Image: Eric Thayer/AP/dpa/picture alliance
Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has urged protesters to remain peaceful and not “play into [the US President Donald Trump] administration’s hands” as she blamed the White House for escalating tensions in the city.
Los Angeles police fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters who had gathered on a freeway in downtown LA.
LAPD confirmed that “a number of people have been arrested” as thousands of protesters continued to demonstrate in the center of the country’s second largest city.
The unrest began after dozens of people were arrested in multiple raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal agents on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, mayor Bass said the scenes unfolding in LA were “chaos that is provoked by the [Trump] administration.”
The White House has deployed the National Guard and threatened to send in Marines if the unrest continues.
“When you raid Home Depot and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you cause fear and you cause panic, and deploying federalized troops is a dangerous escalation,” Bass said.
While she appeared to blame the White House for escalating tensions, she said Los Angeles residents had the right to protest “peacefully” but not “to be violent, to create chaos or vandalize property.”
“I call on all Angelenos to continue expressing your right, your anger, your outrage, but to do it peacefully,” Bass said.
