LA protests live updates: ‘Mass arrests’ after curfew begins as Trump mulls sending troops to other cities

The Los Angeles Police Department has asked business owners and residents in the portion of downtown LA that is under a curfew to photograph any damage and file a police report.

The curfew, which authorities imposed at 8 p.m. PDT yesterday, is due to be lifted at 6 a.m.

Approximately 700 U.S. Marines are awaiting deployment in the Seal Beach area in Orange County, about 30 miles south of Los Angeles, a U.S. official told Reuters.

The battalion is expected to set foot in LA at some point today, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Northern Command told the New York Times.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, in a televised address Tuesday evening, lambasted the president’s decision to mobilize military troops to quell immigration protests in Los Angeles and warned that “democracy is under assault.”

Protests over Trump’s immigration raids that began in Los Angeles continued to spread to other major cities across the country on Tuesday, with activists planning even more demonstrations in the coming days.

From Los Angeles to Seattle, Chicago and New York, many of the protests have been peaceful, but some have resulted in clashes with the police and arrests, the Associated Press reported.

In New York City, thousands filled Foley Square in Lower Manhattan to protest the government’s actions. Many held signs reading “ICE out of New York,” while others chanted, “Why are you in riot gear? I don’t see no riot here.”

Andrea Cavallier has more from New York:

On Tuesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, the Los Angeles-based host downplayed Trump’s claims that the city has become a “trash heap” due to rogue demonstrators and declared that the president is trying to foment a “war.”

“He wants there to be a war going on here, and he doesn’t care who gets hurt in it,” Kimmel said, hinting at Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and mobilization of U.S. Marines. “There’s no riot outside. We have more so-called ‘unrest’ here when one of our teams wins a championship.”

“Not only is it not an apocalypse, they’re having a Disney Pixar movie premiere right now, for ‘Elio,’ a movie about aliens,” he added.

“Don’t tell Trump, he’ll send the Green Berets in, too.”

Less than a week after calling for Donald Trump’s impeachment and claiming he was in the Jeffrey Epstein files, Musk shared some “regret” Wednesday morning over his very public, belligerent attack against the president.

Moments earlier, Musk rallied around the president, retweeting a post about a judge denying California Governor Gavin Newsom’s efforts to block Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles.

“Democrats don’t want immigration laws enforced; especially in California,” wrote conservative internet personality Jeffrey Mead in his post shared by Musk.

“They use emotion to defend illegal immigration, but here’s what they don’t tell you: Illegal immigrants inflate California’s census numbers, which boosts its House seats and electoral votes. It’s not just ‘compassion.’ It’s political power.”

With almost 5,000 military personnel mobilized in Los Angeles and more protests planned in other major cities around the U.S. on Wednesday, the Trump administration is now discussing whether to deploy troops further afield, one official told the New York Times.

The president had perviously threatened that protesters outside of LA would be met with “equal or greater force” than demonstrators the City of Angels.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that he would deploy the National Guard across the state to quell uprisings.