A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
We go to Los Angeles, where anger over President Trump's mass deportation campaign has boiled over.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Yeah, for three days, protesters have taken to the streets of LA in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement - or ICE - immigration raids. The president, in an extraordinary move, deployed the state's National Guard against the wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Local and state officials are accusing the president of purposely provoking chaos.
MARTÍNEZ: With us now is NPR's Adrian Florido in Los Angeles. So how did these clashes between authorities and protesters escalate so quickly?
ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: Well, they started on Friday, A, when immigration agents carried out raids at a Home Depot and at some downtown LA warehouses and began rounding up immigrant workers. People who heard it was happening showed up and tried to stop these arrests. And they yelled at agents, they tried to block their cars, they threw rocks as they sped away. And as video of these confrontations spread, top Trump administration officials and the president himself went on social media and on TV and started attacking these protesters for interfering with ICE.
On Saturday, after more of these scattered confrontations, President Trump issued a proclamation calling the protests rebellion. He invoked a rarely used presidential authority to federalize the California National Guard and said that he would bring 2,000 of its troops into LA to protect ICE agents. And those troops started arriving yesterday.
MARTÍNEZ: OK, and where did things go from there?
FLORIDO: Well, the protests started to grow larger. Yesterday, things started peacefully. Large crowds gathered in downtown LA to protest the ICE raids. Rosa Cesareti (ph) was one of them.
ROSA CESARETI: We cannot stay home when this kind of thing is going on because it's always, they say, first it's them, and then it's you.
FLORIDO: As the day went on, though, A, things got more chaotic. Federal and local law enforcement used flash bangs, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds. Protesters threw cinder blocks and set a couple of cars on fire. Police arrested dozens of people, including some who blocked a freeway.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, the governor and the mayor of LA are blaming the president for this unrest. What are they saying?
FLORIDO: Well, they say that Trump wants chaos and that he's instigating violence to justify a crackdown. Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass said they had things under control and that Trump's decision to take over California's National Guard is only inflaming things. The last time, A, that a president deployed a state's National Guard troops without a request from the governor was 60 years ago. Governor Newsom called it a breach of state sovereignty. Yesterday, some of the first troops to arrive in LA were stationed at the entrances to various federal buildings. This is what Mayor Bass said at a press conference yesterday.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KAREN BASS: I join with the governor in appealing to the administration to rescind the order to federalize the National Guard and allow the National Guard to come back under the control of the governor.
FLORIDO: And Governor Newsom said that he is suing the president over this. The president's order says the troops will be deployed for 60 days or as long as the secretary of defense thinks it's necessary.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, so that's what the governor and LA's mayor are saying to the president. What are they saying to their constituents who are out there protesting ICE?
FLORIDO: Well, all day yesterday, they were pleading with them to remain calm and peaceful. Newsom asked people not to take the president's bait, not to give him an excuse to crack down. Trump officials say they are charging ahead with their deportation plans, so a big question going into this week is whether these protests and the federal government's response will continue to escalate.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, that's NPR's Adrian Florido. Thanks a lot.
FLORIDO: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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