Two thousand National Guard troops arrive in LA as riots erupt over Donald Trump's immigration raids

The deployment of 2,000 troops follows two days of clashes between protesters and immigration agents conducting deportation operations.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on X that the National Guard was being mobilized "IMMEDIATELY to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles".

Additional footage showed troops moving through Paramount, a suburb that experienced riots on Saturday.

The mobilisation came hours after protests erupted in downtown neighbourhoods on Friday in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.

Trump praised the National Guard deployment while criticising Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom for being "unable to handle the tasks" of calming the city.

The president threatened on his social media network that if the Democratic leaders did not "do their jobs," then "the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!"

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California National Guard members were seen mobilising at the federal complex in central Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, where confrontations had occurred over the previous two days.

The troops' arrival marked a significant escalation in the federal response to protests that have disrupted immigration enforcement operations across the region.

Saturday's confrontations in Paramount began near a Home Depot, where federal agents were preparing at a nearby Department of Homeland Security office.

Immigration officers faced off with demonstrators who hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol vehicles, according to reports.

Federal agents responded with tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls.

Protesters pulled shopping carts into streets and broke up cinder blocks to throw at a procession of departing Border Patrol vans.

Smoke rose from burning refuse in the streets as tensions escalated. The violence spread to neighbouring Compton, where a car was set on fire.

By evening, several hundred demonstrators had gathered near a doughnut shop in Paramount, with authorities using barbed wire to hold back crowds.

Downtown Los Angeles saw renewed protests outside federal buildings, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and began making arrests.

Trump federalised part of California's National Guard under Title 10 authority, placing himself rather than Governor Newsom at the top of the chain of command, according to Newsom's office.

The White House announced the deployment would "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester".

Hegseth escalated threats further, warning on X: "If violence continues, active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized – they are on high alert."

Newsom opposed the federal takeover, posting on X that the move was "purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions".

He urged people not to give the federal Government the spectacle they wanted by becoming violent.

The governor stated that local authorities "are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment's notice" and that "there is currently no unmet need".

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the immigration authorities' work was "essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States".

She added: "In the wake of this violence, California's feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens."

US attorney Bill Essayli reported that more than a dozen people were arrested and accused of impeding immigration agents, posting names and mugshots of some arrestees on X.

Federal agents made additional arrests of people with deportation orders on Saturday, though none were at the Home Depot location.

The week-long tally of immigrant arrests in Los Angeles climbed past 100, with a prominent union leader among those detained while protesting.

Mayor Bass stated: "We certainly want to make the opportunities available for people to exercise their First Amendment rights, but the minute that things turn to violence… that is not acceptable and people are going to be held accountable."