Los Angeles has been placed in lockdown since the early hours of this morning, following five consecutive days of violent unrest.
The restrictions, running from 8pm to 6am, began on Tuesday evening and are expected to continue for multiple days.
The lockdown zone covers approximately one square mile surrounding the violence's epicentre in downtown LA.
Boundaries extend from the 5 freeway to the 110 freeway, and from the 10 freeway to where the 110 and 5 converge.
Some 700 Marines and 4,100 National Guard troops were deployed to LA
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LA mayor, Karen Bass, said: "If you do not live or work in downtown LA, avoid the area.
"Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew, and you will be prosecuted."
The mayor finally relented and declared a local emergency after demonstrators torched vehicles, ransacked buildings and assaulted officers using stones, pyrotechnics and concrete blocks.
Within an hour of the curfew announcement, Governor Gavin Newsom delivered a scathing televised address targeting President Trump.
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He said: "Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves, but they do not stop there.
"This is a president who in just over 140 days, has fired Government watchdogs that could hold him accountable for corruption and fraud.
"He's declared a war, a war on culture, on history, on science, on knowledge itself. Databases, quite literally, are vanishing."
Newsom alleged that Trump had sought comprehensive control over the National Guard across all states.
"California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next," he warned.
The lockdown has been imposed after five days of unrest
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Bass disclosed that at least 23 businesses have fallen victim to looting during the ongoing disorder.
She denounced the disturbing footage that has surfaced from the days of destruction.
She said: "Some of the imagery of the protests and the violence gives the appearance as though this is a city-wide crisis, and it is not.
"A curfew has been in consideration for several days, but clearly after the violence that took place last night and just the extensive, widespread nature of the vandalism, we reached a tipping point."
Protesters were seen holding up signs stating 'stand up, fight back'
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The federal Government's response intensified when Trump ordered 700 Marines and 4,100 National Guard personnel to Los Angeles.
Trump has raised the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act to quell the riots.
He stated: "If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see. But I can tell you, last night was terrible."
The President repeatedly characterised those involved in the unrest as "bad, sick people" and "agitators," claiming they were being paid to create chaos.
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