Protests intensify in Los Angeles as National Guard troops deployed

Thousands of protesters have clashed with authorities as they took to the streets of Los Angeles for a third night in response to United States President Donald Trump’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard.

Sunday’s protests in Los Angeles, a sprawling city of 4 million people, were centred in several blocks of the city centre. It was the third and most intense day of demonstrations against Trump’s immigration crackdown in the region, as the arrival of about 300 National Guard troops spurred anger and fear among many residents.

The troops were deployed specifically to protect federal buildings, including the Metropolitan Detention Center where protesters concentrated.

The crowds blocked a major highway and set fire to self-driving cars. The authorities used tear gas, rubber bullets and flashbangs.

Governor Gavin Newsom requested Trump remove the National Guard in a letter, calling their deployment a “serious breach of state sovereignty”.

It was the first time in decades that a state’s National Guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to hinder the administration’s mass deportation efforts.

The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests, which began on Friday in central Los Angeles before spreading on Saturday to Paramount, a heavily Latino city to the south, and neighbouring Compton.

Federal agents arrested immigrants in LA’s fashion district, in a Home Depot car park and at several other locations on Friday.

The next day, they were staging at a Department of Homeland Security office near another Home Depot in Paramount, which drew out protesters who suspected another raid. Federal authorities later said there was no enforcement activity at that Home Depot.

The weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the LA area climbed above 100, federal authorities said. Many more were arrested whilst protesting, including a prominent union leader who was accused of impeding law enforcement.

The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor’s permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice.