Police arrested dozens of protesters and fired tear gas and pepper balls into a crowd on Saturday night during a No Kings protest in Los Angeles. The confrontation occurred outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, which has become a flashpoint for demonstrations since the Trump administration intensified immigration enforcement in the city last year.
The protest was part of a larger nationwide movement against President Donald Trump's second term, his mass deportation campaign, rising living costs, and the Iran war. More than 40 No Kings protests took place across southern California on Saturday, with tens of thousands participating, according to ABC7 Eyewitness News.
Earlier in the day, demonstrators marched through downtown Los Angeles carrying signs criticizing the president and his hardline immigration policies. Mayor Karen Bass acknowledged the protests on Facebook, stating: “Peaceful protest is our constitutional right. When people come together to make their voices heard, that is democracy in action. Please stay safe and look out for one another.”
The clash at the detention center occurred after the main rally had largely ended. The Los Angeles Police Department issued a tactical alert and ordered a group of about 150 remaining protesters to disperse. LAPD said demonstrators were throwing large concrete blocks, bottles, and other objects. Police surrounded the group and arrested those who refused to leave, firing pepper rounds and bean bags into the crowd, according to KTLA.
One protester was shot in the eye with a pepper round, the Los Angeles Times reported. Separately, at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, protesters and counter-protesters clashed, with a supporter and an opponent of Trump yelling at each other and daring one another to fight.
