The police cordon is widening around Los Angeles. Karen Bass, the city’s Democratic mayor, declared a curfew on Tuesday to curb the violence that has erupted around some of the protests against Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operations.
Bass supported the measure after 23 businesses were vandalized on Monday, the fourth day of protests. The ban will be in effect from 8 p.m. Tuesday night to 6 a.m. Wednesday.
“My message to you is, if you do not live or work in downtown L.A., avoid the area,” Bass said. “Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew, and you will be prosecuted.”
A patchwork of security forces can be seen within the perimeter that authorities have closed off to the public. A brief stroll down a handful of streets is enough to see the robust and diverse official presence.
They wear blue, black, khaki, or camouflage uniforms. Each represents a different organization.
Their commanders may be different, but they all have the same objective: to extinguish the protests that, since last Friday, have taken to the streets to demand an end to the terror Trump has unleashed on migrant communities.
The U.S. president resorted to his usual incendiary rhetoric Tuesday afternoon to paint a catastrophic picture of Los Angeles, the second most-populous city in the United States.
The president called those who have come out to protest “animals” and described the multicultural city as a “trash heap” filled with criminals.
“We will not allow federal agents to be attacked, and we will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. That’s what they are,” the president said at an event where he justified the deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 U.S. marines in a display of force that has sparked a tense standoff with federal authorities.
Protests have taken place on five streets in downtown Los Angeles. The epicenter is the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal building that has been holding undocumented immigrants detained in operations conducted by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE).
The jail is located on the hottest corner of Alameda Street and Highway 101.
This is where most of the clashes between protesters and law enforcement, including the federal Department of Homeland Security, the California Highway Patrol, the County Sheriff’s Office, and the Los Angeles Police Department, have taken place. The first National Guard troops deployed by Trump arrived there over the weekend.
This north-south freeway is one of Los Angeles’ main thoroughfares.
Approximately 320,000 vehicles pass through it daily.
Its importance makes it attractive to protesters, who blocked it for several minutes on Sunday to make their message against the president heard.
The protesters again blocked traffic on Tuesday, but were quickly removed by riot police.
“Since Saturday, we have witnessed a disturbing escalation in unlawful behavior by protesters,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. The number of arrests made in recent days underscores the officer’s argument.
On Saturday, 26 people were arrested, on Sunday, 40, on Monday, 114, and, this Tuesday, the number reached 197.
Of the most recent arrests, 160 were made across the street from the detention center, while 67 were apprehended on the 101 freeway. “The curfew is necessary to protect lives and safeguard private property,” McDonnell added.
The demonstrations have been limited to a few blocks of the so-called Civic Center, a dozen blocks north of downtown, which is home to public buildings such as Los Angeles City Hall, state and federal courthouses, municipal offices, and the central public library.
Authorities declared a curfew across a slightly larger area including entire neighborhoods outside the conflict zone, such as the Art District, the Fashion District, Skid Row, and South Park, where Crypto.com Arena, the home of the Lakers, is located.
The perimeter is defined by the major freeways: the 10 freeway, which runs east to west, the 110 freeway, which runs south to north, and the 101 freeway, which runs north to south.
The protests have not only left robotaxis burned and businesses vandalized.
They have also spread a blanket of graffiti throughout downtown Los Angeles. “Death to the police,” “Fuck Donald Trump,” and “Death to AmeriKKKa” are just a few of the hundreds of messages protesters have left on the facades of public buildings.
Bass noted that Los Angeles is one year away from hosting the 2026 World Cup.
The last few days have made it difficult for organizers to beautify the city. City Hall workers have already begun repairing these buildings, but it will take time.
The mayor assures that the curfew will help renew the face of the downtown area with the help of local businesses.