Mayor Karen Bass announced a curfew for downtown Los Angeles as anti-ICE protests continued on Tuesday.
The curfew will begin at 8 p.m. tonight, last until 6 a.m. on Wednesday, and apply to one square mile of downtown L.A., “to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting,” Bass said during a press conference Tuesday night.
“If you do not live or work in downtown L.A., avoid the area,” Bass said. “Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew and you will be prosecuted.”
Bass said the curfew’s boundaries will encompass the area encircled by the 5 Freeway, the 110 Freeway, and the 10 Freeway and end where the 5 Freeway and the 110 Freeway merge. Bass said people who live, work and credentialed media representatives have limited exemption from the curfew. Those experiencing homelessness are also exempt from the curfew, according to Police Chief Jim McDonnell.
City of Los Angeles
“The city of Los Angeles is a massive area, 502 square miles,” Bass said. “The area of downtown, where the curfew will take place, is one square mile … Some of the imagery of the protest, of the violence gives the appearance as though this is a citywide crisis and it is not.”
Metro has closed the following nine stations because of the curfew:
- Pico
- Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill
- Historic Broadway,
- Little Tokyo/Arts District
- Civic Center/Grand Park
- 7th/Metro
- Union Station
- Pico/Aliso Station.
Protesters have taken over several downtown streets for the past five days. At times, encounters between demonstrators have turned violent, resulting in nearly 469 arrests, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Bass added that 23 businesses were looted on Monday night.
“The curfew is a necessary measure to protect lives and safeguard property, following several consecutive days of growing unrest throughout the city,” McDonnell said. “Since Saturday, we have seen a concerning escalation in unlawful and dangerous behavior.”
The demonstrations started on Friday after several immigration raids in the Westlake District, downtown and South LA. Crowds quickly formed around federal agents during the operations. Some individuals attempted to prevent authorities from placing individuals into vans.
President Trump deployed thousands of troops from the California National Guard and 700 U.S. Marines to protect federal offices and buildings, against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Donald Trump is putting fuel on this fire. Commandeering a state’s National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral,” Newsom wrote Sunday on X. “California will be taking him to court.”
The Trump administration argues the deployment is necessary to protect federal property and ICE agents from violence. Mr. Trump has accused local leaders of not doing enough to deal with violent clashes at the protests.
Under federal law, active-duty military cannot be used for domestic law enforcement purposes without the president invoking what’s known as the Insurrection Act, a step President Trump has not taken. Asked about whether he would invoke the law on Tuesday, Mr. Trump responded, “If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see.”
