
Los Angeles Protests Live Updates: Newsom Says California Will Sue To Stop Marines’ Deployment
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
LA Protests: California To Sue After Marines Deployed (Live Updates)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will sue to block the White House’s move to deploy hundreds of U.S. Marines to Los Angeles. Newsom described the move as illegal and a “blatant abuse of power” by President Donald Trump and his officials. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote a letter to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Sunday, asking him to order the military to detain or arrest “lawbreakers” in Los Angeles, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Up to 700 Marines from a battalion based out of Twentynine Palms, California, were mobilizing to respond to the protests, and are expected to deploy to the city within 24 hours. Trump, when asked about Newsom daring Homan to arrest him, said he “would do it if I were Tom—I think it’s great,” claiming Newsom is “grossly incompetent” Waymo removed vehicles from the downtown Los Angeles area and suspended service “out of an abundance of caution” following guidance from the Los Angeles Police Department, though the robotaxi firm noted it was still operating in the greater Los Angeles region.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will sue to block the White House’s move to deploy hundreds of U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests over federal immigration raids, as he described the move as illegal and a “blatant abuse of power” by President Donald Trump and his officials.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote a letter to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Sunday, asking him to order the military to detain or arrest “lawbreakers” in Los Angeles.
Legal experts cited by the report said Noem’s letter may be attempting to circumvent federal laws, which prevent the military from participating in domestic law enforcement, by invoking the Insurrection Act.
In an interview with CNN, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan defended the troop deployment plan and when asked about the role the Marines will play, he said: “It all depends on the activities of these protesters – I mean, they make the decisions.”
“We don’t know what’s going to happen tonight – it seems like at night, the crowds get bigger, the violence peaks…We’ll be well prepared for the military here to protect government property and protect officers’ lives,” Homan added.
Earlier on Monday, LAPD chief Jim McDonnell said “The possible arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles — absent clear coordination — presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us tasked with safeguarding this city.”
Newsom criticized the move to deploy Marines, saying the “The Secretary of Defense is illegally deploying them onto American streets so Trump can have a talking point at his parade this weekend.”
The governor said the state would sue to stop what he described “a blatant abuse of power,” as he urged Courts and Congress to “act.”
Up to 700 Marines from a battalion based out of Twentynine Palms, California, were mobilizing to respond to the protests, according to ABC News, and are expected to deploy to the city within 24 hours.
The Marines will aid the more than 2,000 members of the National Guard Trump deployed to Los Angeles, according to CNN.
Bonta announced he is filing a lawsuit against Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, alleging Trump’s order to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles was “trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends” while federalizing the National Guard “is an abuse of the President’s authority under the law.”
Bonta claims the deployment deprived California of emergency response resources, infringed on Newsom’s authority and violates the state’s “sovereign right to control and have available” the National Guard.
Trump, when asked about Newsom daring Homan to arrest him, said he “would do it if I were Tom—I think it’s great,” claiming Newsom is “grossly incompetent.”
Earlier on Monday, Homan told Fox News that while “no one’s above the law,” there was “no discussion” about arresting Newsom.
Waymo removed vehicles from the downtown Los Angeles area and suspended service “out of an abundance of caution” following guidance from the Los Angeles Police Department, though the robotaxi firm noted it was still operating in the greater Los Angeles region.
At least six Waymo vehicles set ablaze Sunday and the company was in touch with the Los Angeles Police Department for an investigation, Waymo spokesperson Chris Bonelli told Forbes, as law enforcement warned burning lithium-ion batteries used in the cars release toxic gases, posing possible health risks, and to avoid the area.
Newsom signaled he would sue Trump over his decision to send the National Guard into the state, alleging Trump “flamed the fires and illegally acted.”
At least 60 people were arrested in San Francisco after police reportedly clashed with a group of protestors who gathered to show solidarity with the Los Angeles protestors and oppose the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and deployment of national guard troops to quell protests.
In a post on his Truth Social platform Trump mentioned the LAPD’s comments from the press conference about reassessing the situation about bring in the national guard, and wrote “He should, RIGHT NOW!!! Don’t let these thugs get away with this.”
In follow up posts Trump wrote: “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS,” and “ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS, NOW!”
The LAPD told reporters at a late night press conference that it had arrested 10 people on Sunday, bring the day’s total tally to 27 after adding to the California Highway Patrol’s 17 arrests.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters that he was aware of the “deep fear and anxiety” among the immigrant community, and said the department is “committed to transparency, accountability, and treating every Angeleno with respect, regardless of their immigration status.”
When asked about the need for National Guard presence, McDonnell told reporters, “tonight this thing has gotten out of control” but he would have to know more about their intended role before making that determination and added: “we got to make a reassessment.”
Los Angeles Police Department said an “UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY” declaration has been issued “for the area of the Civic Center part of Los Angeles” and said people with with “Cell Phones in the area…have received the alert.”
According to the New York Times, a man tried to aim his van at protesters near a gas station in downtown Los Angeles, but it is unclear if any people were harmed.
The LAPD later told the Times that it had detained the van driver, and noted “multiple charges to follow.”
The Los Angeles Police Department has announced that gatherings at Downtown Los Angeles have “been declared as an UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY,” as it ordered people to “leave the Downtown Area immediately.”
In an interview with MSNBC, Newsom dared the Trump administration to come and arrest him in response to earlier comments by the president’s border czar Tom Homan threatened to go after any official who interferes the immigration crackdown.
Newsom told MSNBC, “Come after me, arrest me, let’s just get it over with, tough guy…I don’t give a damn, but I care about my community.”
In his interview, Newsom once again accused Trump of “putting fuel on the fire,” with his actions and confirmed that his state will file a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday.
California’s Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis told CNN that she expects state officials to file a federal lawsuit on Monday against the Trump administration’s move to federalize and deploy the National Guard in Los Angeles.
Kounalakis said the lawsuit will say that the president did not have the “authority to call in the National Guard for 400 people protesting in a way that local law enforcement could clearly handle it.”
Earlier in the evening, Newsom said he had made a formal request to the White House to “rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command,”
The governor said: “This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed.”
When asked by reporters whether he would invoke the Insurrection Act, the law that gives presidents the authority to deploy the military domestically, Trump said, “Depends on whether or not there’s an insurrection,” adding he does not think the Los Angeles protests are an insurrection, though he said there are “violent people, and we’re not going to let them get away with it.”
Trump said he called Newsom and told him he had to “take care” of the protests, otherwise he would “send in the troops,” and he told a reporter who asked whether California officials who obstruct deportations would face federal charges: “If officials stand in the way of law and order, yeah, they will face charges.”
About 300 members of the National Guard have been stationed across Los Angeles so far, The New York Times reported, the first soldiers as part of the 2,000 Trump has promised to station across the city as more protests are expected to take place this afternoon.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told the Los Angeles Times said she tried to talk to the Trump administration to “tell them that there was absolutely no need to have troops on the ground here in Los Angeles,” stating the protests on Saturday were “relatively minor” and “peaceful,” with about 100 protesters.
Bass appeared to rebuff Trump’s claim the National Guard did a “great job” in the city, stating in a post on X that the National Guard had not yet been deployed at that time in Los Angeles, while praising Newsom and local law enforcement.
Trump said in a late-night Truth Social post the National Guard did a “great job” in Los Angeles, while slamming Newsom and Bass and the “Radical Left” protesters and stating protesters will no longer be allowed to wear masks: “What do these people have to hide, and why???”
Newsom slammed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for “threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens” as “deranged behavior.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it had arrested two people Saturday evening for alleged assault on a police officer, stating multiple officers had been injured by a Molotov cocktail, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Protesters exhibited “violent behavior” toward federal agents and local law enforcement, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement, while clarifying it is not involved in federal law enforcement response and is instead focused on crowd and traffic control.
In a post on X, Newsom said the federal government is taking over the California National Guard and deploying soldiers in Los Angeles solely to create a “spectacle.”
Hegseth announced in a post on X the Department of Defense is “mobilizing the National Guard IMMEDIATELY to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles,” stating Marines are standing by for deployment in case of violence.