LA riots live updates: Court orders restraining order as Marines arrive in LA

US Marines have been hit with a restraining order as they converged in Los Angeles to serve alongside the National Guard, where immigration protests turned ugly as President Trump threatened to declare an “insurrection”.

A US federal court has issued a temporary restraining order limiting the deployment of troops in Los Angeles after President Donald Trump sent Marines and National Guard to the city.

The government is “temporarily enjoined from ordering or deploying the Title 10 Force to enforce or aid federal agents in enforcing federal law or to take any action beyond (protecting) federal buildings,” said the order, signed by District Judge Charles Breyer.

It comes as hundreds of Marines arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday as President Trump again mused about declaring a full-blown “insurrection” following protests in a small part of the city.

Asked again if he intended to invoke the Insurrection Act, a mechanism that would allow active duty military to employ lethal force against Americans, Mr Trump said: “If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see.”

The 700 elite troops will join around 4000 National Guard soldiers, a stunning militarisation of the sprawling city, which is home to millions of foreign-born and Latino residents.

Small-scale and largely peaceful demonstrations have taken place over four days, with sporadic but isolated violence erupting as protests dispersed and masked individuals confronted police.

Streets were quiet on Tuesday as the Little Tokyo neighbourhood cleaned up after overnight clashes that saw an unruly mob shooting fireworks at officers in riot gear, who fired back with volleys of tear gas.

Several properties – including the Apple Store – had been looted.

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Originally published as LA riots live updates: Court orders restraining order as Marines arrive in LA