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'A Declaration of War': Trump Sends National Guard to LA Over Anti-ICE Protests
"The Trump administration's baseless deployment of the National Guard is plainly retaliation against California, a stronghold for immigrant communities," one advocate said.
Jun 08, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members in response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Los Angeles over the weekend, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threatened to call in the marines.
The protests kicked off on Friday in opposition to ICE raids of retail establishments around Los Angeles. During Friday's protests David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West, was injured and then arrested while observing a raid. His arrest sparked further protests, which carried over into Saturday in response to apparent ICE activity in the nearby city of Paramount.
"The Trump administration's baseless deployment of the National Guard is plainly retaliation against California, a stronghold for immigrant communities, and is akin to a declaration of war on all Californians," Victor Leung, chief legal and advocacy officer at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Southern California, said in a statement.
"They yell 'invasion' at the border—but this is the real one: Trump is seizing control of California's National Guard and forcing 2,000 troops into our streets."
Saturday's most dramatic protest occurred outside a Home Depot in Paramount following rumors of an ICE raid there. However, Paramount Mayor Peggy Lemons told the Los Angeles Times that the ICE agents may instead have been staging at a nearby Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office. There were also rumors of an ICE raid on a meatpacking plant that never occurred.
"We don't know what was happening, or what their target was. To think that there would be no heightening of fear and no consequences from the community doesn't sound like good preparation to me," Lemons said. "Above all, there is no communication and things are done on a whim. And that creates chaos and fear."
According to the LA Times, the Home Depot protests began peacefully until officers lobbed flash-bang grenades and pepper balls at the crowd, after which some individuals responded by throwing rocks and other objects at the ICE cars, and one person drove their vehicle toward the ICE agents.
"Many of the protesters did not appear to engage in these tactics," the LA Times reported.
In another incident, Lindsay Toczylowski, the chief executive of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, wrote on social media that ICE agents threw a tear-gas canister at two of the center's female attorneys after they asked the agents if they could see a warrant and observe their activities.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said that over a dozen people were arrested on Saturday for interfering with the work of immigration agents.
The first member of the Trump administration to mention sending in the National Guard was White House border czar Tom Homan, who told Fox News, "We're gonna bring National Guard in tonight and we're gonna continue doing our job. This is about enforcing the law."
Trump then signed a memo Saturday night calling members of the California National Guard into federal service to protect ICE and other government officials.
"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," the memo reads in part.
"The only threat to safety today is the masked goon squads that the administration has deployed to terrorize the communities of Los Angeles County."
Instead of using the Insurrection Act, as some had speculated he might, Trump federalized the guard members under the president's Title 10 authority, which allows the president to place the National Guard under federal control given certain conditions, but does not allow those troops to carry out domestic law enforcement activities, which invoking the Insurrection Act would enable.
"On its face, then, the memorandum federalizes 2,000 California National Guard troops for the sole purpose of protecting the relevant DHS personnel against attacks," Georgetown University Law Center professor Steve Vladeck explained in a blog post Saturday. "That's a significant (and, in my view, unnecessary) escalation of events in a context in which no local or state authorities have requested such federal assistance. But by itself, this is not the mass deployment of troops into U.S. cities that had been rumored for some time."
Indeed, several state leaders spoke out against the deployment.
"The federal government is moving to take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers," California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on social media Saturday. "That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions. LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment's notice. We are in close coordination with the city and county, and there is currently no unmet need."
"The Guard has been admirably serving LA throughout recovery," he continued, referring to the devastating wildfires that swept the city early this year. "This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust."
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) posted on social media that he "couldn't agree more."
"Using the National Guard this way is a completely inappropriate and misguided mission," Padilla said. "The Trump administration is just sowing more chaos and division in our communities."
Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) added, "They yell 'invasion' at the border—but this is the real one: Trump is seizing control of California's National Guard and forcing 2,000 troops into our streets."
While the National Guard's mission is currently limited, Vladeck argued that there were three reasons to be "deeply concerned" about the development. First, troops could still respond to real or perceived threats with violence, escalating the situation; second, escalation may be the desired outcome from the Trump administration, and used as a pretext to invoke the Insurrection Act after all; and third, this could depress the morale of both National Guard members and the civilians they engage with while degrading the relationships between federal, local, and state authorities.
"There is something deeply pernicious about invoking any of these authorities except in circumstances in which their necessity is a matter of consensus beyond the president's political supporters," Vladeck wrote. "The law may well allow President Trump to do what he did Saturday night. But just because something is legal does not mean that it is wise—for the present or future of our Republic."
Leung of the ACLU criticized both the ICE raids and the decision to deploy the Guard.
"Workers in our garment districts or day laborers seeking work outside of Home Depot do not undermine public safety," Leung said. "They are our fathers and mothers and neighbors going about their day and making ends meet. Rather, the only threat to safety today is the masked goon squads that the administration has deployed to terrorize the communities of Los Angeles County."
He continued: "There is no rational reason to deploy the National Guard on Angelenos, who are rightfully outraged by the federal government's attack on our communities and justly exercising their First Amendment right to protest the violent separation of our families. We intend to file suit and hold this administration accountable and to protect our communities from further attacks."
National political leaders also spoke out Sunday morning.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote on social media that it was "important to remember that Trump isn't trying to heal or keep the peace. He is looking to inflame and divide. His movement doesn't believe in democracy or protest—and if they get a chance to end the rule of law they will take it. None of this is on the level."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) posted that the entire incident was "Trump's authoritarianism in real time."
Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threatened further escalation Saturday night when he tweeted that "if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized—they are on high alert."
Newsom responded: "The Secretary of Defense is now threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens. This is deranged behavior."
"This is an abuse of power and what dictators do. It's unnecessary and not needed."
Hegseth then doubled down on the threat Sunday morning, replying on social media that it was "deranged" to allow "your city to burn and law enforcement to be attacked."
"The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE," he posted.
Journalist Ryan Grim noted that it was an "ominous development" for the secretary of defense to be commenting on immigration policy or local law enforcement at all.
Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) said of Trump and Hegseth's escalations: "This is an abuse of power and what dictators do. It's unnecessary and not needed."
Writing on his Truth Social platform early Sunday, Trump praised the National Guard for their work in Los Angeles. Yet local and state leaders pointed out that the Guard had not yet arrived in the city by the time the post was made.
As of Sunday morning, the National Guard had arrived in downtown Los Angeles and Paramount, ABC 7reported.
In the midst of the uproar over Trump's actions, labor groups continued to decry the ICE raids and call for the release of Huerta.
National Nurses United wrote on Friday: "With these raids, the government is sowing intense fear for personal safety among our immigrant and migrant community. Nurses and other union workers oppose this, and are standing up in solidarity with fellow immigrant workers. We refuse to be silent, and people like David Huerta are bravely putting their own bodies on the line to bear witness to what ICE is doing. It's appalling that ICE injured and detained him while he was exercising his First Amendment rights. We demand his immediate release."
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond said in a statement Saturday:
The nearly 15 million working people of the AFL-CIO and our affiliated unions demand the immediate release of California Federation of Labor Unions Vice President and SEIU California and SEIU-USWW President David Huerta. As the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda has unnecessarily targeted our hard-working immigrant brothers and sisters, David was exercising his constitutional rights and conducting legal observation of ICE activity in his community. He was doing what he has always done, and what we do in unions: putting solidarity into practice and defending our fellow workers. In response, ICE agents violently arrested him, physically injuring David in the process, and are continuing to detain him—a violation of David's civil liberties and the freedoms this country holds dear. The labor movement stands with David, and we will continue to demand justice for our union brother until he is released.
The unrest in Los Angeles may continue as Barragán toldCNN on Sunday she had been informed that ICE would be present in LA for a month. She argued that the National Guard deployment would only inflame the conflict.
“We haven't asked for the help. We don't need the help. This is [President Trump] escalating it, causing tensions to rise. It's only going to make things worse in a situation where people are already angry over immigration enforcement."
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Report Exposes US Media for Framing Social Justice Protests as 'Terrorism'
"Equating activism with terrorism is undemocratic and serves to silence dissenters," said Deepa Kumar, who analyzed how major U.S. media outlets have covered protesters of "Cop City" in Georgia.
Nov 07, 2023
A paper published Tuesday by a media studies scholar explores what she calls "one of the enduring costs of the 'War on Terror,'" mainstream outlets parroting police talking points on terrorism and "legitimating state violence while stifling democratic protest."
Rutgers University professor Deepa Kumar's paper—released by the Costs of War Project at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs—focuses on how major U.S. media outlets have covered protesters of "Cop City," Atlanta's proposed Public Safety Training Center just outside of city limits in Georgia.
"Even though the 'War on Terror' is supposedly over now that the U.S. has withdrawn from Afghanistan, U.S. federal and state governments continue to use and even expand punitive measures targeting those they label as 'terrorists,'" Kumar said in statement. "The U.S. mainstream media sometimes supports this expansion, and in doing so imperils U.S. democracy. All of this is part of the legacy of the post-9/11 wars."
As Kumar's paper notes, "previous research has shown that the mainstream media's framing of terrorism influences public opinion and shapes support or opposition to policies such as Georgia's 2017 terrorism law," which expanded the definition of terrorism to include certain property crimes committed with the intent to use intimidation or coercion to change policy.
The expert analyzed how a local newspaper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and six national outlets—USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, the New York Post, and the Los Angeles Times—reported on the "domestic terrorism" arrests of 42 anti-Cop City activists from December 2022 to March 2023.
The paper details her findings:
At first, the national news media did not cover the terrorism arrests in Atlanta. The local The Atlanta Journal-Constitution effectively served as the Atlanta Police Foundations' propaganda outlet. In January, 2022 several national media outlets picked up the story when violence and property destruction occurred, following the "if it bleeds, it leads" framework. However, some newspapers adopted a more critical stance. The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the LA Times humanized the protestors, depicting them as concerned activists opposing police militarization and environmental destruction. The New York Post and TheWall Street Journal, however, portrayed protestors as violent Antifa activists and justified their arrest on the grounds of terrorism. USA Today adopted a sensational tone, in effect also justifying the arrests.
As the protest movement gained national and international support, national media paid more attention. All seven outlets covered the story in March 2023. Also significant is that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shifted to a more balanced tone and included the voices of Atlanta residents opposing Cop City. Rather than labeling protesters solely as "outsider agitators" and "far-left" activists who exist on the fringes of society, the newspaper quoted local activists, civil rights groups, and clergy. This happened at the highpoint of government arrests, when 23 more people were indicted on terrorism charges.
However, the analysis also reveals that apart from a handful of notable articles in The Washington Post and the LA Times that tacitly criticize the wider application of terrorism charges evidenced in Georgia, the majority of the seven media outlets have deferred unquestioningly to government authorities in the use of this label.
"Government and police officials have portrayed the protestors as violent terrorists," Kumar stressed. "For instance, in January 2023, when Georgia State Patrol Troopers shot and fatally injured activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, also known as Tortuguita, they claimed that Terán had initiated gunfire. Shockingly, Tortuguita was shot a staggering 57 times."
The DeKalb County medical examiner's autopsy report "indicated an absence of gunshot residue on Tortuguita's hands," the professor pointed out. There was also an independent autopsy. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation later claimed gunshot residue was found on the activist's hands. Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney George R. Christian concluded last month that the use of deadly force "was objectively reasonable under the circumstances of this case," so police will face no charges for killing Tortuguita.
Kumar wrote that "in theory, the media are entrusted with the responsibility of posing critical questions and disseminating accurate information to the public so that troubling practices like the use of state violence and extrajudicial killings are not normalized. In reality, U.S. media institutions have often continued to defer to government sources, reproducing and thus reinforcing the expansion of terrorism discourses to criminalize protestors—with sometimes deadly consequences."
Costs of War Project co-director Stephanie Savell responded to the paper by nudging journalists to do better. She said, "The media can make or break how activism is portrayed in an increasingly militarized era of policing that imperils our democratic rights."
The research comes after 57 of the 61 Cop City protesters charged in September under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law appeared in court on Monday, as hundreds of their supporters rallied outside the building in Atlanta.
"Among the defendants: more than three dozen people who were previously facing domestic terrorism charges in connection to the protests; three leaders of a bail fund previously accused of money laundering; and three activists previously charged with felony intimidation after authorities said they distributed flyers calling a state trooper a 'murderer' for his involvement in Paez Terán's death," according toThe Associated Press.
Noting the RICO charges, Kumar's paper quotes a pair of ACLU experts, who wrote in September that the indictment "paints the provision of mutual aid, the advocacy of collectivism, and even the publishing of zines as hallmarks of a criminal enterprise. In doing so, it flies in the face of First Amendment protections for speech, assembly, and association."
This post has been updated with additional autopsy reports.
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Denouncing Violent Tactics of 'Political Mafia,' Tens of Thousands March in Mexico City
Protesters marched against the government's violent response to Oaxacan teacher strikes, as well as Peña Nieto's policies of privatization and repression
Jun 27, 2016
Tens of thousands of supporters sent the message "You are not alone " to striking teachers in Oaxaca during a massive demonstration in Mexico City on Sunday.
Protesters marched against the government's violent response to the teacher strikes and other dissension, as well as Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's neoliberal policies that spurred the educator protests and emboldened a wider backlash against his regime of privatization and repression--fueling many calls for his resignation.
Four thousand police were reportedly deployed across the city Sunday to counter the demonstration.
Sunday's march was called by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the former mayor of Mexico City and the leader of the progressive Morena party. Last week, he posted a video to his Facebook page asking people to denounce the controversial education reforms, the "political mafia," and "hypocritical conservatives" in the country.
According to TeleSUR, the former presidential candidate also directly asked the government of Pena Nieto: "Why not choose humanism? Why not search for reconciliation and peace?"
The protest, which came one week after Mexican police opened fire on a roadblock in Oaxaca, marks an escalation in the fight that has rattled southern Mexico for over a year.
Teachers affiliated with the dissident Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educacion (CNTE) union have been protesting new education mandates since last May. Last week, more than 200,000 doctors and other medical staff joined in a 24-hour strike against the government's attempts to privatize the federal social security and health systems. At the same time, students at major universities across the country boycotted classes to show support for the teachers as well as "oppose the ongoing efforts by the government to increase costs of higher education," TeleSUR reports.
With limited reporting, many shared images of the massive demonstration on social media. After the march, Lopez Obrador thanked the thousands who participated, saying: "Thank you for supporting the teachers and the teachers of Mexico. It became evident that they are not alone."
\u201cbeing a part of a protest with thousands in the center of Mexico city was definitely an unforgettable experience\u201d— \u273f daisy \u273f (@\u273f daisy \u273f) 1467008803
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