Nearly 90 Arrested As ICE Protests Turn Violent In LA, San Francisco

CALIFORNIA — Dozens were arrested in Los Angeles and San Francisco over the weekend amid fires, looting and violence as tension grew between crowds of protesters and law enforcement in the wake of recent activity to detain immigrants in the state, according to reports.

About 60 people, including minors, were arrested after a demonstration turned violent Sunday night in San Francisco’s Financial District, according to Bay City News.

The Los Angeles Police Department reported Sunday it had made 10 arrests and the California Highway Patrol said that it had made 19. One person was detained Sunday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police and another for ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers.

In Los Angeles, the unrest followed the arrival of about 300 National Guard troops at the behest of the federal government. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to file a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump in response to the deployment, which appeared to be the first time in decades that a state's National Guard was activated without a request from its governor.

Newsom called on Trump to rescind the Guard deployment in a letter Sunday afternoon, calling it a "serious breach of state sovereignty."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said federal reinforcements were not needed, and that the Guard's deployment escalated the violence.

Trump said Monday that the city would have been "completely obliterated" if he had not deployed the Guard.

Guard troops arrived in downtown Los Angeles at 4 a.m. Sunday.

Later in the day, crowds blocked off a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.

Over 1,000 demonstrators marched Sunday from Boyle Heights to the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building.

Police repeatedly shut down the Hollywood Freeway, with protestors on an overpass hurling rocks and firecrackers at California High Patrol officers and vehicles. Officers ran under an overpass to take cover at one point.

During Sunday's protest near the Metropolitan Detention Center, Guard members threw tear gas canisters and smoke grenades toward the demonstrators.

Los Angeles police repeatedly declared an unlawful assembly, gradually expanding the declaration until it covered the entirety of downtown as of around 9 p.m. Troops on horseback as well as ground and air resources were deployed with less-lethal munitions to combat the protesters.

Los Angeles police Chief Jim McDonnell said police were overwhelmed Sunday night by the number of protesters, with attacks on officers that included Molotov cocktails, hammers and stones.

At least three officers were injured, with a flaming substance thrown at one.

Police reported looters broke into a shoe store and other businesses between Sixth Street and Broadway on Sunday.

Black smoke emanated from about a half-dozen Waymo driverless cars that were summoned to Los Angeles Street only to be destroyed and set ablaze.

Demonstrators used chairs and other items to barricade multiple streets. Multiple Los Angeles police vehicles were vandalized.

Some protesters threw bottles and other objects at officers and attempted to breach police lines.

On Sunday night, McDonnell echoed comments from Newsom about "anarchist" agitators taking advantage of legitimate civil rights protests to cause damage and inflame violence.

Federal agents arrested immigrants in LA's fashion district, in a Home Depot parking lot and at several other locations on Friday. The weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the LA area climbed above 100, federal authorities said.

In San Francisco, where immigrants have been detained in recent weeks while attending routine government appointments, hundreds of protesters gathered outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office on Sansome Street, according to Bay City News.

Two officers were injured responding to the demonstration, the outlet reported.

Some in the crowd turned violent, Bay City News reported, vandalizing buildings and a patrol vehicle. The demonstration was declared an unlawful assembly, according to the outlet.

The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this story.