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700 Marines will deploy as immigration protests continue

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The state of California has sued the Trump administration for its activation of the state’s National Guard.

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  • TROOPS IN L.A.: About 700 Marines from the Marine Corps base in Twentynine Palms, California, will deploy to Los Angeles to support the roughly 300 National Guard members already in the city to control protests against federal immigration raids, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. President Donald Trump had earlier ordered the deployment of 2,000 troops in a move California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized as inflammatory.
  • HOW WE GOT HERE: Protests erupted after Immigration Customs Enforcement officers carried out raids Friday in three locations across Los Angeles, where dozens of people were taken into custody. Newsom called the raids “chaotic federal sweeps” that aimed to fill an “arbitrary arrest quota.”
  • TRUMP VS. NEWSOM: “Border czar” Tom Homan threatened Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass with arrest if they impede troop deployment efforts. Newsom responded by saying: “Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.” Trump backed Homan’s threat, and Newsom called it “an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”
  • CALIFORNIA SUES: Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Trump and Hegseth over the activation of the state’s National Guard, asking a court to declare the order unlawful.
  • ARRESTS: At least 56 people were arrested this weekend as protesters were ordered to leave downtown and law enforcement shot “less-lethal” rounds. Demonstrators spilled out onto the 101 Freeway, while others set fire to Waymo driverless cars.
21w ago / 1:33 AM EDT

‘There was a kind of a stampede of people,’ says man in L.A. protest

Reporting from Los Angeles

Pau Castro said he was in a crowd of people in downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo when, during what he characterized as a peaceful protest, “there was a bit of an exchange” with police.

“And all of a sudden, very quickly, there was a kind of stampede of people, and we were tear-gassed,” Castro, 27, said in the lobby of the building where he and others took shelter.

“And with the stampede of people, we were able to find a safe place in this lobby of an apartment building,” the Los Angeles resident said. “And immediately afterwards the police began charging forward and shooting against the protesters.”

Castro said the protest was peaceful but that a few people tried to escalate it, and others in the crowd tried to stop them.

He said water balloons were thrown, and then fireworks were set off, "and then it kind of all happened quickly."

“I’ve been to many protests, and it kind of always happens like this, you know?” Castro said. “It’s like everything is kind of contained, and then there’s this one spark, or the police decide, 'OK, enough is enough. We’re charging forward.'”

21w ago / 1:04 AM EDT

Police push in line from Little Tokyo intersection, video shows

News helicopter video from NBC Los Angeles showed a line of police advancing from 2nd and San Pedro streets as some protesters fled ahead of them.

Police are wearing riot helmets and other equipment. A very large number of police vehicles with lights flashing are stationed behind the officers, not moving, video showed.

Police have used a chemical irritant and flash-bang devices.

21w ago / 12:49 AM EDT

Police use tear gas and flash-bangs after declaring unlawful assembly

Reporting from Los Angeles

An NBC News reporter was trapped in a building with other journalists after police declared an unlawful assembly in the Little Tokyo section of downtown and then used flash-bang devices and tear gas on protesters.

Some demonstrators lingered amid the gas, while others screamed and ran. One woman tried to retrieve a water bottle from the street, and police shot a less-lethal round at her.

A news photographer with a different agency was also hit with tear gas, and water was used to flush his eyes.

Video from a helicopter showed a line of police in riot gear at an intersection and a small group of people farther down the street, dispersed between cars and on the sides of buildings.

21w ago / 12:27 AM EDT

Australian PM says he raised issue of injured journalist with U.S.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “horrified” by video of Channel Nine journalist Lauren Tomasi being struck by a less-lethal round fired by police during protests in Los Angeles.

Tomasi is clearly identified as a journalist and is clearly speaking into a microphone toward a camera when, video shows, an officer raises his weapon and fires from behind her. Tomasi then yells in pain.

“In L.A., it is not unreasonable to think that she would not have been targeted with a rubber bullet,” Albanese said at the National Press Club of Australia, shown on Australia television. “It is not unreasonable to think that she could go about her coverage, clearly, as people could see the footage, clearly identified as media.”

“And so we have already raised these issues with the U.S. administration. We don’t find it acceptable that it occurred,” he said. “And we think that the role of the media is particularly important.”

Albanese said Tomasi is doing well, "but that footage was horrific."

21w ago / 12:07 AM EDT

In L.A.'s downtown, a resident hopes for peace amid protest chaos around him

For a fourth straight night, protesters have descended on downtown Los Angeles and clashed with authorities on the otherwise empty streets of a community known for its commuter life.

But the urban center of Los Angeles is home to an estimated 90,000 residents in historic lofts, converted single-room occupancy apartments and newer high-rise penthouses. Many are trying to endure the daily action on the street.

Last night, protesters were on the street below Derek Mazzeo's residence in a roughly 100-year-old building that was redeveloped in the 2000s. Despite what he said was a solid job bringing the old structure up to code, it shook as authorities faced off with protesters and fired off what sounded like percussive grenades.

"I heard explosions all night," Mazzeo, 36, said. "It was the most intense it's been since it started."

21w ago / 11:52 PM EDT

Police fire flash-bang grenades at crowd of around 1,000

Reporting from Los Angeles

Officers fired flash-bang grenades at a crowd of around 1,000 protesters in downtown Los Angeles.

People in the crowd flew Mexican flags and at least two U.S. flags turned upside-down, a signal of distress.

Police continued to work to push the crowd back down the street after they advanced on protesters in the city’s Little Tokyo section.

21w ago / 11:29 PM EDT

Police fire pepper balls at crowd in downtown L.A.'s Little Tokyo

Reporting from Los Angeles

Officers were seen firing pepper balls into a crowd that had roughly tripled in size at 2nd and San Pedro streets in Los Angeles.

The crowd was observed yelling, “Peaceful protest!” It was not immediately clear what prompted officers to fire. An irritant hung heavy in the air after the incident at around 8:15 p.m.

The intersection is in the Little Tokyo area of downtown Los Angeles, the cultural and historic hub of the city's Japanese community.

21w ago / 11:11 PM EDT

Authorities attacked reporters 27 times during L.A. protests, journalist groups say

Authorities deployed to protests in Los Angeles since Friday have attacked journalists 27 times, the organization PEN America said, citing the Los Angeles Press Club and Reporters Without Borders.

PEN America joined 24 other organizations to decry the attacks, reported from Friday to Sunday, in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The letter focused on attacks by federal officers, who it said may have violated journalists' First Amendment rights, as well as federal case law that held that reporters have the right to record their actions and may remain nearby even as dispersal orders are directed at protesters.

"Please immediately ensure that any federal officers or personnel, or anyone acting under their direction and control, refrain from any unlawful, indiscriminate, and excessive use of force against members of the press and public who are merely covering events of public concern in the Los Angeles area," the letter says.

21w ago / 10:38 PM EDT

Around 1,700 National Guard troops in greater Los Angeles, military says

About 1,700 National Guard troops are on site in the greater Los Angeles area, and 700 Marines were activated to join them in their mission in Los Angeles, the military said in a statement.

The military task force is “protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area," said U.S. Northern Command, known as NORTHCOM.

Overall, there are 2,100 National Guard soldiers with the task force, called Task Force 51, along with the 700 Marines, the military said.

The city’s Democratic mayor and other officials, as well as Newsom, have condemned the deployment to Los Angeles.

21w ago / 10:31 PM EDT

'Border czar' says Newsom hasn't done anything to warrant arrest, after Trump says he should be arrested

Trump's "border czar," Tom Homan, said he did not believe Newsom has done anything to warrant arrest after Trump suggested today that he should have Newsom arrested.

Asked in a CNN interview that aired tonight about Trump's comments and whether Newsom should face arrest, Homan responded: "Not at this time, absolutely not."

Newsom had dared Homan to arrest him. Responding to Newsom's challenge, Trump told reporters earlier today, "I would do it if I were Tom."

Homan also defended Trump's move to activate the National Guard, telling CNN host Kaitlan Collins that he thinks Trump "did exactly the right thing" and that Trump had not acted unlawfully.

"I certainly think the president is acting within the confines of the law," Homan said when he was asked about Trump's deploying the National Guard without Newsom's request.

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