Los Angeles, June 7 — Chaos unfolded in downtown Los Angeles on Friday night as protesters clashed with police following sweeping immigration raids carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents across the city, as reported by Al Jazeera News.
The raids, which took dozens into custody, targeted locations including a Home Depot in the Westlake District, a clothing warehouse in South L.A., and businesses in the Fashion District, according to the Los Angeles City News Service. Unmarked military-style vehicles carrying federal agents were seen moving in coordinated convoys through the city.
Outraged by the operation, demonstrators gathered outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and a local detention center where some detainees were believed to be held. Protesters chanted slogans and spray-painted anti-ICE messages, demanding an end to the crackdown on immigrant communities.
The Los Angeles Police Department, which was not involved in the ICE raids, responded to the protests after the gathering was declared an unlawful assembly. Tensions escalated as some protesters hurled chunks of concrete at officers. In response, police deployed tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
“We’ve declared an unlawful assembly,” LAPD spokesperson Drake Madison told reporters, adding that those who refused to disperse were subject to arrest. Authorities have not released an official number of arrests.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass strongly condemned the federal operation, stating the raids “sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city.”
Caleb Soto of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network said between 70 and 80 people had been detained, yet only a handful of lawyers were granted access to provide legal counsel. Soto criticized the use of warrantless raids, calling the tactics “unconstitutional.”
The raids are part of a broader immigration enforcement surge under former President Donald Trump, whose policies continue to ripple through immigrant communities nationwide.
