Flash-bang grenades hurled in LA protests at ICE immigration raids
Masked and armed federal agents carried out sweeping immigration raids in LA, in forceful displays of Donald Trump’s crackdown. SEE THE PHOTOS AND VIDEO
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Masked and armed federal agents carried out sweeping immigration raids in Los Angeles, while others pounced on migrants at a New York courthouse, in forceful displays of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on people without papers.
From courthouses to hardware store parking lots in two of the most diverse cities in the world, federal agents wrestled migrants into handcuffs and unmarked vehicles.
Agents used extreme tactics, conducting unprecedented raids on at least three areas of Los Angeles to detain dozens of people.
At one sweep near Los Angeles City Hall, agents threw flash-bang grenades to disperse angry crowds of people following alongside a convoy of ICE vehicles, as protesters hurled eggs and epithets at the agents, media reported.
The mob gathered at the city’s Department of Justice office and hurled objects at authorities. Police formed a barricade outside the entrance to the office before firing smoke bombs into the crowd.
The Los Angeles immigration raids sparked protests at the arrest sites, and at least one person was taken into custody for allegedly obstructing federal law enforcement.
“Federal agents were executing a lawful judicial warrant at a LA worksite this morning when David Huerta deliberately obstructed their access by blocking their vehicle,” US Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.
“He was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday.”
“Let me be clear: I don’t care who you are — if you impede federal agents, you will be arrested and prosecuted.”
“As a Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place,” LA Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.
“These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city.” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who grew up in LA’s Santa Monica community, responded on X, insisting that Bass had “no say in this at all.”
“Federal law is supreme and federal law will be enforced.” Service Employees International Union leader David Huerta was among those briefly detained in Los Angeles.
“Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals,” Huerta said in a statement after his release.
Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe told the Los Angeles Times that federal agents were executing search warrants related to the harbouring of people illegally in the country.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin decried the city’s response to protesters’ clashes with federal agents – which escalated hours after the raids.
“Assaulting ICE enforcement officers, slashing tires, defacing buildings. 800 protestors have surrounded and breached the first layer of a federal law enforcement building in LA,” McLaughlin wrote on X. “@LAPD has not responded.”
“This violence against @ICEgov must stop.”
As the sun set in Los Angeles, broadcaster ABC7 reported a growing standoff as hundreds of protesters marched downtown to demand the release of detainees, where police officers in riot gear ordered them to disperse.
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Trump’s proclamation was the latest attempt by his Republican administration to prevent the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college from enrolling a quarter of its students, who account for much of its research and scholarship.
It’s the second time in a month Harvard’s incoming foreign students have had their plans thrown into jeopardy, only to see a court intervene.
IRAN BLASTS TRUMP FOR TRAVEL BAN
Tehran denounced on Saturday the US travel ban on Iranians and citizens of 11 other mostly Middle Eastern and African countries, saying Washington’s decision was a sign of a “racist mentality”.
US President Donald Trump signed on Wednesday an executive order reviving sweeping restrictions that echo his first-term travel ban, justified on national security grounds following a firebomb attack at a pro-Israel rally in Colorado.
Alireza Hashemi-Raja, the foreign ministry’s director general for the affairs of Iranians abroad, called the measure, which takes effect June 9, “a clear sign of the dominance of a supremacist and racist mentality among American policymakers”.
The decision “indicates the deep hostility of American decision-makers towards the Iranian and Muslim people”, he added in a statement released by the ministry.
Apart from Iran, the US ban targets nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. A partial ban was imposed on travellers from seven other countries.
Hashemi-Raja said the policy “violates fundamental principles of international law” and deprives “hundreds of millions of people of the right to travel based solely on their nationality or religion”.
The foreign ministry official said that the ban was discriminatory and would “entail international responsibility for the US government”, without elaborating.
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“I’m really interested in the country solving problems, including problems in very faraway lands,” he said.
Mr Trump said he would not ask Mr Musk to return the key to the White House he awarded him a week ago, telling reporters “no I don’t take things back”.
Asked about his current feelings toward his former “first buddy”, Mr Trump said he had been busy working on international issues including China, Russia and Iran.
“I’m not thinking about Elon Musk,” he said.
“I just wish him well.
“I hope he does well with Tesla.”
Asked how serious he was about cutting government contracts with Mr Musk, the president said “we’ll take a look at everything … “only if it’s to be fair for him and the country”.
Originally published as Flash-bang grenades hurled in LA protests at ICE immigration raids
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