Los Angeles police began making mass arrests on Tuesday evening after a curfew was imposed in part of the downtown area amid protests against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement measures.
The curfew coincided with California Gov. Gavin Newsom filing an emergency motion to block what he called President Trump’s “illegal” deployment of hundreds of Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles.
“Trump is turning the U.S. military against American citizens,” Newsom wrote on X.
Despite local officials describing the demonstrations as mostly peaceful and confined to several downtown blocks, the Trump administration dispatched 700 active-duty Marines and activated over 4,000 National Guard members in the city.
In a speech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday, Trump called the protesters “animals” and “a foreign enemy,” pledging to “liberate” Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, protests spread to Denver, where police reported 17 arrests overnight related to the administration’s immigration enforcement actions. Most were detained for failing to disperse or interfering with law enforcement, according to a breakdown published by NBC’s Denver affiliate KUSA-TV:
- Graffiti: 3
- Interference with police authority: 1
- Unlawful throwing of projectiles/failure to obey lawful order: 1
- Obstruction of streets/failure to obey lawful order: 7
- Obstruction of streets/failure to obey and interference: 2
- Second degree assault: 1
- Second degree assault to a police officer: 2
Denver police used smoke canisters and pepper balls to disperse crowds that blocked roadways.
