‘paid insurrectionists’

US president Donald Trump has posted, without providing evidence, the words ‘Paid Insurrectionists!’ on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns.

The post came shortly after Trump wrote, “Governor Gavin Newscum and “Mayor” Bass should apologize to the people of Los Angeles for the absolutely horrible job that they have done, and this now includes the ongoing LA riots. These are not protesters, they are troublemakers and insurrectionists. Remember, NO MASKS!”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass urged protests earlier to keep their demonstrations peaceful and said ‘We stand with all Angelinos’.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said that Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to demonstrations was “purposefully inflammatory”.

Around 500 Marines ‘prepared to deploy’, says US Northern Command

Around 500 Marines are on a “prepared to deploy” status in response to demonstrations in Los Angeles, according to a statement issued by the US Northern Command.

The Marines are from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms, California, around 230km east of Los Angeles.

The statement said that the Marines would be deployed “should they be necessary to augment and support the DoD’s [Department of Defense] protection of federal property and personnel efforts”.

There are already around 2000 California Army National guard soldiers under federal command, the statement said.

Around 500 Marines ‘prepared to deploy’, says US Northern Command

Around 500 Marines are on a “prepared to deploy” status in response to demonstrations in Los Angeles, according to a statement issued by the US Northern Command.

The Marines are from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms, California, around 230km east of Los Angeles.

The statement said that the Marines would be deployed “should they be necessary to augment and support the DoD’s [Department of Defense] protection of federal property and personnel efforts”.

There are already around 2000 California Army National guard soldiers under federal command, the statement said.

Flags seen at the protests

You may have seen images of a red, white and green flag at the protests – with some waving the flags, and others wrapping them around their shoulders.

Most of these are the Mexican flag, which is green, white and red, with an eagle crest at its centre.

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said 35 “Mexican migrants” were among those detained on 7 June by US authorities.

The American flag (red, white and blue) is also beign waved by protestors, as is the Palestinian flag (red, black, green and white). The California state flag is white, red and green, with a bear at its centre.

Major road reopens after police disperse protesters

We reported earlier that protesters had brought traffic to a standstill on the 101 freeway, a major route in downtown Los Angeles.

Now police are confirming that they have dispersed the demonstrators and the road has reopened.

The California Highway Patrol said on X that a number of arrests had been made as they cleared the highway.

New ‘dispersal order’ issued by LAPD

The Los Angeles Police Department has issued a new “dispersal order” for the area near Temple and Main Street, in downtown Los Angeles, calling for people to leave the area.

“Less lethal munitions have been authorized. Less lethal munitions may cause pain and discomfort,” the LAPD said, in a statement issued on X.

“Demonstrators are using chairs, garbage bins and other items to blockade the street,” it added.

‘We stand with all Angelinos’, says LA Mayor

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told media a short while ago that “what we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration”.

“When you run armoured caravans through our streets, you cause fear and you cause panic,” she added.

White House: Trump ‘rightfully stepped in to restore law and order’

The White House has said that President Donald Trump “rightfully stepped in to restore law and order because of Gavin Newsom’s feckless leadership and his refusal to stop the violent attacks on American law enforcement”.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson issued the statement after California Governor Gavin Newsom said that Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to demonstrations was “purposefully inflammatory”.

The White House statement continued: “It’s a bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved. Everyone saw the chaos, violence, and lawlessness – unless, of course, Gavin Newsom doesn’t think any of that is a problem.”

Troops are armed, says defence official

A defense official says that the members of the guard are armed, reports the BBC’s north American partner, CBS. The official said that the members are following the “Standing Rules for the Use of Force”, which allow for the use of force primarily in self-defense.

LAPD: Demonstrators have ‘ignited’ vehicles

Demonstrators have “ignited” vehicles in downtown Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

In a statement posted on X, the LAPD said it was “attempting to enter the area to extinguish the fire”.

The cars that were lit ablaze are Waymo self-driving vehicles, images broadcast on the BBC News channel show. At least four are on fire, with their windows bashed and spray paint covering them.

The cars are fairly unique in the US and Los Angeles is one of very few cities where they are in use. The company is owned by Alphabet, which is related to Google.

The LAPD added that an unlawful assembly order has been issued for the area.

If you’re just joining us

It is approaching 18:00 in Los Angeles (02:00 BST).

If you’re just joining us, here’s the latest:

• Law enforcement officers have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters gathering for a third day of demonstrations in Los Angeles
• Protesters gathered near the location where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted raids on Saturday, shutting down a major freeway
• Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has said the unrest in the city is “chaos provoked by the administration”
• Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to the protests was “purposefully inflammatory”, California Governor Gavin Newsom said
• The Democrats called Trump’s actions an “alarming abuse of power“

• It is unprecedented for a US president to activate a state’s National Guard without a request from the state’s governor
• US President Donald Trump has warned that there will be troops “everywhere” if the protests continue, adding that “we’re not going to let our country be torn apart”
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that active-duty Marines could be called 

Trump administration is ‘stoking fear’, says Kamala Harris

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has said the Trump administration’s actions “are not about public safety – they’re about stoking fear”.

“Deploying the National Guard is a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos… it is part of the Trump administration’s cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division,” she said.

In the statement posted on X, Harris, the former attorney general of California, added that “protest is a powerful tool – essential in the fight for justice”.

“I continue to support the millions of Americans who are standing up to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms,” she said.

Following her US presidential election loss, Harris is considering running for governor of California, her home state, in 2026, according to reports from CBS – the BBC’s American news partner.

Mayor Bass: ‘Large percentage of our city is terrified’

“I don’t think there’s any equivocating on non-violence,” said Mayor Bass.

“Our city has been through a lot since the beginning of the year,” she says, referring to January’s devastating wildfires.

“And now thinking that there is a large percentage of our city that is terrified,” she said. “That is not going to know if they go to sleep tonight and they go to work or they go to school will that be the last day they do that? Will that be the last day they see their family?”

“We can’t have this in our city. Los Angeles is a city of immigrants,” she said.

But she reiterated that “it is just not appropriate for there to be violence and I don’t want people to fall into the chaos that I believe is being created by the administration completely unnecessarily”.

LA Mayor Bass criticises ‘mischief and violence’ by some protesters

While Mayor Bass blames the Trump administration for escalating the situation, she also reserves criticism for troublemakers in the crowd.

“There is a history of peaceful protests here,” the Democratic city leader says, while adding that there are some elements at these demonstrations who “might get into mischief and violence”.

When a reporter queries whether the protests can be characterised as peaceful, she says: “That’s not peaceful what was happening.

“It’s not peaceful for people to be on the highways. It’s not peaceful for people to throw rocks or bottles. That’s not peaceful.”

This is a ‘dangerous escalation’, says Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is speaking at a press conference now.

She says: “We do not want to play in to the [Trump] administration’s hands.”

“What we’re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos provoked by the administration”, which she said had caused fear and panic.

Deploying federalised troops is a “dangerous escalation”, she says.

“I want the people of LA to know that we stand with all Angelinos, no matter where you were born.”

She said protesters had the right to demonstrate peacefully and called on them to continue expressing their “rights, anger and outrage”, but to do it peacefully.

Maxine Waters wants to know whereabouts of detained labour leader

US congresswoman Maxine Waters was earlier outside the federal building in Los Angeles where National Guard troops are positioned.

The Democrat said she wants to know where David Huerta, head of the state branch of the Service Employees International Union, is being held.

Huerta was arrested on Friday night during scuffles. Local media reported he was admitted to hospital for injuries sustained during his arrest and that he is now in custody.

“We don’t know where he is,” she said. “I’m here to try to understand about why the president of the United States is targeting our city.”

Democratic governors decry ‘alarming abuse of power’

US Democratic governors have condemned President Donald Trump’s troop deployment to Los Angeles as an “alarming abuse of power”.

In a joint statement, they said: “Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state’s governor is ineffective and dangerous.

“Further, threatening to send the US Marines into American neighbourhoods undermines the mission of our service members, erodes public trust, and shows the Trump administration does not trust local enforcement.”

Earlier in the day, President Trump did not rule out sending active-duty Marines to California if the unrest worsened.

Demonstrators shut down major freewaypublished at 01:2901:29

We are now seeing aerial footage showing crowds of protesters flooding the 101 freeway in downtown Los Angeles and bringing traffic to a standstill.

People are also gathered on two nearby overpasses and ramps.

LA Police have said in a post on X that California Highway Patrol officers are attempting to disperse the demonstrators off the southbound section of the freeway.

Here’s where things stand on Monday 9 June 2025:

• Security forces fire tear gas and rubber bullets in downtown Los Angeles after United States President Donald Trump sent in National Guard troops to quell protests against immigration raids.
• The clashes near the Metropolitan Detention Centre come on the third day of Trump’s immigration crackdown, with dozens of people, including undocumented migrants, rounded up in raids across Los Angeles by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
• Trump says his deployment of the National Guard is necessary, but his opponents, including California Governor Gavin Newson, say it’s an overreaction that will only escalate tensions.

Trump administration is ‘stoking fear’, says Kamala Harris

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has said the Trump administration’s actions “are not about public safety – they’re about stoking fear”.

“Deploying the National Guard is a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos… it is part of the Trump administration’s cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division,” she said.

In the statement posted on X, Harris, the former attorney general of California, added that “protest is a powerful tool – essential in the fight for justice”.

“I continue to support the millions of Americans who are standing up to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms,” she said.

Following her US presidential election loss, Harris is considering running for governor of California, her home state, in 2026, according to reports from CBS.

Trump’s order is first time National Guard deployed without request since 1965

Trump’s order to call in the National Guard is unusual for bypassing the wishes of state authorities.

The last time a US president deployed the National Guard without receiving a request from state-level authorities was in 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson called in troops to protect civil rights protesters marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called Trump’s calling in of the National Guard “purposefully inflammatory” and formally requested the US president to rescind “their unlawful deployment”.

‘We will not forget’: Deputy FBI director warns protestors on violence

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has delivered a warning to protestors who “choose violence,” pledging that perpetrators will be pursued long after the protests have subsided.

“We will be investigating and pursuing all available leads for assault on a federal officer, in addition to the many arrests already made,” Bongino said in a post on X.

“And, although we’ll pursue every case, we don’t need to catch every single perp, we just need to catch you. A short time ago, the Director and I notified our teams to use all of our investigative and technological tools to pursue you long after order is firmly established. We will not forget. Even after you try to.”

Photos: Scenes from Los Angeles as protests continue

LA authorities declare protests illegal, order crowds to disperse

I’m on the 101 Freeway, and it’s quite noisy here.

Officers with the LA sheriff are here, holding the line, so that no one can get on the freeway. That’s because this is a very busy freeway.

They are trying to keep the crowd contained.

It looks like the crowd has thinned out a little bit. But they’ve also spread out.

People are shouting “shame, shame”, but no one is getting too close to the officers.

We can hear the occasional flash bangs, as well as the sound of helicopters overhead, telling us we need to leave. We’ve also just had an emergency alert on our phones, telling us this is an illegal assembly and that people must disperse.

Down on the freeway, we can see vehicles from the LAPD and sheriff’s office lined up, presumably because when police do move in, they’re expecting there to be mass arrests.

FBI seeks information on man accused of assault, property damage

The FBI in LA is seeking information on a man accused of assaulting a federal officer and causing damage to government property.

The bureau is offering a reward of $50,000 for information leading to his identification and arrest.

Kamala Harris slams Trump’s ‘cruel, calculated agenda’

The former vice president, who lives in Los Angeles, says she is “appalled at what we are witnessing on the streets of our city”.

In a post on X, she said the ICE raids and the deployment of the National Guard are “part of the Trump Administration’s cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division”.

She added, “This administration’s actions are not about public safety – they’re about stoking fear.”

Newsom says Trump’s actions are that of a dictator

The California governor has slammed Trump’s actions in Los Angeles.

“Inciting and provoking violence. Creating mass chaos. Militarising cities. Arresting opponents. These are acts of a dictator, not a President,” Newsom wrote on X.

Protesters set fire to self-driving cars

The demonstrators in Los Angeles have sprayed graffiti on and set fire to several vehicles belonging to Waymo, a company that offers autonomous ride-hailing services.

Los Angelenos can protest but violence will not be tolerated, LA mayor says

LA Mayor Karen Bass has warned residents that violence and vandalism will not be tolerated.

“We will always protect the constitutional right for Angelenos to peacefully protest,” Bass said in a post on X.

“However, violence, destruction and vandalism will not be tolerated in our City and those responsible will be held fully accountable.”

White House rejects Newsom’s appeal

As we’ve been reporting, the California governor has called on Trump to rescind his order deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles.

The Reuters news agency is reporting that the White House has reacted to that appeal.

“President Trump rightfully stepped in to restore law and order because of Gavin Newsom’s feckless leadership and his refusal to stop the violent attacks on American law enforcement,” spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Reuters.

“It’s a bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved. Everyone saw the chaos, violence, and lawlessness – unless, of course, Gavin Newsom doesn’t think any of that is a problem,” she added.

What is the National Guard?

It is made up of part-time soldiers who can be used at the state and federal levels.

Under the authority of state governors, National Guard troops can be deployed to respond to emergencies, such as the COVID pandemic, hurricanes and other natural disasters. It can also be used to tackle social unrest when local police are overwhelmed.

During times of war or national emergencies, the federal government can order a deployment for military service – that is, when the National Guard is federalised and serves under the control of the president.

Newsom asks Trump to rescind order

The California governor says he has formally requested the Trump administration to rescind “their unlawful deployment” of National Guard troops in Los Angeles.

“We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved,” he wrote in a post on X. “This is a serious breach of sovereignty – inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed.”

Is Trump allowed to deploy National Guard troops?

As we’ve been reporting, Trump has ordered the deployment of 2,000 members of the National Guard to Los Angeles County to quell protests against coordinated immigration raids, bypassing the authority of the governor of California.

Newsom has in fact called Trump’s decision to call in National Guard troops “purposefully inflammatory”.

He accused the Trump administration of ordering the deployment “not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle”.

So, can the president deploy the National Guard over the objections of a state governor?

Find out in our explainer here.

Volatile situation in downtown Los Angeles

The scene here can be a bit surreal sometimes.

We had tear gas and flashbangs in the past hour, and now there’s a woman here selling hot dogs and bottles of water.

Another guy walked past with his dog. He has obviously come to see what’s going on.

It’s changing by the second.

We can hear police helicopters overhead. We understand there are some six or seven in the air, not directly overhead, but on deployment as the LA Police Department and the LA Sheriff’s Department try to keep a handle on what’s happening.

Police are still continuing to block roads here.

They had fired flashbangs and rubber bullets towards some people in the crowd. We saw one man who had been hit in the chest and he was bleeding. But he was showing it off to the cameras almost like a badge of honour.

We’ve seen organisers calling on the protesters to fill in the gaps in the crowds.

The National Guard is near the detention facility, holding off the crowd, making sure that federal property is not damaged. But this could change any second.

National Guard arrives in LA to crush protests

Police have fired tear gas at demonstrators and carried out arrests in Los Angeles after tensions escalated near the Metropolitan Detention Center, hours after Trump deployed National Guard soldiers there.

The Metropolitan Detention Center has been a flashpoint over the past two days.

Footage showed uniformed officers firing tear gas canisters as they moved into the street, scattering protesters. Pushing and shoving erupted when demonstrators approached a line of National Guard troops and began shouting at them.

Read more here.

Welcome to our coverage

Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of the standoff in Los Angeles as protests against Trump’s immigration raids continue.

Stay with us for the latest updates, analyses and reactions.

Here’s where things stand on Sunday 8 June 2025:

• Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles following clashes over raids on undocumented migrants
• Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says the force has not yet arrived in the city, but a federal official says the troops will arrive within 24 hours
• California Governor Gavin Newsom calls the move from Trump “purposefully inflammatory” and warns it “will only escalate tensions”
• In a predominantly Latino district of LA, residents repeatedly clashed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal agents
• In a post on Truth Social, Trump says: “These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED”

‘Deranged behaviour’: Newsom challenges Hegseth’s threat to mobilise Marines

Earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that active-duty Marines will be mobilised in Los Angeles (LA) “if violence continues”.

This comes after he said on X that his department was deploying the National Guard “IMMEDIATELY” – we’ve now heard that they will arrive in LA within 24 hours.

Protests continued into the early hours of Sunday morning in the city and it remains unclear whether Hegseth will follow through with his threat to deploy Marines.

In a post on X, California Governor Gavin Newsom says Hegseth’s threat demonstrates “deranged behaviour”.

A closer look at the arrest of union leader David Huerta

More now on the arrest of a US labour union leader David Huerta, who was detained on Friday.

Huerta is the president of the California branch of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) – the group’s website says its local unions in the state are made up of more than 750,000 people, including healthcare workers, janitors, social workers, and city and state employees.

The union says Huerta was “peacefully observing” a federal immigration enforcement operation when he was arrested, saying he suffered injuries and calling for his release.

US Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, claims Huerta “deliberately obstructed” federal agents, saying he blocked their vehicle, and saying he faces arraignment in federal court on Monday.

American Civil Liberties Union condemns National Guard order

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says Trump’s order to send the National Guard to LA is “unnecessary, inflammatory, and an abuse of power”.

Hina Shamsi, director of the National Security Project at the civil rights group, says Trump’s move puts Los Angeles residents “in danger”.

She also says it puts troops in “legal and ethical jeopardy”, and is “recklessly undermining our foundational democratic principle that the military should not police civilians”.

The ACLU says protests in LA were responding to “dangerous” immigration raids and the arrest of David Huerta, the president of labour group Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California, at the scene of an immigration enforcement operation on Friday.

Who has the authority to deploy the National Guard?

Each US state has its own contingent of National Guard forces. The state governor is usually in charge of deploying members, although it can be asked to work for the federal government.

Presidents can use rarely-used legal mechanisms to activate the National Guard. In this case, Trump relied on a federal law – Title 10 – which allows the president to federalise troops under three circumstances.

These include: where the US is invaded or in danger of invaded, where there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the government’s authority, and where the president is “unable with the regular forces” to execute US laws.

It is not yet clear if presidents can use this mechanism without the order of the state’s governor. California Governor Gavin Newsom has called the move from Trump “purposefully inflammatory”.

Despite this, the interim US attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, has said the 2,000 National Guard members deployed by Trump will arrive in Los Angeles within 24 hours.

What we know so far

Donald Trump has ordered 2,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles to deal with unrest over raids on undocumented migrants, following a second day of clashes.

Here’s what’s happened so far:

• Trump has reportedly used a legal provision that allows him to take control of the National Guard, which is usually called by a state’s governor
• While Trump has thanked the National Guard “for a job well done”, guardsmen appear not be in LA yet, with a federal official saying they would arrive within 24 hours
• It comes after members of a predominantly Latino district repeatedly clashed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal agents over immigration raids in the area
• California’s Governor Gavin Newsom described Trump’s order as “unnecessary” and “purposefully inflammatory”, saying there isn’t a shortage of law enforcement
• LA mayor Karen Bass said the raids “sow terror in our communities”, but did not directly criticise Trump’s order
• US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth has warned that active duty Marines “will be mobilized” if “violence” in LA continues
• As the time in LA approaches 03:00, overnight clashes look to have fizzled out, but more protests are expected in the county on Sunday

In pictures: LA clashes overnight

Clashes between local law enforcement in Los Angeles and protesters against immigration raids continued into the early hours, although we’re getting reports that they have since died down.

California ‘unable’ to maintain order – federal official

As we’ve been reporting, the interim US attorney for the Central District of California has told the New York Times that the National Guard is needed to “regain order”.

“The state has an obligation to maintain order and maintain public safety, and they’re unable to do that right now in Los Angeles,” he said.

“They threw rocks at the officers,” Bill Essayli told the outlet. “We had Molotov cocktails thrown. We had all kinds of assaults on agents.”

But in a post on X, California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta said local law enforcement in LA “have the resources they need at the moment” and Trump’s order to deploy the National Guard was “unnecessary and counterproductive”.

The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, echoed Bonta’s comments, saying the order had been made “not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle”.

Protests ongoing in LA, reports suggest

It’s just gone 02:00 in LA, and clashes between protesters and police are seemingly ongoing, although there are conflicting reports from US media about the current situation.

According to the New York Times, confrontation between police and demonstrators in Paramount has escalated over the past hour, with protesters reportedly launching fireworks towards police, while officers fired pepper-spray projectiles and other weapons in response.

The LA County Sheriff’s Department, which serves the wider county, has not issued an updated statement. However, the LA Police Department, which serves the city of Los Angeles, has been issuing updates suggesting unrest is continuing in downtown LA.

In an update after midnight local time, it said multiple people had been detained after breaching a dispersal order, while some road closures were in place due to “unlawful assembly”.

NBC News, however, said that while police held a skirmish line after midnight, protests were dying down with small groups of protesters walking the streets while waving flags. It’s not clear whereabouts in LA the outlet is referring to.

We’ll bring you the latest updates as soon as we have them. Stick with us.

National Guard to arrive in Los Angeles within 24 hours – federal official

The 2,000 National Guard members Donald Trump deployed to Los Angeles will arrive within 24 hours, according to the interim US attorney for the Central District of California.

Bill Essayli tells the New York Times the force is needed to “regain order”.

Has Trump deployed the National Guard before?

As we’ve been reporting, Donald Trump has ordered 2,000 National Guardsmen to LA to deal with unrest over raids on undocumented migrants.

It is not the first time the US president has said he would deploy armed forces on home soil.

After civil unrest broke out in the US following the death of George Floyd in police custody in 2020, Trump called on state governors to send troops to Washington DC in response to protests.

Many governors agreed, but those that refused to send troops were allowed to do so.

Trump has also previously outlined plans to use the National Guard to assist federal agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carrying out deportations as part of his crackdown on immigration.

While the Guard usually operates under state command, there are legal mechanisms which allow presidents to activate it under certain circumstances.

For example, former US president George HW Bush used the Insurrection Act to federalise the National Guard in 1992 in response to riots that broke out in LA following the acquittal of white police officers accused of beating a black motorist.

Democrats clash with Trump over immigration raids and unrest

Trump has strongly criticised California and LA’s Democratic officials amid unrest in parts of the area in recent days.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called Trump’s order for the National Guard to be deployed in the Los Angeles area “purposefully inflammatory”.

In a post on social media, he said law enforcement had no unmet need and accused the Trump administration of seeking a “spectacle”.

He also criticised the immigration raids, accusing the Trump administration of “sowing chaos so they can have an excuse to escalate”.

He shared a message written by his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, which said: “Weaponizing protest to justify federal crackdowns is a dangerous precedent.”

Congresswoman Sara Jacobs described the move as “an unnecessary escalation” as she called on the president to reconsider.

“No one wants their community to become militarized — it raises the potential for people to get hurt and erodes public trust. President Trump, don’t do this,” she wrote on X.

And Sen Alex Padilla said: “Using the National Guard this way is a completely inappropriate and misguided mission. The Trump Administration is just sowing more chaos and division in our communities.”

What is the US National Guard?

The National Guard of the United States, a reserve force that usually operates at state-level, is usually called by a state’s governor.

But President Trump has used a provision that allows him to take control himself by federalising the National Guard, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office told the AP news agency.

The law – which puts National Guard troops under federal command – states that this can only be done in certain circumstances.

These include when the US is invaded or in danger of being invaded, when there is a rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority of the US government, or when the president is not able to execute US laws with regular forces.

However, it is not currently clear if Trump can activate the troops without the order of the state’s governor under the law.

National Guard not deployed in city of LA, says mayor

The National Guard has not been deployed in the city of Los Angeles, mayor Karen Bass has said.

In a post on X, external, Bass – who has criticised ICE raids and reported violence during protests against them – also thanked the LA Police Department and local law enforcement for their work on Saturday night.

However, it is still not clear whether the National Guard is on the ground in the wider LA area.

As we reported earlier, clashes over immigration raids have also erupted in 

What caused the clashes?

Clashes were seen in the Los Angeles area on Friday after Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration raids were carried out across the city.

The BBC’s US partner, CBS, reports that operations took place in the city, in the Westlake District and south LA.

As many as 118 arrests were made in LA this week as a result of ICE operations, including 44 on Friday. California Governor Gavin Newsom has condemned the raids as “cruel”.

The Federal Building in downtown LA later became the focus of demonstrations, after it emerged that detainees were allegedly being held in the building.

Graffiti was sprayed on the building and objects were thrown at police, CBS reports, leading to an unlawful assembly declaration.

On Saturday, the LA County Sheriff’s Department said another protest broke out in the city of Paramount over what appeared to be another immigration raid.

As many as 400 people were involved in the protests, LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said. The department then declared an unlawful assembly in an attempt to disperse demonstrators “without any violence”.

Immigration raids have ramped up under President Trump’s administration, which last month asked federal agents to arrest 3,000 people a day.

Saturday’s clashes centred in Paramount

As we’ve been reporting, clashes on Saturday took place in the city of Paramount, in Los Angeles County.

The tiny city – which has a population of about 51,000 – borders Compton in the south of the county.

It became a flashpoint after reports emerged that law enforcement officers were conducting an immigration raid in the area.

The LA County Sheriff’s Department said a large crowd blocked traffic on Paramount Boulevard at about 12:42pm on Saturday.

Trump thanks National Guard for ‘job well done’

Trump thanks the National Guard for a “job well done” in LA in a post on social media.

He repeats his criticism of the state and city’s Democrat leaders before taking aim at the protesters: “These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED.”

He adds that “from now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests”.

“Thank you to the National Guard for a job well done,” he says.

The BBC has not yet been able to verify whether the National Guard have actually arrived to LA following Trump’s order.

LA clashes in pictures

Photos from Saturday show clashes in the Los Angeles county city of Paramount.

Tear gas and “less lethal munitions” were used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal agents to disperse crowds during a second day of unrest.

‘Multiple people detained for failing to disperse’, LA police says

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has issued dispersal orders for an area around a detention centre in the city’s downtown area.

“Multiple people have been detained for failing to disperse after multiple warnings were issued,” the LAPD’s central division says on social media.

“The use of less lethal munitions has been authorised,” it says, saying these can “cause pain and discomfort”.

Hegseth says Marines will be ‘mobilised’ if ‘violence continues’

Earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X, external that his department was “mobilizing the National Guard IMMEDIATELY” to support law enforcement in LA.

“And, if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert,” he adds.

Hegseth says “violent mob assaults” in the city were “designed to prevent the removal of Criminal Illegal Aliens from our soil”.

He also claims the unrest was “a dangerous criminal invasion facilitated by criminal cartels (aka Foreign Terrorist Organizations) and a huge NATIONAL SECURITY RISK”.

Residents of a predominantly Latino district have clashed with Immigration and Customs (ICE) federal agents over the past two days over raids on undocumented migrants.

Hegseth warns that under Trump’s administration “violence & destruction against federal agents & federal facilities will NOT be tolerated. It’s COMMON SENSE”.

Trump orders National Guard to LA unrest over immigration raids

US President Donald Trump has ordered the National Guard to Los Angeles to deal with unrest over immigration raids.

It comes after a second day of unrest in the Californian city, with residents of a predominantly Latino district clashing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal agents.

Tear gas and “less lethal munitions” have been used to disperse crowds in the Paramount district.

“To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.” Trump says in an order saying National Guard units will “temporarily protect” law immigration officers.

California Governor Gavin Newsom says on social media: “The federal government is taking over the California National Guard and deploying 2,000 soldiers in Los Angeles — not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle.

“Don’t give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully.”

We’ll be bringing you updates on this story as it develops.