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HOT TRUMP SUMMER: PROTESTS IGNITE IN SOUTHERN CAL…

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HOT TRUMP SUMMER: PROTESTS IGNITE IN SOUTHERN CAL…

Today’s live updates have ended. Follow Tuesday’s coverage.

President Donald Trump has authorized the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members to respond to immigration protests in Los Angeles, according to the Pentagon’s chief spokesman. The latest order brings the total number of Guard put on federal orders for the protests to more than 4,100.

The news comes hours after the Pentagon deployed about 700 Marines to the protests to the city.

What to know:

  • Marines deployed: The troops will be used to protect federal property and personnelincluding immigration agents, and are prohibited from performing law enforcement duties under the Posse Comitatus Act. The Pentagon is drafting guidelines that will explain to the Marines what they can and cannot do, a U.S. official said.
  • California sues Trump: The state sued the president over his deployment of the Guard troops as growing numbers of demonstrators took to the city’s streets for a fourth day. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit by telling reporters that Trump had “trampled” the state’s sovereignty.
  • Trump threatens to arrest Newsom: “I would do it if I were Tom. I think it’s great,” Trump saidreferencing Tom Homan, the administration’s border czar, who warned that anyone, including public officials, would be arrested if they obstructed federal immigration enforcement. “Come after me, arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy,” Newsom said in response.

WATCH: Why did President Trump deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles

President Donald Trump has deployed California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests, over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Demonstrations stretch into the late evening in LA

A protester in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood throws a firework at LAPD officers as they seek to push demonstrators away from the city center on Monday, June 9, 2025.

Law enforcement was pushing a couple hundred protesters east through Little Tokyo as night began to approach on Monday.

Officers, who all appeared to be from the Los Angeles Police Department, used flash bangs and shot projectiles into the crowd as they pushed the protesters through a crowded, popular commercial area where bystanders and restaurant workers rushed to get out of their way. Some protesters set off fireworks and threw water bottles at the officers, yelling “Shame!” or chanting, “ICE out of LA.”

The protesters had been pushed earlier in the evening away from the downtown federal detention center.

Flags fly in Los Angeles

A protester holds a U.S. flag upside down, Monday, June 9, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester holds a U.S. flag upside down, Monday, June 9, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester waves a National Flag of El Salvador in front of a line of California National Guard in front of Federal Building on Monday, June 9, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester waves a National Flag of El Salvador in front of a line of California National Guard in front of Federal Building on Monday, June 9, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester waves a Mexico national flag on top of a car near the metropolitan detention center, Monday, June 9, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A protester waves a Mexico national flag on top of a car near the metropolitan detention center, Monday, June 9, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Supporters gather as civil rights legend Dolores Huerta, 95, speaks at a rally in Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025, calling for the release of labor union leader David Huerta, who was arrested during a protest on June 6. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Supporters gather as civil rights legend Dolores Huerta, 95, speaks at a rally in Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025, calling for the release of labor union leader David Huerta, who was arrested during a protest on June 6. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

US attorney general says protesters engaging in violence and destruction will be aggressively charged

Attorney General Pam Bondi said during an interview on Fox News Monday evening that the Justice Department will use a civil disorder charge to go after people who assault law enforcement and will also pursue federal charges against people who burglarize businesses.

“If California won’t protect their law enforcement, we will protect the LAPD and the sheriff’s office out there,” Bondi said on “Hannity.”

Bondi said authorities have identified a suspect wanted for throwing broken pieces of cinderblocks at law enforcement vehicles, injuring an officer. The FBI had been offering a $50,000 reward leading to the suspect’s identification and arrest.

IN PHOTOS: Demonstrators gather in New York to protest ICE raids

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A demonstrator raises a sign during a protest against deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

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NYPD officers carry a detained demonstrator during a protest against deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

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Demonstrators gather to protest against deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

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NYPD officers stand in line during a protest against deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

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EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY – Demonstrators gather to protest against deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

WATCH: National Guard troops in LA is latest in long history of deployments during civil rights protests

President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests follows a long history of U.S. elected officials sending troops in hopes of thwarting unrest connected to race-related clashes.

‘Our city is trying to move forward’

Bass ended a news briefing with a plea to the federal government: “Stop the raids.”

“I hope that we will be heard because our city is trying to move forward, and I believe the federal government should be supportive.”

LA mayor criticizes National Guard deployment

Bass said the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines was a “deliberate attempt” by the Trump administration to “create disorder and chaos in our city.”

“I feel like we are part of an experiment that we did not ask to be a part of,” Bass said.

LA mayor says local immigrant rights groups have confirmed at least 5 ICE raids

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said they were still working to compile more information on the raids that took place throughout LA.

Pentagon confirms 2,000 more National Guard troops deploying to California to support ICE

Sean Parnell’s post on X confirmed earlier statements on X by California Gov. Gavin Newsom that the Guard number was being doubled.

The latest order brings the total number of Guard troops put on federal orders for the protests to more than 4,100.

Newsom had posted that the deployment order was reckless and not about public safety.

Parnell said the added troops will be there to support ICE and “enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties.”

The additional troops could take a day or two to arrive because the order was just given Monday evening.

LAPD warns ‘many more’ arrests are possible

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a briefing that he expected “many more” arrests to be made in connection with the escalating protests as the police investigation continues.

“We fully support your right to peacefully protest, but let me absolutely clear: Those who choose to incite in violence, engage in vandalism or graffiti or attack officers will be arrested,” he said.

Trump warns protesters against confronting police, but pardoned the Jan. 6 rioters

The president has posted a warning on social media to those who are demonstrating in Los Angeles against his immigration crackdown and confronting police and members of the National Guard: “IF THEY SPIT, WE WILL HIT, and I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before. Such disrespect will not be tolerated!”

That’s a contrast to how the president responded to the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, an assault that left about 140 police officers injured.

FILE - Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Trump pardoned hundreds of them in one of the first acts of his second term as president. Roughly 180 of the defendants were charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement or obstructing officers during a civil disorder.

“Trump’s behavior makes clear that he only values the rule of law and the people who enforce it when it’s to his political advantage,” said Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College.

▶ Read more about the discrepancy of Trump’s responses

Trump authorizes deployment of additional 2,000 National Guard members, US officials say

That order would put the National Guard members on active duty.

One official said, however, that the order was just signed and it could take a day or two to get troops moving.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said on X he had been informed of the decision. He called the move reckless and “disrespectful to our troops.”

“This isn’t about public safety. It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego,” Newsom said.

JUST IN: Trump has authorized the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles, US officials say

PHOTO: Crews clean up rubber bullets after a night of protests

Cleanup continues after a night of protests in downtown Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Cleanup continues after a night of protests in downtown Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The LAPD says more than 600 rubber bullets and other less-than-lethal rounds were used over the weekend.

California attorney general files lawsuit over deployment of National Guard

The lawsuit filed Monday afternoon by Attorney General Rob Bonta says Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth violated the law and exceeded their constitutional authorities when they federalized the National Guard without going through the governor of California.

It described the unrest in Los Angeles as “primarily peaceful protests with some acts of violence or civil disobedience” that “do not rise to the level of a rebellion.”

The lawsuit also alleges Trump violated the 10th Amendment, which is designed to protect state power from federal intrusion.

“This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in press release on the lawsuit. “Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach.”

Dozens arrested and hundreds of less-than-lethal rounds used in LA protests

Los Angeles police say they arrested 29 people Saturday night “for failure to disperse” and made 21 more arrests on Sunday on charges ranging from attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail and assault on a police officer to looting.

The police department also has confirmed in a news release that it used tear gas and more than 600 rubber bullets and other less-than-lethal munitions over the weekend. The department says five officers sustained minor injuries.

A police officer fires a soft round near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A police officer fires a soft round near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night’s immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

LAPD chief says Marines’ arrival could cause problems if it’s not coordinated with police

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell says the department has not been given any “formal notification” that the Marines will be coming to the city.

He said in a statement Monday afternoon that the police department is confident in its ability to handle large-scale demonstrations and that the Marines’ arrival without coordinating with the police department would present “a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city.”

“We are urging open and continuous lines of communication between all agencies to prevent confusion, avoid escalation, and ensure a coordinated, lawful, and orderly response during this critical time,” he added.

Hegseth got advice about Marine deployment from Joint Chiefs chairman

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tweeted late Saturday that he was considering deploying the Marines to respond to the unrest after getting advice earlier in the day from Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, a U.S. official said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers a speech at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, Friday, June 6, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers a speech at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, Friday, June 6, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

Still, the tweet, which was posted to Hegseth’s personal X account and not to his official government account, took many inside the Pentagon by surprise. As late as Monday, the military’s highest offices were still considering the potential ramifications.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet public.

Pentagon working on rules to guide Marines heading to LA

The Pentagon is working on a memo that will lay out the steps the 700 Marines can take to protect federal personnel and property during protests over immigration raids.

Those guidelines also will include specifics on the possibility that they could temporarily detain civilians until they could be turned over to law enforcement if troops are under assault or to prevent harm, a U.S. official said.

Each Marine should receive a card explaining what they can and cannot do, another U.S. official said.

For example, warning shots would be prohibited, according to use-of-force draft documents viewed by The Associated Press. Marines are directed to de-escalate a situation whenever possible but also are authorized to act in self-defense, the documents say.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet public.

Huerta speaks to media after his release

Labor leader David Huerta told reporters after his release from federal detention that he did not intended to get arrested.

“This fight is ours, it’s our community’s, but it belongs to everyone,” Huerta said in Spanish outside the federal courthouse after his bond hearing. “We all have to fight for them.”

Huerta said the individuals being held inside the federal detention facility where he was detained since Friday each have their own immigration stories.

He also said that violence was not the answer and the only way to win change was through non-violence.

New York Mayor Eric Adams calls escalating LA immigration protests ‘unacceptable’

New York City Mayor Eric Adams visits the courthouse where jury selection is underway in the Donald Trump hush money trial in New York on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams visits the courthouse where jury selection is underway in the Donald Trump hush money trial in New York on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said they will honor the rights of New Yorkers to protest peacefully, but won’t tolerate demonstrations that involve property destruction, blocking entrances to buildings or assaults of law enforcement officials.

“We will not allow violence and lawlessness,” Adams, a former captain with the New York Police Department, said during remarks broadcast online.

California senator praises labor leader David Huerta’s release

California Sen. Adam Schiff attended the bond hearing for Huerta on Monday. He said he was pleased an agreement was reached between Huerta’s lawyer and the government for his release and called Huerta “an important leader here in California.”

Schiff said Trump’s decision to call in the National Guard has not helped.

“This whole escalation we’re seeing in Los Angeles is so utterly unnecessary and unwarranted,” he said. “All this is just intended to add fuel to the fire.”

Schiff called for an end to violence, vandalism and assaults on law enforcement. He also called on the Trump administration to focus its deportation efforts on violent offenders.

“We need to just focus on getting things calmed down here in Los Angeles so people can go about their business,” he said.

There’s an upbeat atmosphere in some parts of downtown LA as demonstrations continue

By JAMIE DING Jae C. Hong

Demonstrators dance in the historic El Pueblo area of downtown Los Angeles to protest President Donald Trump and federal immigration enforcement activities in the region on Monday, June 9, 2025.

Protesters waved Mexican flags and danced to live music in the historic El Pueblo district of Los Angeles, just a few blocks away from the downtown federal detention center. The area is located near the famous Olvera Street, a colorful marketplace that celebrates Mexican culture and heritage.

Some protest leaders also led the crowd in chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets,” as a band performed.

Marines won’t do law enforcement in LA

The Marines and National Guard troops are not expected to do law enforcement duties, which are prohibited under the Posse Comitatus Act.

The Marines are being deployed to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents, U.S. Northern Command announced Monday.

Trump has not invoked the Insurrection Act to allow them to do law enforcement. It has not been clear if he intends to do so.

700 Marines have been formally deployed to the Los Angeles protests

The Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division will work with the roughly 2,100 National Guard troops on the ground to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents, U.S. Northern Command says.

The Marines are moving from their base at Twentynine Palms in the California desert on Monday.

The troops have been trained in de-escalation, crowd control and standing rules for the use of force, and they will be armed with the weapons they normally carry.

Northern Command said the forces will all be under Task Force 51, commanded by Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, deputy commander of U.S. Army North.

Federal immigration agents spotted around LA County

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were at a Home Depot in Huntington Park on Monday morning, city spokesperson Sergio Infanzon confirmed.

They were also at a public library parking lot and City Hall in Whittier, the city stated in a press release.

“We understand how stressful and upsetting this is for many in our community,” the p ress release said. “We urge residents to remain calm, avoid confrontation, and prioritize personal safety.”

Jonathan Sanabria, a Huntington Park city councilmember, posted on Instagram urging community members to stay away from Home Depot stores.

Detained California union leader David Huerta released on $50,000 bond

People gather to protest the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles and the detainment of union leader David Huerta near Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

People gather to protest the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles and the detainment of union leader David Huerta near Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union California, was arrested Friday while protesting immigration raids in Los Angeles.

His arrest became a rallying cry for union members nationwide and Democratic politicians who have called for his release.

His release came as marchers were moving through downtown after a rally by the SEIU.

JUST IN: California union leader David Huerta is released from custody on $50K bond after arrest during immigration raid protest

Marines will be deployed to LA to respond to immigration protests

The Pentagon is expected to formally deploy about 700 Marines to Los Angeles in the coming hours to help National Guard members respond to immigration protests, three U.S. officials said Monday.

The Marines are coming from their base at Twentynine Palms in the Southern California desert.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military plans. The deployment was first reported by BLN.

JUST IN: About 700 Marines will formally deploy to LA in the coming hours to respond to immigration protests, US officials say

Clergy members help calm protestors outside Los Angeles detention center

Religious leaders joined with protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles, working at times to quell outbursts of anger in the otherwise peaceful demonstration.

Protestors linked hands and at times sang in front of a line of police officers, who’ve unsuccessfully asked people to move off the road and onto the sidewalk.

Trump says Newsom’s guilty of running for governor

Amid threats to arrest Newsom if he interferes with federal immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, a reporter asked Trump to explain what crime the California governor may have committed.

“I think his primary crime is running for governor, because he did such a bad job,” Trump said.

Asked if the focus on Newsom would help the Democratic governor’s political career, Trump, a Republican, said, “I think it’s actually very bad for him.”

Trump repeated how much he actually “liked” Newsom but thinks he’s “incompetent.”

Union members in New York City demand release of detained California labor leader David Huerta

About 100 union members rallied outside City Hall in New York City chanting “Free David Huerta” and waving signs reading “Immigrants are Essential.”

Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union California, is being held in Los Angeles. He is accused of conspiring to impede an officer during a demonstration over Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Demonstrators protesting mass deportation inside Trump Tower were arrested

Activists protesting federal immigration enforcement were arrested Monday inside Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Video widely shared on social media show a few dozen demonstrators sitting in the middle of the Fifth Avenue building’s lobby.

Police officers carrying zip ties stood between the group and the entryway while a voice over a PA system warned that they would be arrested if they didn’t disperse.

The activists continued to chant “Bring Them Back” and were subsequently arrested. They also held signs with messages such as, “Who will be disappeared next?,” and, “Due process is a right for everyone.”

A police department spokesperson declined to comment on the incident, including how many were arrested.

A larger protest is expected later Monday outside a Manhattan federal immigration court.

Thousands rally in front of LA city hall

Union leaders from across California led the crowd in chants of “Free Huerta now!”

They urged people to exit the area peacefully at the conclusion of the rally.

Demonstrators gather in downtown LA to protest the arrest of labor union leader

Demonstrators gather in downtown Los Angeles to protest the arrest of labor union leader David Jose Huerta Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Dearen)

Demonstrators gather in downtown Los Angeles to protest the arrest of labor union leader David Jose Huerta Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Dearen)

David Jose Huerta, the 58-year-old president of Service Employees International Union California, was charged with conspiring to impede an officer by federal prosecutors. Protesters gathered with signs reading “Free David Huerta.”

▶ Read more about Huerta and his arrest by federal agents

Trump talks protests at beginning of White House event

President Donald Trump speaks during an

President Donald Trump speaks during an “Invest in America” roundtable with business leaders at the White House, Monday, June 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The president is holding an event to talk about investment accounts for newborn childrenbut he started by talking about the protests in Los Angeles.

“Thank goodness we sent out some wonderful National Guard,” he said.

Trump criticized California leaders by saying “they were afraid of doing anything.”

“We sent out the troops, and they’ve done a fantastic job.”

Photojournalist remains hospitalized after being shot by nonlethal round

The photojournalist Nick Stern was covering a protest in Paramount on Saturday night when he felt a sharp pain in his right thigh — the result, he later realized, of a non-lethal round fired by officers into the crowd.

“I thought it was a live round because of the sheer intensity of the pain,” Stern told the AP. “Then I passed out from the pain.”

Protesters help news photographer Nick Stern after an injury during a protest in Compton, Calif., Saturday, June 7, 2025, after federal immigration authorities conducted operations. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Protesters help news photographer Nick Stern after an injury during a protest in Compton, Calif., Saturday, June 7, 2025, after federal immigration authorities conducted operations. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

The projectile left a golf ball-sized wound in his thigh, requiring emergency surgery Sunday. He remained hospitalized as of Monday.

It wasn’t clear which law enforcement agency fired the shot. Stern described the scene at the time as chaotic, but said there was no violence in his immediate vicinity.

“There were just a few people standing there doing nothing more than waving Mexican flags,” he said.

Hundreds protest in Boston

Hundreds of people gathered in Boston’s City Hall Plaza to protest the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles and the detainment of union leader David Huerta.

Protesters shouted “Come for one, come for all” and “Free David, free them all.”

People held signs reading “Massachusetts stands with our neighbors in Los Angeles” and “protect our immigrant neighbors.”

“An immigrant doesn’t stand between an American worker and a good job, a billionaire does,” said Chrissy Lynch, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.

She called on President Trump to call off any plans to deploy the service members to quell protests.

1,000 National Guard members now on ground in LA

U.S. officials told The Associated Press there are currently about 1,000 National Guard members in L.A. under federal orders and more are flowing in all day.

A California Highway Patrol officer pulls an electric scooter off a vehicle on a highway as protesters throw objects at the police vehicles near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A California Highway Patrol officer pulls an electric scooter off a vehicle on a highway as protesters throw objects at the police vehicles near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Officials said that they believe that the full 2,000 that the president has put on federal Title 10 orders will be on the ground there by the end of the day. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations details.

The Guard troops are part of the new Task Force 51, under the control of Army Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, who is the deputy commander of U.S. Army North.

Trump supports slapping the cuffs on Newsom

The California governor and the White House have been feuding over how to handle protests in Los Angeles.

It started when Tom Homan, the border czar, warned that anyone, including public officials, would be arrested if they obstructed federal immigration enforcement.

“No one’s above the law,” he said on Fox & Friends, although he added that “there was no discussion” about arresting Newsom.

The California governor responded in an interview with BLN.

“Come after me, arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy,” Newsom said.

Trump grinned when asked about the exchange after landing at the White House.

“I would do it if I were Tom. I think it’s great,” Trump said. “Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing. He’s done a terrible job.”

President Donald Trump is standing by his decision to send the National Guard to Los Angeles and is attacking California Governor Newsom’s handling of the protests.

Waymo suspends its downtown LA service

Robotaxi company Waymo has suspended service in downtown Los Angeles after several of its self-driving cars were set ablaze during weekend protests against the Trump administration’s immigration raids.

FILE 0 A Waymo self-driving vehicle sits curbside, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, at the Sky Harbor International Airport Sky Train facility in Phoenix. Waymo is recalling more than 600 self-driving vehicles after one of them struck a telephone pole in Arizona. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in its report that last month a driverless Waymo vehicle hit a wooden utility pole in Phoenix while it was in an alleyway and trying to perform a low-speed pullover maneuver. There were no passengers, other road users, or injuries associated with the event, the report said. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

A Waymo self-driving vehicle sits curbside, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, at the Sky Harbor International Airport Sky Train facility in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

Waymo confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that five of its robotaxis were impacted and removed from downtown Los Angeles. The company added that it would not be operating in this area of the city for the time being — citing guidance from local law enforcement.

Waymo’s services in other parts of Los Angeles county remain available. The city’s protests are centered to several blocks of its downtown area.

Footage from Sunday’s demonstrations showed spray-painted messages protesting ICE on these Waymo vehicles, which brought large plumes of black smoke into the sky and exploded intermittently as they burned. Some demonstrators were also seen smashing windows of the robotaxis.

Waymo began offering driverless rides in Los Angeles last year.

Federal prosecutors charge California union leader

Federal prosecutors have charged California union leader David Jose Huerta with conspiring to impede an officer.

The 58-year-old president of Service Employees International Union California is currently detained and expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles Monday afternoon for a bond hearing.

In a court affidavit, a homeland security agent wrote that law enforcement officers were executing a federal search warrant Friday at a Los Angeles business suspected of hiring illegal immigrants and falsifying employment records when Huerta and others appeared to try to disrupt the operation.

A law enforcement officer approached Huerta and told him to leave, then put his hands on Huerta to move him out of the way of a vehicle, the agent wrote. The agent said Huerta pushed back and the officer pushed Huerta to the ground and arrested him.

The SEIU has planned a rally in Los Angeles for Monday.

“We demand David Huerta’s immediate release and an end to these abusive workplace raids,” April Verrett, SEIU’s international president, said in a statement.

Messages seeking comment were left for Huerta’s attorney, Marilyn Bednarski.

Trump targets Newsom (again)

President Donald Trump arrives on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, June 9, 2025, in Washington. The Washington Monument is seen in background. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump arrives on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, June 9, 2025, in Washington. The Washington Monument is seen in background. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

After inspecting a site on the White House lawn for a future flagpole, Trump spoke to reporters about the protests in California.

“I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy, but he’s grossly incompetent,” the president said, complaining about “the little railroad he’s building” that is “100 times over budget.” It’s a reference to the much-delayed high-speed rail project, which predates Newsom’s tenure. Trump also criticized the protestors. “The people that are causing these problems are professional agitators, they’re insurrectionists, they’re bad people. They should be in jail.”

Trump says sending National Guard to LA protests was a ‘great decision’

In a post on his social media site, Trump said the city would have been “completely obliterated” otherwise.

Protests over the president’s immigration crackdown spared much of Los Angeles from violence. Weekend clashes swept through several downtown blocks and a handful of other places.

Trump wrote that Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass should thank him. He accused them of being untruthful for saying Guard troops weren’t necessary.

Indigenous community leader urges legal representation for detained workers

Perla Rios, an indigenous community leader in Los Angeles, urged legal representation and due process for the dozens of workers who were detained in the city by ICE on Friday.

Rios spoke at a conference Monday morning in Los Angeles outside of Ambiance Apparel, where ICE raids set off days of tense protests in the city. Behind her stood family members of workers detained, holding up signs saying “Immigrants make America Great,” “Liberate them all” and “We want justice” next to photos of their loved ones.

“What our families are experiencing is simply a nightmare ,” Rios said.

Trump’s border czar says Gov. Newsom was ‘late to the game’ in responding to protests

Tom Holman defended the ICE arrests that preceded the protests and Trump’s deployment of the National Guard, blaming the California governor for stoking anti-ICE sentiments and waiting two days to declare an unlawful assembly in LA.

“He’s failed that state,” Holman told Fox News on Monday morning.

Newsom dared federal officials to arrest him in an interview with BLN on Sunday, stating, “Come after me, arrest me, let’s just get it over with, tough guy.”

On Fox, Holman said there was “no discussion” about arresting Newsom.

Sen. Schumer calls Trump’s National Guard order a diversion and unnecessary

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives for a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives for a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“Donald Trump—in the midst of a war with Elon Musk and his ugly tax bill that would rip healthcare from 17 million people— is in desperate need of a diversion,” Sen. Chuck Schumer said in a statement Monday.

“His order to deploy the National Guard in California is unnecessary, inflammatory, and provocative. Trump should immediately revoke his command to use the National Guard, and leave the law enforcement to the governor and the mayor, who are more than capable of handling the situation.”

“Americans do not need or deserve this unnecessary and provocative chaos.”

Workers sweep up debris, tear gas canisters from streets of LA

Cleanup continues after a night of protests in downtown Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Cleanup continues after a night of protests in downtown Los Angeles, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The smell of fire hung in the air of downtown Los Angeles Monday morning. A series of ash piles littered Los Angeles Street with the charred remnants of cars set afire during protests over immigration.

The quiet in the streets was in marked contrast to several days of escalating protests over President Trump’s immigration crackdown. The demonstrations intensified Sunday in the country’s second-most-populous city after Trump deployed the National Guard.

Police cars from a smattering of Southern California cities were blocking streets in the downtown.

Workers swept up debris from the streets including tear gas canisters. Crews painted over graffiti that covered downtown buildings.

More demonstrations were expected in Los Angeles Monday.

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The Dictatorship

How Trump’s first-year blitzkrieg stalled out

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June 21, 2026

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After President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January 2025, he signed a series of executive orders designed to reshape America’s political landscape. The waves of action from the White House deluged the press, put elected Democrats off balance and left liberal groups scrambling to respond. “When you’re winning, it’s like blitzkrieg,” longtime Trump adviser Steve Bannon crowed to The Washington Post early last year. The president’s opponents, Bannon said, were “surrendering without a fight.”

By blowing up so many norms and taking on so many battles at once, the Trump administration created the very shrapnel that has slowed its efforts.

A year and a half later, what seemed like a relentless flood from the White House has weakened to a trickle. New reporting from The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan shows that fears of overreach expressed inside the administration proved prescient; the multifront assault has proved vulnerable to counterattack — and in many ways it has been abandoned by the commander in chief. By blowing up so many norms and taking on so many battles at once, the Trump administration created the very shrapnel that has slowed its efforts. The “blitzkrieg” has stalled out.

According to Haberman and Swan, at least one senior staffer worried about a White House strategy reminiscent of Silicon Valley’s “move fast and break things” ethos. Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary and an archconservative lawyer, reportedly had misgivings about efforts within the administration to flex its muscles to further its anti-immigration agenda. Last spring, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller publicly suggested that Trump could suspend habeas corpus for migrants seeking hearings challenging their detention. Later, as protests raged against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s heavy-handed raids, internal debate bubbled up again over whether to invoke the Insurrection Act to shut down the demonstrations.

In each of these moments, Scharf drafted memos to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles explaining the ways that these aggressive moves might well backfire. (MS NOW has not independently confirmed Haberman and Swan’s reporting but has reviewed the memos that the Times published.) The memos themselves resemble anodyne briefing memos that any lawyer could produce for decision-makers. But the carefully worded drafts are a major departure from the bombastic phrasing in legal filings that we’ve come to expect from this administration.

Scharf’s memos express concerns about, as the Times put it, “actions that promised Mr. Trump quick results but kept producing costly entanglements in court.” In a memo written last October, after the president threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the National Guard to Illinois, Scharf’s warning was remarkably direct. He wrote that while the act provides broad powers to the president, “it is likely that any invocation of the Act would result in vigorous litigation potentially obviating any advantage to be gained in terms of the flexibility that it would provide to the President.”

Trump neither suspended habeas nor invoked the Insurrection Act. But time has shown that Scharf and other skeptics were right to worry about how bold moves could become self-inflicted wounds. The administration already has racked up a wild number of court losses on many of its most daring gambits, and dozens of cases remain open. The departures of thousands of experienced Justice Department lawyers certainly hasn’t helped matters, nor have the unconvincing slapdash efforts to twist the law’s meaning to fit the administration’s preferred narratives.

As the unpopularity of the Trump agenda grew, already bumpy terrain became a major slog, especially after the president launched a war against Iran in late February. The conflict has theoretically ended, but there are no details on what, if anything, has been gained, aside from a clear legacy of higher prices. Focus on the war has likewise sapped any political capital that the White House may have hoped to spend in preserving Republican majorities in Congress in this fall’s midterms.

Any remaining momentum in reshaping the government has ground to a near halt with the president’s focus on his own vanity projects.

Any remaining momentum in reshaping the government has ground to a near halt with the president’s focus on his own vanity projects. Although they’re still corrupt overreaches in their own way, Trump’s plans to gild equine statues around Washington and paint the bottom of the reflecting pool blue don’t rise to the same level as deploying the U.S. Army against protesters. As My colleague Zeeshan Aleem recently noted, “having started a disastrous, failed war of choice and holding record-low approval numbers, Trump has retreated to party planning and interior decorating.”

There are clearly portions of the initial “flood the zone” agenda that are still chugging forward. Mass deportation efforts remain ongoing in the background, though ICE has yet to release updated arrest data since scaling back its more attention-grabbing operations in late January. Likewise, the administration continues to undercut Congress and wage Trump’s retribution campaign against his enemies. Federal departments and agencies out of step with the MAGA ethos remain under threat, as new efforts to downsize the Education Department Tuesday show. And the Supreme Court is still due to weigh in on several cases that could further empower the executive branch.

But the radical period of transformation that those around Trump hoped to foster has not come to pass. There has been simply too much resistance for the administration to fully overwhelm the system. There is no time for Trump’s foes to let down their defenses, however. The retrenchment we’re seeing from the White House ahead of the midterms could precipitate a renewed campaign next year. But rather than simply accept the oncoming storm as inevitable, there is still time to ensure that in the long term Trump’s sound and fury signify nothing.

Hayes Brown is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He focuses on policymaking at the federal level, including Congress and the White House.

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The Dictatorship

Markwayne Mullin’s investments in the kratom industry look like a clear conflict of interest

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June 21, 2026

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ByDonald K. Sherman

What do gas station drugs, conflicts of interest and the Trump administration have in common? Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

A New York Times report earlier this week revealed the significant role Mullin has played in an influence campaign advocating for kratom, a supplement commonly sold at gas stations that allegedly relieves pain or boosts energy, but is linked to risk of liver toxicity, seizures and substance use disorder. Kratom has also been found in the system of thousands of people who died of drug overdoses.

As a senator from Oklahoma, Mullin endorsed proposed federal restrictions on kratom’s more potent competitors. He also reportedly urged officials in the Department of Health and Human Services to remove language from the Food and Drug Administration website about the possible dangers of using kratom, both as a senator and as DHS secretary. It is unclear why the homeland security secretary would be involved in such decisions. (Mullin hasn’t commented on the Times’ reporting, but DHS said in a statement that the secretary “follows all ethics and conflict of interest standards and has not lobbied for any individual or company.”)

Mullin has apparently gone out of his way to advocate for a supplement that is not regulated by the FDA and whose effects on the body are not well understood.

What we just learned from Mullin’s financial disclosure paperwork is that the secretary owns an investment worth as much as $1 million in a kratom company, Botanic Tonics. It’s not clear when he acquired this stake, but he has not filed paperwork to say he divested from it. Mullin has said in March that he would divest from dozens of potentially conflicting investments should he be confirmed as DHS secretary. Botanic Tonics does not appear to have been part of that list at the time, but given Mullin’s reported advocacy for kratom as part of the Trump administration, he should certainly divest now.

This looks like a textbook conflict of interest, where it is impossible to know if Mullin is advocating for policies that are best for the public or if he is prioritizing his own bottom line at the expense of public health and safety.

Mullin’s history doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence. He did not come to DHS with an ethically clean slate, having violated the STOCK Act by failing to properly report years of stock and bond trades. Some of his activity involved stock trading closely tied to industries he regulated and may have had sensitive knowledge of. Even if Mullin has a third party managing his portfolio, as he claims, as an officeholder, he is legally responsible for avoiding and remediating his own conflicts of interest.

The public should never have to question whether government officials are using their power for their own benefit, but Mullin’s conduct is particularly galling because President Donald Trump fired his predecessor at DHS, Kristi Noemafter she faced serious ethics issues that often distracted from her critical government role. These included her apparent failure to report outside income from a dark money group earned while serving as governor of South Dakota, and a subcontractor tied to Noem secretly receiving a DHS ad contract, outside of the normal competitive bidding process. (Noem’s lawyer told ProPublica“Then-Governor Noem fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law; and Noem said she followed proper procedures with regards to the DHS ad contract.”)

While this seemed like a rare moment of accountability and possibly correcting course, appointing and confirming Mullin appears to have been more of the same.

The public should never have to question whether government officials are using their power for their own benefit.

And then, there’s the kratom itself. Mullin has apparently gone out of his way to advocate for a supplement that is not regulated by the FDA and whose effects on the body are not well understood. As part of this effort, he has reportedly tried to downplay health concerns about kratom. The supplement’s health risks can include addiction and withdrawal, liver damage, anxiety, hallucinations and psychosis. (Botanic Tonics, the company Mullin invested in, insists its products are safe and says it “has consistently advocated for regulations that distinguish between authentic kratom leaf products and synthetic derivatives.”)

All of these facts together raise another important question: How can someone who did not proactively divest from an obvious and dangerous conflict of interest, and who could not effectively manage a third-party adviser overseeing his investments to ensure compliance with the STOCK Act, ethically lead a massive agency consisting of more than 260,000 people covering everything from aviation, election and border security, to emergency response?

It’s up to Mullin to start building trust with the public by divesting his interests in kratom, and if he does not, Congress must intervene.

Donald K. Sherman

Donald K. Sherman is executive director and chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Before joining CREW, he was an oversight and ethics lawyer in the House, the Senate and the Obama administration. He also was chief oversight counsel to the late Rep. Elijah E. Cummings on the House Oversight Committee.

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The Dictatorship

I love my father deeply — which is why I want him to die quickly

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June 21, 2026

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My father is dying. I suppose we all are, but he is actively closer to death than anyone else I know.

My father began declining in 2020. First, his body started to give up on him. He has Parkinson’s disease. One day he tried to get out of bed and his legs didn’t work, so he fell out of bed, and ended up in the hospital. Another day, his right hand stopped working, so he could barely use his phone or computer, his only points of contact with the outside world (he’s almost entirely lost his ability to write), making him further isolated. A few years after his Parkinson’s diagnosis, my father’s mind started to give out on him, too. He developed dementia, a diagnosis he steadfastly refuses to admit or discuss, which makes taking care of him even more challenging.

As an academic and intellectual, this is a perceived humiliation my father cannot bear. He has fits of anger, confusion, fear, frustration and disorientation. I spoke to him last week while he was in the hospital for yet another issue (a now semi-regular occurrence) and he started shouting, “I don’t know why the hell I’m here! Get me out of here, talk to someone!”

This is an incredibly difficult piece to write — one I almost didn’t.

To make matters more complicated, he now lives in Pakistan, where he is from, while I live in the United States and my mother, who co-caretakes with me, is based in South Africa. He lived in the States for most of his adult life, but we simply could not afford the cost here of the full-time care he needs. Even with the privilege of being upper-middle class, the more than $20,000 a month for full-time care was way more than we could afford, and this is not even for any specialized care.

This is an incredibly difficult piece to write — one I almost didn’t. There are serious ethical implications to consider as I discuss my father’s health. But I have ultimately decided to share my experience because I think it’s important to have conversations about the isolation and inhumanity of the end-of-life care systems that fail us. These are conversations we too often turn away from out of fear and discomfort. The intention here is to honor my father because approaching death with dignity honors the dignity of his life, too.

So, as I watch my father’s body and mind slowly and increasingly fail him, and I see the fear and suffering he endures on a daily basis, I can only hope that the end of his life is not drawn out.

I spoke about this with a dear friend recently, about how excruciating this process has been to witness and partake in, about our caretaker burnout, about the many, many systems that fail the sick and elderly, about how each week there is a new crisis. She gave me Atul Gawande’s book “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.” Gawande’s central argument is that both the medical community and modern society are woefully ill-equipped to deal with mortality in a dignified way and that the most humane thing we can do is to focus on the quality of life of the elderly and terminally ill, rather than longevity.

As I explained to my friend, I’ve been sitting with an intense polarization around how I think about my father’s death: some parts of me wishing the end of his life is not drawn out, while others feel guilt and shame for wishing that my father dies quickly. Gawande’s book has been a profound balm in this process. “Our reluctance to honestly examine the experience of aging and dying has increased the harm we inflict on people and denied them the basic comforts they most need,” he writes. “Lacking a coherent view of how people might live successfully all the way to their very end, we have allowed our fates to be controlled by the imperatives of medicine, technology, and strangers.”

Medicine, technology, and strangers. This trifecta now rules my father’s waning life. His full-time carers are strangers to him, and he to them. And some combination of technology and medicine is helping to prolong an existence full of fear and suffering.

What I have ultimately come to realize is that the only true solution here is not a medical one but a spiritual one. Death is too big for the human mind to hold. And grief, when we try to hold it alone, tears away at our lives. The only way any of this becomes manageable, in my experience, is if we hand these over to something bigger than ourselves. My faith is a big part of my life, so, for me, that something is god. For someone else, it might be a different spiritual belief or it might look like surrendering to the present. But the answer is certainly not in the illusion of control that medicine alone can create for patients and their families.

Mortality — our own and that of our loved ones — demands that we meet it with expansiveness in order to stay sane, otherwise our fear (an inherently constricting emotion) of death takes hold. Modern medicine tends to make everything smaller, with its hyperspecialization, its focus on how things are working at a cellular level. My father has a cadre of doctors, each focusing on a different part of his body.

I do not mean to dismiss the miracles of modern medicine, which have saved me and my body in so many ways over the course of my own life. But I invite us, like Gawande, to consider when the most loving thing we can do is to not interfere.

I wonder how different the end of my father’s life would feel to him if everyone around him was focused on offering him spiritual care rather than on the technical measures to keep him alive for as long as possible. I have tried in my own ways to reorient our approach to his care, but our collective resistance to mortality — sometimes my own included — and the concomitant systems that do exist to take care of the elderly make it feel impossible sometimes. And I can see his body and mind desperately attempt to prepare him for death even as parts of him, and everyone around him, resist it. This untended anxiety is leaking out of him. He calls me in the middle of the night when he can’t sleep to apologize for all the ways he failed my brother and me when we were children, his voice scared and desperate as he attempts to clean his fading conscience as much as he can, while he still can.

He calls me in the middle of the night when he can’t sleep to apologize for all the ways he failed my brother and me when we were children, his voice scared and desperate as he attempts to clean his fading conscience as much as he can, while he still can.

Interventions of modern medicine and carers to prevent falling (a common cause of death for people with Parkinson’s) could potentially prolong my father’s life for some time. He is in that precarious place that the elderly often find themselves in, where he could die in six months or in six years. But to what end are we prolonging his life? Our collective approach to end-of-life care is driven by distorted priorities, which come at great personal and financial cost. “The soaring cost of health care has become the greatest threat to the long-term solvency of most advanced nations, and the incurable account for a lot of it,” Gawande notes. “In the United States, 25 percent of all Medicare spending is for the 5 percent of patients who are in their final year of life, and most of that money goes for care in their last couple of months that is of little apparent benefit.”

In his book, Gawande anticipates criticisms of his argument, suggesting some might fear that it “raises the specter of a society readying itself to sacrifice its sick and aged.” He aptly responds, “But what if the sick and aged are already being sacrificed — victims of our refusal to accept the inexorability of our life cycle?”

There is a strange paradox to death. It is at once incredibly straightforward and deeply complicated. Maybe this is what separates the act, an uncomplicated one, from the process, which is almost always complex.

And if there is one thing I’ve learned watching my father disintegrate, it’s that our various approaches to end-of-life care are not working. The helplessness and fear is consuming him. It is out of a deep and abiding sense of love that I hope his suffering is minimized and his life is brought to a merciful end.

Noor Noman is a writer focused on culture, race and LGBTQ issues.

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