Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Federal agents clashed with angry protestors in the Los Angeles area for a second day Saturday, shooting flash-bang grenades into the crowd and shutting part of a freeway amid raids on undocumented migrants, reports said. The standoff took place in the suburb of Paramount, where demonstrators had gathered near a Home Depot that was being used as a staging area by federal immigration officials, the Fox 11 news outlet reported. They were met by federal agents in riot gear and gas masks, who lobbed flash-bang grenades and tear gas at the crowd, according to news reports and social media posts.
The immigration raids are part of US President Donald Trump’s ongoing crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The Republican was elected to a second term largely on a promise to crack down hard on the entry and presence of undocumented migrants — who he likened to “monsters” and “animals.” Following the latest clashes in Los Angeles, authorities vowed to prosecute offenders and warned of an escalating security presence.
“We are making Los Angeles safer. Mayor (Karen) Bass should be thanking us,” Tom Homan, Trump’s point man on border security, said on Fox News. “We are going to bring the National Guard in tonight.” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said multiple arrests had been made following Friday’s clashes. “You bring chaos, and we’ll bring handcuffs. Law and order will prevail,” he said on X.
On Saturday, amid chants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to get out, some protestors waved Mexican flags while others set a US flag on fire, the Los Angeles Times said. Cement blocks and overturned shopping carts served as crude roadblocks. A crowd swarmed a US Marshals Service bus exiting a nearby freeway, with authorities later closing on and off ramps to keep protesters from taking over the highway.
The tense standoff came a day after masked and armed immigration agents carried out high-profile workplace raids in separate parts of Los Angeles, attracting angry crowds and setting off hours-long standoffs. “An insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States,” White House deputy chief of staff and anti-immigration hardliner Stephen Miller said on X, sharing a video of protesters marching Friday outside Los Angeles’s federal detention center.
Los Angeles, the second-most populous city in the United States, is one of the most diverse metropolises in the country. The suburb of Paramount, home to about 50,000 people, is 82 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to US Census data.
© 2024 AFP
