Los Angeles police made multiple arrests after violent agitators ignored dispersal orders Friday and pummeled officers with rocks and bottles during “National Shutdown” anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests.
Thousands of protesters met in front of City Hall in the afternoon before many marched to a downtown federal detention center where a mob swarmed the area and reportedly blocked the building’s loading dock with a makeshift barrier.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Central Division shared a video of the loading dock unrest on X:
“We had hoped that demonstrations today would be peaceful, however, as you can see in this video, the violent agitators invited LAPD due to their actions,” the department wrote.
LAPD issued an order to disperse at 5:45 p.m., Fox News reported. Many protestors ignored it.
The Central Division provided regular updates through the evening as protests continued, reporting that agitators were throwing “rocks and bottles” at both its officers and federal agents. Tear gas and pepper balls were deployed.
“Protestors are actively fighting with Officers after multiple dispersal orders were issued,” the Division reported at one point. “Metropolitan Division is now on scene. Less than lethal has been authorized due to the violence against officers.”
According to the police reports, the mob began marching through other areas of downtown, at one point setting a dumpster on fire. When the fire department responded they were “backed out” by the agitators and the fire continued to burn.
LAPD formed anti-riot lines and pushed protestors back in an effort to disperse the mob.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said during a news conference Friday evening that five arrests had been made but LAPD did not immediately confirm that total, according to Fox News’s report on the unrest.
LAPD reported one of the arrests involved an agitator allegedly using a slingshot to fire objects at officers.
The unrest came as cities across the country took part in protests organized by 50501, the same group planning an “Impeach, Convict, Remove, Defund” national protest in February and a “No Kings” protest in March.
Friday was their “National Shutdown” day. It is called for “ICE Out of Everywhere” protests on Saturday, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s efforts to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens from the U.S.
The group claims on its website it is a “peaceful movement” and “violence of any kind will not be tolerated.”
Organizers have generated support in the wake of the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good involving federal agents in Minneapolis.
Bass in her news conference had cautioned protesters rallying against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown to remain peaceful.
“I think the protests are extremely important, but it is equally important for these protests to be peaceful, for vandalism not to take place,” Bass said. “That does not impact the administration in any kind of way that is going to bring about any type of change.”
Bass claimed the Trump administration wanted to see violence to give it an excuse to escalate federal presence in Los Angeles.
“Don’t be surprised if the military reenters our city,” she said.
She also took to X Friday night, continuing to say the Trump administration was looking for an “excuse.”
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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