President Donald Trump mobilized another 2,000 California National Guard troops amid protests against immigration authorities that have resulted in some demonstrators assaulting police officers, looting businesses, smashing windows and burning the American flag.
The deployment of additional troops on Monday night follows the president’s decision to activate 2,100 troops over the weekend. In addition to the National Guard, the Pentagon mobilized 700 active-duty Marines to the Los Angeles area.
Protesters clashed with police on Monday night in front of the Federal Building in Los Angeles. Several protesters set off fireworks and lobbed water at the officers while the police attempted to disperse the rioters with rubber bullets and stun grenades, as The Washington Post reports.
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“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 L.A. do [sic] to an incompetent Governor and Mayor,” Trump wrote about his decision in a Tuesday Truth Social post.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have been critical of Trump mobilizing the National Guard, with the former saying on Monday that his office plans to sue the presidential administration over the deployment of troops.
“Donald Trump is putting fuel on this fire. Commandeering a state’s National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral,” Newsom wrote in a Sunday X post. “California will be taking him to court.”
Following the protests over the weekend, the city of Glendale announced Sunday night that it had ended an agreement with the federal government to house detainees arrested by ICE.
“After careful consideration, the City of Glendale has decided to end its agreement with U.S. Homeland Security/ICE to house federal immigration detainees,” the city said in a statement, according to The Los Angeles Times. “This local decision reflects our core values: public safety, transparency, and community trust.”
The city’s jail no longer holds ICE detainees as of Monday, according to the report.
In an X post, the Department of Homeland Security stated it is “deeply disturbing that sanctuary politicians in Glendale, California, would terminate an agreement to hold Immigration and Customs detainees and violent criminals” at a time when “violent rioters are looting and defacing Los Angeles and assaulting federal law enforcement.” DHS said they had an agreement with the city for more than 15 years.
Regarding the protests in San Francisco, the city’s police department released a statement Tuesday, confirming that it had worked with several agencies to detain multiple protesters around midnight.
According to the San Francisco Police Department, two small groups broke away from the “overwhelmingly peaceful” demonstration, committing vandalism and other criminal acts.
“SFPD developed and coordinated a plan to detain multiple individuals who refused to comply and made arrests, and one situation is currently being resolved,” the police department stated.
“SFPD thanks our partner agencies, including the Department of Emergency Management, Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, Municipal Transit Agency, and Public Works,” the statement continued. “Together, we are committed to keeping everyone in our city safe.”
The SFPD arrested over 150 people on Sunday night, according to KRON. Hundreds of protesters had taken to the streets, with many carrying signs and chanting anti-ICE slogans.
Police in riot gear had set up a barricade to help keep the peace, and officers in the area of Sansome and Washington streets later declared it an “unlawful assembly” after protesters “became violent and began to commit crimes,” KRON noted.
The various offenses included assault and felony vandalism, and two officers with the San Francisco Police Department were injured. One of the injured SFPD officers was hospitalized.
Demonstrators who made their way towards Market and Kearny streets shattered a large glass window outside a Chase Bank and damaged a police vehicle. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said the rioters vandalized a municipal railway, with the Embarcadero BART station beeing shut down “due to a civil disturbance.”
Over 147 people, including minors, were arrested near the 200 block of Montgomery Street after they refused to comply with orders to disperse, KRON reported. Authorities also recovered a firearm at the scene of one of the arrests. However, SFPD confirmed that a majority of those arrested on Sunday were cited and released.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
