California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday sued President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over their orders seeking to federalize the California National Guard for 60 days in response to five days of unrest stemming from demonstrations against immigration raids in Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, Newsom and Bonta asked a judge for an emergency order to immediately prevent Trump from federalizing the California National Guard, but U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer denied the request. He scheduled a hearing for Thursday in San Francisco federal court on the state’s request for a restraining order.
“The federal government is now turning the military against American citizens,” Newsom said in a statement. “Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy. Donald Trump is behaving like a tyrant, not a President. We ask the court to immediately block these unlawful actions.”
In an attempt to stop looting and vandalism in a 1-square-mile section of downtown LA, Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday announced an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for the area, with police announcing “mass arrests.” The curfew applies to an area between the 5 and 110 freeways, and from the Santa 10 Freeway to the merger of the Golden State Freeway with the Arroyo Seco Parkway section of the 110 Freeway. The curfew area includes Skid Row, Chinatown and the Arts and Fashion districts.
“I am exercising my mayoral powers to implement a curfew within downtown Los Angeles to curb bad actors who do not support the immigrant community,” Bass said in a statement. “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.”
Bass also called for an end to the ICE raids.
“Limited exceptions” to the curfew — which officials said would likely be in effect for several days with the possibility of an extension — include residents of the area, people traveling to and from work and credentialed journalists, according to the mayor’s office.
Police enforced the curfew immediately.
“Multiple groups continue to congregate on 1st St between Spring and Alameda,” the LAPD posted shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday. “Those groups are being addressed and mass arrests are being initiated.”
Police said those with a valid ID were cited at the scene and released, unless they had outstanding warrants.
On Friday and Saturday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted multiple immigration raids in downtown Los Angeles that were met with protests. What began as peaceful demonstrations turned violent and destructive, including reports of clashes between authorities and demonstrators, fireworks shot and rocks thrown at police and federal agents, journalists injured by authorities’ less-lethal ammunition, widespread property damage, looting and arrests.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, 96 people were arrested Monday evening on suspicion of failure to disperse in downtown LA. One person was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, another on suspicion of resisting arrest and one more on suspicion of vandalism. Another 14 people were arrested on suspicion of looting downtown stores.
Immigration authorities arrested 44 people as well as union leader David Huerta, who was charged Monday after his arrest for alleged obstruction during Friday’s immigration raid, according to Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security Investigations. Federal agents executed four search warrants related to the suspected harboring of people illegally in the country at three locations in central LA.
“Donald Trump is creating fear and terror by failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority,” Newsom said in a statement. “This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic. Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach. This is beyond incompetence — this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy. It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”
In the lawsuit, Bonta and Newsom asked the court to set aside the president’s order federalizing the National Guard, arguing that:
- The federalization of the California National Guard deprives California of resources to protect itself and its citizens, and of critical responders in the event of a state emergency.
- The rarely used law invoked by the administration requires that the governor consent to federalization of the National Guard, which Newsom was not given the opportunity to do prior to their deployment.
- The president’s order infringes on the governor’s role as commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and violates the state’s sovereign right to control and have available its National Guard in the absence of a lawful invocation of federal power.
The statute was last invoked on its own when President Richard Nixon called upon the National Guard to deliver the mail during the 1970 Postal Service Strike. This is also the first time since 1965 — when President Lyndon Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights demonstrators — that a president has activated a state’s National Guard without a request from the state’s governor.
“Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion,” Bonta said in a statement. “The president is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends. Federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the president’s authority under the law — and not one we take lightly. We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order.”
Following threats to send in the National Guard from several Trump administration officials, on Saturday Trump issued a formal memorandum authorizing the Department of Defense to call up 2,000 California National Guard personnel into federal service. The next day Hegseth federalized 2,000 more California National Guard soldiers.
In a social media post Friday night, Trumps said if Newsom and Bass “can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the federal government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”
The troops arrived Sunday to inadequate arrangements, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. A source told the newspaper that troops arrived “without federal funding for food, water, fuel, equipment or lodging.”
On Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass should thank him for the troops, claiming that without their deployment, “Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.”
Army National Guard personnel, however, were stationed around federal buildings in the downtown area and were not actively engaged in quelling violence and vandalism during the weekend unrest, according to officials and published reports.
Trump also said Newsom and Bass chose to “lie to the people of California and America by saying that we weren’t needed, and that these are ‘peaceful protests.’ Just one look at the pictures and videos of the violence and destruction tells you all you have to know.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, in coordination with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, on Monday formally requested mutual aid assistance from local law enforcement agencies. The following mobilization was approved:
- 20 deputies from San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
- 83 deputies from Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
- 32 deputies from Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
- 44 deputies from Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
- 80 officers from municipal police agencies within Los Angeles County.
More than 700 Marines were mobilized Monday afternoon to join the National Guard, according to CNN. Department of Defense lawyers were finalizing the Marines’ rules of engagement in the likely event they encounter protesters.
Cathedral City also saw ICE activity and a subsequent demonstration over the weekend, City News Service reported.
A few dozen residents in the Riverside County city assembled Sunday morning to protest the reported arrest of a man by federal immigration officials. The protest took place at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol Station, 45620 Commerce St. in Indio.
According to the Riverside County Democratic Party, heavily armed and masked ICE and Border Patrol agents stormed Cathedral City neighborhoods Friday and chased and arrested a man, “dragging him away while refusing to identify themselves or explain their presence.”
“These raids weren’t about public safety. They were designed to terrorize,” RCDP Chair Joy Silver said in a statement. “The goal is to make people afraid to leave their homes, go to work, or take their kids to school. Today they’re targeting immigrants. If we don’t stop this, who’s next? We didn’t fight a revolution so masked federal agents could roam our neighborhoods in riot gear.”
Dozens of demonstrators also gathered Saturday near the Date Palm Plaza on Date Palm Drive in the city to protest the arrest.
The Republican Party of Riverside County did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Local authorities responded with social media posts on Saturday.
“Cathedral City and (the) Cathedral City Police Department want to emphasize that we do not participate in any civil immigration enforcement activities,” officials said. “We deeply value diversity, inclusion and public trust within our community, and we want our residents to know that when they call for help, the Cathedral City Police Department will respond, investigate, and protect everyone — regardless of a person’s legal status.”
The Indio Police Department reissued a statement initially posted Friday in response to the widespread federal raids in LA.
“Our priority is to foster trust between law enforcement and the public and to show our commitment to all who reside in our community,” police said. “We do not enforce federal immigration laws, and communication with federal agencies may only occur on very serious criminal matters, such as violent felonies, human trafficking, and terrorism-related investigations. Any such cooperation is conducted within the legal framework established by state and federal regulations and does not involve civil immigration enforcement.”
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco on Saturday reposted on his Instagram account a video that shows a person throwing rocks at Border Patrol vehicles.
“These anti-ICE demonstrations in LA have gone well beyond a peaceful assembly exercising their first amendment rights,” Bianco said. “These rioters must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Trump administration has pledged to prosecute any protesters who violated the law and accused Democrats of fueling lawlessness. Local officials and immigrant rights advocates have accused the administration of going too far, utilizing heavy-handed militaristic tactics.
On Sunday, ICE Acting Director Tom Homan suggested Newsom and other officials could face arrest if they impede federal enforcement operations. ICE retreated from that hardline stance, however, saying Homan was not threatening to arrest Newsom.
But on Monday, Trump told reporters he would support Homan arresting the governor.
“I think it’s great,” Trump said. “Gavin likes the publicity. … He’s done a terrible job. I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy, but he’s grossly incompetent, everybody knows.”
On MSNBC over the weekend, Newsom retorted:
“Come after me, arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy, you know? I don’t give a damn. But I care about my community. I care about this community. … These guys need to grow up. They need to stop, and we need to push back. And I’m sorry, to be so clear, but that kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.”
In an interview with CBS Evening News, Homan said, “Well, that whole thing’s been taken out of context. They haven’t crossed a line yet, but like any other U.S. citizen if you cross that line I don’t care who they are. The governor, the mayor, whatever — when you commit a crime against ICE officers, we will seek prosecution. …
“There’s no intention to arrest the governor right now,” Homan said. “I don’t know if he crossed that line.”
Updated June 11, 2025, 9:09 a.m.
