What sparked the Los Angeles protests and is Trump allowed to deploy the National Guard?

Protests have rocked Los Angeles since last Friday (Jun 6) as federal agents faced off against hundreds of demonstrators following immigration raids.

Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard troops to the city, a rare deployment that goes against the wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has called it “purposely inflammatory” and unlawful.

This is what we know so far about the clashes in the United States’ second-largest city.

HOW THE PROTESTS STARTED AND GREW

Trump has made clamping down on illegal migration a key goal for his second term in office.

Officers from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency executed search warrants at multiple locations in Los Angeles on Jun 9, and arrested immigrants in LA’s fashion district, in a Home Depot parking lot and at several other locations. 

The weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the LA area has climbed above 100. 

By Friday night, protests had kicked off in the city. More than 100 demonstrators gathered at the immigration services building and detention centre in downtown Los Angeles.

On Friday night, the Los Angeles Police Department declared it an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowds to leave.

Multiple police vehicles and officers in riot gear arrived, and flashbangs were used to disperse the crowd.

The Department of Homeland Security said that there were about “1,000 rioters” at the protests on Friday.