The scenes out of California this week have been stark: uniformed Marines and National Guard patrolling Los Angeles, police officers firing rubber bullets at protesters, a sitting senator forcibly removed from a press conference for simply asking a question. California has been on overdrive as a cascade of urgent events has unfolded in the public eye, which was all set off by a series of high-profile immigration raids that are likely to continue.
First, came a raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 6 at an apparel manufacturer in Los Angeles' Fashion District, leading to protests across California that were eerily reminiscent of public unrest in 2020.
To quell those protests, 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines have been deployed as of Friday for eight days in downtown Los Angeles - at the order of President Donald Trump, against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, in a stunning extension of executive authority.
The rallies began peacefully, but some later turned into violent confrontations between law enforcement and protesters. Some demonstrators were reportedly throwing objects, including bottles of liquid, and rolling dumpsters toward law enforcement guarding a parking lot. Officers shot rubber bullets and sprayed tear gas. Cars were set ablaze –– including several Waymo robotaxis. The Bay Area-based company later stalled its service in Los Angeles, as well as San Francisco.
The White House confirmed Wednesday that 330 immigrants had been detained by ICE in five days, as a result of raids spanning businesses across Southern California: two Home Depot stores, a donut shop a car wash and agricultural fields along the Central Coast and in the San Joaquin Valley.
Amid these raids, families searched for answers .
Trump has largely famous this chaotic crackdown, saying the city would be "burning to the ground" if he had never sent troops. He's also publicly blamed immigrants for "destroying" schools and hospitals, and could cause the country to go bankrupt. But he showed a small crack in the facade on Thursday, writing on social media about the need to "protect our farmers." Trump has a large number of supporters in rural parts of California.
"Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace," Trump said on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns.
Kevin Spillane, a Republican strategist who opposes Trump, cautiously stated that this could be a promising sign.
"It shows someone is talking to him about the impact of those industries," Spillane told media news. "But that's the thing, you just don't know."
In San Francisco, the protests began on Sunday evening, when police arrested over 150 demonstrators, including two student journalists and six minors.
In the days to follow, an estimated 9,000 protesters rallied in the Mission District, and ICE raids in the Bay Area continued, including the arrest of a mother and several others who were taken into custody outside the San Francisco Immigration Court on Tuesday.
A beloved Jewish-owned community cafe in San Francisco was also vandalized with antisemitic graffiti , which reportedly happened while anti-ICE protesters walked through the neighborhood.
Thursday brought perhaps one of the most jarring visuals. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, was tackled and handcuffed by Secret Service after he attempted to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question during a press conference she was holding in Los Angeles. Noem said they didn't know Padilla was a senator—an damning defense if true. Noem and other Trump officials said he did not identify himself, even though Padilla video footage indicate that he did.
On Monday, Newsom filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, saying the president unlawfully brought in the National Guard to California. A federal judge in the California State Supreme Court issued a 36-page ruling in favor of Newsom late Thursday, ruling for control to be returned to the governor.
For a mere hour, the governor's team reveled in that victory. "The court just confirmed what we all know: The military belongs on the battlefield, not on our city streets," the governor. posted on X.
But an appellate court composed of Trump-appointed judges quickly blocked those efforts. The court will decide Tuesday whether there should be a re-hearing.
I think about the poor people who have small businesses in downtown Los Angeles; it doesn't seem like anybody is focused on them," Spillane told media news. "On both sides, it's a calculated effort to inflame and attack rather than solve problems. That's where we're headed.
The latest blow: HuffPost reported On Friday afternoon, it was reported that Marines had temporarily detained a civilian in Los Angeles, the first known such detention by active-duty military in California.
More is looming. The No Kings nationwide mobilization on Saturday, the same day Trump is hosting a 250th military anniversary parade in Washington, D.C., is expected to be one of the largest since Trump took office.
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