LA Mayor Karen Bass claims TRUMP started the riots in outrageous defense amid protest chaos: Live updates

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass held a press conference with 30 other mayors from across the region on Wednesday to address the immigration protests.

She claimed all was well in the city before Donald Trump called in the National Guard and the administration provoked the chaos that ensued.

‘A week ago, everything was peaceful in the city of Los Angeles,’ she said.’ Things began to be difficult on Friday when raids took place, and it’s important that I begin there because that is the cause of the problems that have happened in the city of Los Angeles and other cities.

‘This was provoked by the White House, the reason why, we don’t know.’

She also slammed the media portrayal of the protests and insisted that the depiction of violence in the city ‘is a lie.’

‘The portrayal is that all of our cities are in chaos. Rioting is happening everywhere, and it is a lie,’ she said.

Anti-ICE protests have erupted in Chicago, including a massive gathering downtown on Wednesday evening, prompting crowds to flood the streets.

There were some incidents of vandalism, and one 66-year-old woman was injured when she was hit by a car on Tuesday.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson claimed the city’s police have responded appropriately in managing crowds at immigration protests in recent days.

‘The vast majority of protesters remain peaceful and organized,’ Johnson said.

The Watts Riots, also known as the Watts Riots, broke out in the predominantly black neighborhoods of Watts, Los Angeles, on August 11, 1965.

Violent protests erupted after Stepbrothers Marquette and Ronald Frye were pulled over by a white California Highway Patrol officer, according to History.com.

After three days of unrest, the National Guard was called in. The riots lasted for six days, and over 30 people were killed, two-thirds of whom were shot by police or National Guard troops.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom blamed Trump’s deployment of the National Guard for staffing shortages as a fire broke out in the state,

‘The Ranch Fire in San Bernardino is 4,000 acres and growing,’ he said on X.

‘Meanwhile, 5 of California’s 14 National Guard fire crews are understaffed… because Trump deployed them for a political stunt in LA.’

‘This isn’t just illegal. It’s dangerous.’

Karoline Leavitt knocked a reporter for asking a ‘stupid question’ when being queried Wednesday over potential protests at President Donald Trump’s military parade on Saturday.

NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright called attention to the warning Trump gave Tuesday in the Oval Office as he heralded the upcoming parade, which is to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary – and takes place on the president’s 79th birthday.

Wright asked ‘if there were peaceful protests on Saturday’ would they be allowed to go forward.

‘Of course the president supports peaceful protests. What a stupid question,’ Leavitt snapped.

Jon Voight slammed Gavin Newsom in a scathing rant posted to X calling him a ‘fool’ and ‘lying dog.’

‘You’re a fool blaming Trump,’ Voight said. ‘What are you doing for this destruction — these animals destroying Los Angeles? Are you there talking calmly with them, you fool?! They would burn you down like they’re burning the cars and the American flag, with no regard for humanity!

‘All you do is cause chaos for the people. You’re a disgrace! You’re nothing but a lying dog for the hopes of becoming the president one day.’

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has called for the president to deploy active-duty soldiers if the 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines who are currently mobilized in the Democrat city do not manage to end the violence.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, the 48-year-old Army veteran said Trump should invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act which allows the military to suppress uprisings when a state is unable or unwilling to do so.

It comes five years after Cotton made the same argument amid the violence, looting and arson attacks which unfolded in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020.

A riot cop heckled by young protesters responded to their wave of verbal abuses by asking them to define the words they ricocheted at him.

Citizen journalist Lane Kendall shared footage of the encounter on social media Monday as the Los Angeles anti-ICE protests entered the fourth day.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt attacked California leaders and vowed to ‘stomp out violence’ in Los Angeles.

‘Democrats like Governor Gavin Newsome and Mayor Karen Bass shamefully failed to meet their sworn obligations to their citizens,’ she said at Wednesday’s press briefing.

‘That’s why President Trump deployed the National Guard and mobilized Marines to end the chaos and restore law and order.

‘The mob violence is being stomped out. The criminals responsible will be swiftly brought to justice, and the Trump Administration’s operations to arrest illegal aliens are continuing unabated.’

The Los Angeles Police Department announced they made over 200 arrests Tuesday night.

Police said protests and criminal activity quickly erupted after the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect.

‘There were 203 arrests for Failure to Disperse. Additionally, there were 17 arrests for curfew violation, three arrests for possession of a firearm, one arrest for Assault with a Deadly Weapon on a Police Officer, and one arrest for discharging a laser at an LAPD airship,’ the department said.

Two LAPD officers were injured and received medical treatment.

The Insurrection Act authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Although it is often referred to as the ‘Insurrection Act of 1807,’ the law is actually an amalgamation of different statutes enacted by Congress between 1792 and 1871.

Invoking the act temporarily suspends the law that prevents the military from taking part in civil law enforcement.

Trump did not invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the National Guard to LA, but he has flirted with the idea.

Instead, he cited Title 10, which allows the president to call on the military when there ‘is a rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.’

A 66-year-old woman was injured when she was struck by a car in downtown Chicago during the Tuesday evening protests.

Crowds of demonstrators rallying in solidarity with activists in Los Angeles took over a plaza and some surrounding streets amid rush hour traffic.

Video footage shows a car speeding through a roadway where people were standing and were protesting.

Chicago police said Wednesday that the injured woman fractured her left arm and was treated at a local hospital.

Left-wing nonprofits have been identified as groups handing out riot gear and ‘F**k ICE’ packages to LA protesters.

A nonprofit called Operation Healthy Hearts was identified by the New York Post as one of the groups handing out ‘F**k ICE’ PPE kits.

LA Poverty Department COO Pamela Miller told The Post they allowed another group to use their building to assemble the kit after the federal government cut their funding.

‘[The federal government] cut off our funding for other reasons, so we really have nothing left to lose,’ she said.

The kits include anarchist pamphlets that advocate setting police cars on fire, burning down police precincts and targeting banks and ATMs as part of ‘direct action’ against authorities.

According to migrant arrest data exclusively provided to the Daily Mail, ICE’s Los Angeles team is continuing deportations depsite the protests.

The rap sheets of five criminal aliens arrested Tuesday in LA were shared exclusively with the Daily Mail.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told seantors at a defense appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that the order Donald Trump used to send the National Guard to Los Angeles could set a precedent for other states.

‘If there are other riots, in places where law enforcement officers are threatened, we would have the capability to surge National Guard there, if necessary,’ Hegseth said.

‘Thankfully, in most of those states, you’d have a governor that recognizes the need for it, supports it and mobilizes it, him or herself. In California, unfortunately, the governor wants to play politics with it.’

The New York Police Department arrested 86 immigration protesters in the Big Apple on Tuesday.

The protests were arrested at 26 Federal Plaza and nearby Foley Square, which is across from where ICE operations in New York City have been centered, reported ABC News.

Thirty-four were charged with crimes including assault, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration, according to the NYPD.

One person was charged with reckless endangerment and 52 others were issued criminal court summonses and released.

Councilmember Imelda Padilla asked Police Chief Jim McDonnell to provide them with advance notice if Los Angeles businesses are about to be raided by ICE or other federal enforcement agencies.

‘What can your department do, to do more, to warn us, to warn the business community,’ Padilla asked during Tuesday’s meeting.

‘You can warn us so that we can warn our folks in the spirit of your loyalty to the city of Los Angeles.’

McDonnell quickly shot down the idea.

‘So you’re asking me to warn you about an enforcement action being taken by another agency before it happens?’ he said. ‘Yeah, we can’t do that.’

Padilla doubled down and asked, ‘Why not?’

‘That would be obstruction of justice,’ McDonnell explained. ‘You may want to talk to the city attorney about that.’

Approximately 700 Marines were deployed to Los Angeles to assist the National Guard in defending federal property amid the violent immigration protests.

Images showed the troops from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division rehearsing nonlethal tactics to support Task Force 51.

A US Northern Command spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday morning that the troops are still undergoing training.

‘[The Marines] have NOT completed their [Standing Rules for the Use of Force] and nonlethal weapons training, and I do not have an estimate of when they will be employed by Task Force 51,’ the spokesperson said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested an illegal migrant who threw a Molotov cocktail at agents during the LA riots.

Emiliano Garduno-Galvez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was charged with attempted murder for the attack.

The Department of Homeland Security shared a video from Saturday of Garduno-Galvez dressed in all black and wearing a face covering as he prepared the materials and then threw the Molotov cocktail at officers.

‘Garduno-Galvez had previously been deported. He has a previous criminal record: In 2024, Garduno-Galvez was arrested by the Anaheim Police Department for grand theft and by the Long Beach Police Department for a DUI,’ the agency said.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets of Los Angeles to protest federal immigration enforcement activity.

The chaos began on Friday when anti-ICE protesters seized on a handful of police raids across the city.

Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and the Marines to help quell the violence.

Los Angeles was under a curfew last night as heavily armed security officers patrolled the downtown streets after five days of rioting, lootings and destruction.

Controversial influencer Kat Clark has been slammed for complaining about living in Los Angeles while anti-ICE protests rage through the city.

Clark appeared oblivious to the chaos on Sunday as she uploaded a vlog about her daily inconveniences in LA.

‘Australians and Americans may speak the same language, but today proved we live completely different lives. Firstly, why is there no good coffee in LA?’ she began.

‘They also take security very seriously,’ she added as she showed footage of store fronts locked up with security gates.

Former LAPD detective Moses Castillo, who was on the force during the 1992 riots, slammed Mayor Karen Bass for her delayed response to the immigration protests.

‘She’s now trying to play catch up,’ Castillo told Fox News. ‘I think if she would have been very more forceful in the beginning that we’re not gonna tolerate these crimes and allow police officers to do their job and arrest people on site, I’d think it would have be different.

‘Instead, she’s now saying it now that these crimes would not be tolerated, looting would not tolerated. But it’s a little bit too late.’

Kim Kardashian took to Instagram on Tuesday night to advocate for the immigrants being torn apart from their families in president Donald Trump’s ongoing crackdown on those in the country illegally.

‘When we’re told that ICE exists to keep our country safe and remove violent criminals – great,’ Kim said.

‘But when we witness innocent, hardworking people being ripped from their families in inhumane ways, we have to speak up. We have to do what’s right.’

Kim continued: ‘Growing up in LA, I’ve seen how deeply immigrants are woven into the fabric of this city.

‘They are our neighbors, friends, classmates, coworkers, and family. No matter where you fall politically, it’s clear that our communities thrive because of the contributions of immigrants.

‘We can’t turn a blind eye when fear and injustice keep people from living their lives freely and safely. There HAS to be a BETTER way.’

Father-of-two Toby Canham, who was on assignment for the New York Post, was filming videos of the chaos from an elevated level when a California Highway Patrol officer suddenly fired at him, leaving him with a severe head wound.

Disturbing footage taken by Canham captured the moment he was struck in the forehead, which caused him to fall to the ground.

‘F**k, f**k, I just got shot in the head!’ the photographer can be heard screaming from behind the camera.

A pair of entitled anti-ICE protesters blocking New York City traffic laughed in a pleading mother’s face and refused to move out of the way as she begged for them to move so she could get to work.

The woman, who clearly exited her vehicle to confront the duo in the street, is seen begging the pair to move, desperately saying how she needs to get to work so she can provide for her child.

‘And these people are having their children taken and their parents taken,’ one protester interrupts.

The mother pleads again: ‘But what about my kid? If I lose my job, then what happens to my kid?’ But the demonstrator remains relentless and speaks over the mother, telling her ‘I cannot help you.’

Video circulating online showed dozens of looters storming the shops at the FIGat7th shopping mall in downtown Los Angeles.

A spokesperson for the mall told DailyMail.com that looting occurred on Monday night, and their security team notified the LAPD, who arrived quickly to stop the chaos.

Other stores such as the Apple store, CVS and T-Mobile were ransacked over the weekend.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton turned off comments after she fired a post to X condemning Donald Trump for deploying the National Guard to what she called ‘peaceful demonstrations’ in Los Angeles.

‘California Governor Newsom didn’t request the National Guard be deployed to his state following peaceful demonstrations. Trump sent them anyway. It’s the first time in 60 years a president has made that choice,’ she wrote.

‘Trump’s goal isn’t to keep Californians safe. His goal is to cause chaos, because chaos is good for Trump,’ she added.

Many noted that Clinton turned off the comments on her post, not allowing anyone to reply to her opinion.

However, they could still quote tweet and expressed their displeasure with the one-time Democrat nominee for president.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed the president’s mental capacity has deteriorated, and he lacks a ‘train of thought.’

After referencing a recent video of Trump taking a tumble while boarding Air Force One, Newsom told Fox 11, ‘He is not the same person that I dealt with just four years ago.’

He continued: ‘He is incapable of even a train of thought. He’s making things up, and he’s putting people’s lives at risk.

‘And he’s got a band of people that are complicit in this, and that’s what is so damn alarming. And we need Congress to step up, and my gosh, do we need the court.’

A protester in Los Angeles was taunted after storming the streets in makeshift tactical gear as she encouraged others to use a ‘wind blower’ as protection against tear gas.

Other protesters caught the interaction on video and the clip circulated online, with many poking fun at the unidentified rioter’s DIY gear.

The protester was asked on camera why she took to the streets and replied, ‘This is our city and this was Mexico. You can’t kick us out of the land that was ours.’

When asked what the wind blower was for, she replied, ‘That’s for the f***ing tear gas. That’s for the f***ing tear gas to blow it back at those motherf***ers. If you have a f***in blower bring it out. Push them back!’

In vile posts calling for violence against law enforcement, the hotels where federal agents are staying in Los Angeles have been released online, with one agitator saying ‘burn them.’

The exact address of where Border Patrol agents stayed in Ranch Cucamonga, California just outside LA was posted on Instagram by a self-proclaimed ‘leftists’.

‘ICE at Hilton, car filled goggles, tuff ties, and riot shields,’ the video said, even though the cars were clearly marked Border Patrol, which is a sister agency of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE.

‘Burn them,’ posted Instagram users @bobbygee57_ in response to the reel showing the agent’s location.

‘Got a match,’ asked @joseflocas.

Protests over ICE raids that erupted in Los Angeles have sprung up across the country, with even more planned for this weekend.

From Seattle and Austin to Chicago and DC, marchers have chanted slogans, carried signs against ICE and snarled traffic through downtown avenues and outside federal offices.

While many have been peaceful, some have resulted in clashes with law enforcement as officers made arrests and used chemical irritants to disperse crowds.

Activists are planning more and even larger demonstrations in the coming days, with ‘No Kings’ events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump’s planned military parade through Washington.

The Trump administration said it would continue its program of raids and deportations despite the protests.

‘ICE will continue to enforce the law,’ Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a social media post Tuesday.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a video overnight promoting its raids in Los Angeles – as protesters continue to rally against their efforts.

‘We are on a mission in Los Angeles! Legally. Ethically. Morally,’ ICE posted on social media, along with a promotional video.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is encouraging President Donald Trump to deploy active-duty troops to Los Angeles under the Insurrection Act if the National Guard is not successful in quelling the riots.

‘Violent insurrectionists turned areas of Los Angeles into lawless hellscapes over the weekend, with anarchists setting fire to vehicles, throwing scooters and debris at police, and looting businesses – all while waving foreign flags,’ he wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Tuesday.

The 1807 law was evoked in 2020 to end the nationwide riots that broke out after the police killing of George Floyd.

‘Democrats also stood idly by or even celebrated as the Black Lives Matter riots ransacked our cities five years ago,’ he wrote.

Cotton added: ‘If anything, these riots are worse…At least the BLM rioters didn’t wave foreign flags.’

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the violence in Los Angeles is not comparable to the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.

He argued President Donald Trump, who pardoned and commuted sentences of people charged in the Capitol riot, is not being ‘hypocritical’ by condemning the anti-ICE rioters.

Johnson, during a news conference Tuesday, said: ‘Everybody wants me to relitigate Jan. 6. I’m not going to do that. There’s a very clear distinction between the two.’

He added: ‘The people who broke the law and destroyed property were met with the proper consequences on Jan. 6.

‘We’re trying to be intellectually consistent about this and the same thing needs to happen in LA.’

He also backed Trump’s decision to send the military to Los Angeles as protesters clashed with law enforcement, saying Trump is ‘fully in his authority right now’ to order the National Guard and Marines to the city.

‘President Trump has put his hand on the table and said ‘Not on my watch,’ and we applaud that so we’re standing with him,’ Johnson said.

JUNE 8, 2025: Anti-ICE protesters wave Mexican flags atop a wrecked Waymo car as other vehicles burn beside them.

JANUARY 6, 2021: Trump supporters storm the US Capitol to protest the ratification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is deploying the state’s National Guard to cities across the state to ‘ensure peace and order’ ahead of today’s planned protest in San Antonio.

Abbott reminded Texans that ‘peaceful protest is legal’ but harming others or destroying property is not – and will ‘lead to arrest’.

Anti-ICE protests have spread from LA to other cities nationwide, including Dallas and Austin.

In Texas, where police in Austin used chemical irritants to disperse several hundred demonstrators Monday, Abbott’s office said troops are ‘on standby’ in areas where protests are planned.

President Donald Trump has once again defended his decision to deploy the National Guard and US Marines to LA during the riots.

Trump, in his latest dig at Gov. Gavin Newsom, wrote on his Truth Social platform this morning that the ‘great people of Los Angeles are very lucky that I made the decision to go in and help’.

Newsom earlier accused Trump of drawing a ‘military dragnet’ across the nation’s second-largest city with his escalating use of the National Guard.

Newsom asked a court to put an emergency stop to the military helping federal immigration agents, with some guardsmen now standing in protection around agents as they carried out arrests. He said it would only heighten tensions and promote civil unrest.

The judge set a hearing for Thursday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom suffered an embarrassing technology gaffe on Tuesday as tried to deliver a ‘Major Address to Californians’.

His speech was meant to be broadcast at 6:30pm local time, but he suffered audio problems.

Newsom’s team quickly pulled the stream, according to online reports, and corrected the issue. Newsom then resumed his speech.

Downtown Los Angeles was placed under a curfew last night, with police making arrests moments after it took effect.

Officers were deployed on horseback and used crowd control projectiles to break up a group of hundreds demonstrating against ICE raids.

Members of the National Guard stood watch behind plastic shields as police made the arrests,

Officials said the curfew was necessary to stop vandalism and theft by agitators looking to cause trouble.

President Donald Trump blasted California Gov. Gavin Newsom again this morning over his handling of the LA riots.

The president, in a post on his Truth Social platform, criticized Newsom for failing to protect federal agents from ‘insurrectionists’.

Trump branded Newsom ‘incompetent’ in his latest jab in the duo’s war of words.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed the president’s mental capacity has deteriorated, and he lacks a ‘train of thought.’

After referencing a recent video of Trump taking a tumble while boarding Air Force One, Newsom told Fox 11, ‘He is not the same person that I dealt with just four years ago.’

He continued: ‘He is incapable of even a train of thought. He’s making things up, and he’s putting people’s lives at risk.

‘And he’s got a band of people that are complicit in this, and that’s what is so damn alarming. And we need Congress to step up, and my gosh, do we need the court.’