Los Angeles officials work to curb damage, theft, fires, violence in downtown Los Angeles

The ugly night of burglary and conflict in downtown Los Angeles left city officials and struggled hard, sweeping the immigrant raid after three days of scattered unrest.

Some businesses were destroyed and stolen overnight into the city center, ending hours of unrest, which burned Waymo cars, police cruisers smashed by rocks and electric scooters, and various forms of sabotage in the city and civic centers. Although most of the problems occur within a few blocks, they have attracted worldwide attention after President Trump deployed the National Guard to clashes between immigration agents and protesters.

Trump has threatened to bring in “troops” to help calm the unrest, but it is not clear what this will look like.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the city's violence has only escalated since protesters clashed with officials at the federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. He described the violence as “disgusting.”

“Over the past few nights, we've seen a level of disgusting every good person in the city,” he said.

So far, the National Guard has primarily protected federal buildings.

When asked if the city needed National Guard troops, McDonnell expressed opposition that Trump deployed National Guard troops for the will of the governor and mayor.

“Do we need them? Well, look tonight, this thing is out of control.” McDonald said he still needs to learn more about how the troops can help maintain order before deciding whether they need to exist.

He talked with Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna on Sunday about the possible curfew, but they didn't think it was necessary. The chief said he also spoke with District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who promised to prosecute those who attacked officials and damaged property.

Downtown Los Angeles early Monday – grey, a melancholy and cold day in June – was filled with vulgar graffiti of a weekend of chaos and protests. The sprayed word “F-ice” is everywhere in the neighborhoods around Town Hall and LAPD headquarters.

In front of the federal court building, Los Angeles Street is on Los Angeles Street, in front of the federal court building, driving up and down between blooming purple Jacarandas and dozens of police cars from various cities in Southern California.

On the exterior wall of the Art Deco Town Hall building in 1928, a blue color was painted: “F-Ice”. On a small section of the stairs, red: “f-lapd.” On another wall, black paint: “f-Trump,” next to a pile of stool painted. The former Los Angeles Times architecture has many of the same vulgarity, and the term “immigrants dominate the world”.

Spends of rubber bullets and broken glass scattered in spring, remnants of a chaotic night in the city center.

Octavio Gomez, director of the DTLA Alliance, quickly rolled black paint on the wall next to the Grand Central Market, newly covered with graffiti, which read “F — Ice” and “LA is not safe!”

“Today was a bad day…last night,” Gomez said. “Will everything come back? Because there are still protests.”

South Broadway’s T-Mobile store has several windows that mount several windows, with glass scattered on the sidewalk. Some nearby stores usually open on Monday mornings, including blue bottles of coffee. But others, including the Grand Central Market, are already busy with customers.

Mayor Karen Bass condemned the disease, but also attributed some blame to Trump.

“If people become violent, if people break the law, they will be arrested and will be held liable,” she said. “It’s simple.”

Bass called Los Angeles a “city of immigration” and withdrew federal assertions that immigration officials targeted criminals and violent individuals in recent days in raids in workplaces and home warehouse parking lots.

“What we see in Los Angeles is the chaos caused by the government,” Bass said. “When you raid home warehouses and workplaces, when you separate parents and children, when you run armored caravans on our streets, you cause fear and panic.”

Senator Alex Padilla, who slammed the Trump administration, said sending troops and suppressing immigrant communities turned their attention beyond what he called a “destructive” Congress bill, encouraged peaceful protests to continue.

“Continue protesting because Donald Trump wants everyone to sit quietly as he continues to promote, bring cruelty to every corner of the United States and violate the law,” he said.

“What he's doing is classic Donald Trump. He's trying to deflect and distract,” he said. “They have a devastating bill that will reduce health care for so many Americans through Congress, increase the cost of working families and assume tax breaks for billionaires. Trump doesn't want people to talk about this, so he goes back to immigrants demonized immigrants and tries to slam his chest in the chest.”

Padilla blames some of the violence on inciteers exploiting the situation, but says they are not advocates or organizers of immigration, and he calls on the National Guard to fall back.

“Let the local law enforcement do the job,” he said.

Governor Lieutenant Eleni Kunalakis said Trump appears to be deliberately escalating the situation. She stressed that burning cars and other non-peaceful protests were inappropriate, but said that local law enforcement officers have the ability to handle such matters given what happened in Los Angeles this weekend.

“There is no reason to send the National Guard other than showing resilience,” Kunalakis said in an interview Sunday night. “Generally, this is one of the ways things start to escalate. So, my conclusion is that he announced the sending of the National Guard, not because it was necessary, but because he wanted to take the opportunity to demonstrate to prove his strength and ruthlessness.”

Protesters clash with law enforcement officers in downtown Los Angeles

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

But other local officials said they were bothered by the violence and said they needed to stop.

“What we see: the violence we see – rocks thrown to shells, sanitation vehicles and Wemo vehicles caught fire, setting fire on Highway 101 – has nothing to do with immigration, justice or the value of our community,” the parliament called Mark González. “These are not protesters – they are instigators. Their actions are reckless, dangerous, and exactly what Trump wants. At a time when our emergency services have been extended, these actions shift critical police resources to a real emergency and put lives at risk.

Sunday was filled with dramatic images in the city center.

Protesters gathered in downtown Los Angeles’ civic center area Sunday morning and overflowed onto Highway 101 at around 3:30 p.m., and the road was closed for hours as California Highway Patrol personnel worked to push the protesters back and detained several in the process.

Then a group of protesters landed on five Waymo taxis on Los Angeles street between Arcadia and Alameda Street, about 5 p.m.

Tires were cut down, windows smashed, and anti-ice messages sprayed on self-driving taxis, three of which were burned.

Protesters swarmed around the vehicle, tearing the door off and stepping on the windshield. A man wearing a mask smashed the car window with a skateboard. Another seems to use a temporary flamethrower to set up the interior of the car.

As the car was consumed by flames, some were seen throwing lime electric scooters into burning shells, while others stood up from the fiery scene. Once, the besieged Waymos began to honk the horn with a coordinated cacophony, and the shouts of protesters and the sound of police helicopters broke the head.

Some of the people in the crowd grind sanitation on 101 beds of rock and large concrete, and they detained those protesting on the highway. A man pounded the police cruiser with a loud noise, causing a huge cheer. The satellite officials responded by opening a Flash Bang above the crowd.

A police official said the Los Angeles Police Department arrested at least 10 people on Sunday, including a man who allegedly crashed a motorcycle into a group of officers. Captain Raul Jovel, who is in charge of LAPD's response to the protests in recent Los Angeles County, said another person allegedly raised a Molotov cocktail on an officer on Sunday.

Jovel said in a press conference that three LAPD officers were injured but did not pay enough attention to needing hospitalization. LAPD arrested another 29 people on Saturday for allegedly failing to hear a dispersal order.

Staff writer James Queally contributed to this report