Dozens Arrested After 'No Kings' Rally in Los Angeles Turns Confrontational
Authorities in Los Angeles deployed tear gas near a federal detention center and made dozens of arrests following a "No Kings" rally this weekend, part of thousands of similar protests held across the United States and Europe. The demonstrations were organized to protest President Donald Trump's actions and the ongoing war in Iran, drawing widespread participation but also leading to isolated incidents of violence.
Arrests and Injuries Reported
Los Angeles police confirmed on Sunday that 74 people were arrested for failing to heed a dispersal order issued after Saturday's rally concluded. One additional individual was taken into custody on suspicion of possessing a weapon described by police as a dagger. These arrests contrasted with what organizers described as mostly peaceful events, with over 3,100 registered protests in all 50 U.S. states.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as hundreds of protesters surrounded a federal complex in downtown Los Angeles, some threw rocks, bottles, and broken concrete blocks at officers. Two officers sustained undetermined injuries after being struck by concrete blocks and received medical attention.
Eyewitness Accounts and Police Response
Andre Andrews Jr., a Navy veteran and independent journalist who documented the rally, reported that after authorities gave the dispersal order, tear-gas canisters were deployed when protesters did not comply. Some protesters, equipped with shields and gas masks on the other side of a fence at the federal complex, picked up the canisters and tossed them back at police. Andrews noted that individuals also smashed concrete barriers into smaller pieces and threw them at authorities.
"Does it make L.A. look bad? No. They’re bad actors causing problems, for sure," Andrews said. "The peaceful protest was good for the cause. You have the right to do that. But the other people, they were definitely causing problems."
Nationwide and International Protests
Police said those arrested in Los Angeles included eight juveniles. Among the detained was a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty, who was seen smiling as she chatted with an officer leading her away. In Denver, police declared an unlawful assembly and deployed smoke canisters after a small group of protesters blocked a road and refused to leave, resulting in at least nine arrests.
Nationwide, rallies spanned from New York City, with nearly 8.5 million residents in a solidly blue state, to Driggs, a town of fewer than 2,000 people in eastern Idaho, a state Trump carried with 66% of the vote in 2024. In Minnesota, a flagship event on the Capitol lawn in St. Paul featured Bruce Springsteen as its headliner, celebrating resistance to Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement.
Demonstrations were also held in more than a dozen other countries, according to Ezra Levin, co-executive director of Indivisible, which spearheaded the events. U.S. organizers estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people in June and 7 million in October, with Levin estimating at least 8 million participants on Saturday.
"It was powerful. It was historic. It was joyful. It was boisterous," Levin said on Sunday. "I’d say it went pretty well."
