Trump Sends Troops to Crush ‘Riots’: What’s Boiling in LA?

With protests against the immigration raids continuing for a second day in Los Angeles, US President Donald Trump has ordered 2,000 National Guardsmen to reach the city to deal with the unrest.

The security agents were in a tense confrontation with protesters in Paramount area, southeast Los Angeles. Tear gas and flash bangs were used to quell the residents of Latino Paramount district. Some of the protesters jeered at the Border Patrol personnel while recording the event.

A White House official called the protests a ‘violent insurrection’. Top officials of Trump’s administration have warned that anyone interfering with the enforcement of immigration laws would be prosecuted.

As many as 118 arrests were made in LA this week as a result of ICE operations. California Governor Gavin Newsom has condemned the raids as “cruel”. One of the woman protesters was heard shouting: “ICE (Immigration and Customs  Enforcement ) out of Paramount. We see you for what you are, you are not welcome here.” Another was found carrying a placard reading: “No Human Being is Illegal”. Some other protesters also showed Mexican flags.

Meanwhile, Trump appreciated the troops for doing a ‘great job’ in the California city. However, he criticized the city’s Democratic governor and mayor in a post on his Truth Social platform, terming them ‘incompetent’.

Governor Newsom said the takeover of the National Guard was ‘purposefully inflammatory’ and would only escalate tensions. Newsom’s office said that the National Guard is usually called by a state’s governor but Trump has used a provision that allows him to take control himself.

Earlier, Trump had hit out at the governor on social media, saying that if he and LA Mayor Karen Bass could not do their jobs, “then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”