A group of protestors demonstrated against action by federal immigration authorities in Paramount, California on Saturday, June 7. The day before, on June 6, more than 40 people were arrested during Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, which also prompted protests. Border Czar Tom Homan told Fox News the National Guard has been activated to restore order in Los Angeles.
Saturday evening President Donald Trump wrote on social media, “If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”
Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Twitter the state called on additional California Highway Patrol members, but clarified that they were not put there to assist federal immigration enforcement.
“The federal government is sowing chaos so they can have an excuse to escalate. That is not the way any civilized country behaves,” Newsom wrote, adding in a later post that “the federal government is taking over the California National Guard and deploying 2,000 soldiers in Los Angeles — not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that people near a Paramount Home Depot earlier in the day were chanting “Fuera ICE,” or ICE, get out” and flash-bang grenades were deployed by federal agents. Border Patrol personnel wearing riot gear and gas masks deployed tear gas at an industrial park, according to the Associated Press.
According to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, law enforcement responded to a report of a “large crowd” gathering around the 6400 Block of Paramount Boulevard and “blocking traffic” around 11 a.m. PDT June 7.
In a Nixle alert, the department said it “was not involved in any federal law enforcement operations or actions and responded solely for traffic and crowd control management.” Los Angeles is a “sanctuary city,” meaning it restricts local law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities.
U.S. Rep. Nanette D. Barragán, D-Calif., called what was happening “unacceptable.”
“ICE has brought their terror tactics and masked agents to #Paramount this morning — in my district,” she wrote on X. “We will demand answers and accountability.”
Federal law enforcement operations are proceeding “as planned this weekend in Los Angeles County,” Bill Essayli, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said on X.
“I urge the public to refrain from interfering with these lawful actions,” Essayli said. “Anyone who obstructs federal agents will face arrest and prosecution.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem took to social media to tell the protestors, “you will not stop us or slow us down.”
“@ICEgov will continue to enforce the law,” she wrote.
This story was updated with new developments at 8:45pm
