Govind Tekale
9:30 PM PDT (06/15/2025)
Smaller protests continued in downtown Los Angeles following Saturday’s massive “No Kings Day” rally that drew thousands opposing President Trump’s immigration policies and celebrating the event that coincided with demonstrations in over 2,100 cities nationwide.
The Los Angeles Police Department reported 38 arrests during Saturday’s demonstration, including 35 for violating the 8 p.m. downtown curfew, one for failure to disperse, one for resisting arrest, and one for resisting, obstructing or delaying a police officer. Since the daily protests began on June 7, LAPD has made 561 arrests related to protest activity, and 12 officers have been injured.
“During the crowd control situation, numerous less-lethal munitions were used,” LAPD stated in a media release. Three officers were injured during Saturday’s protests, according to the department, which corrected an earlier statement from Police Chief Jim McDonnell who initially claimed seven officers were hurt.
The downtown curfew, which covers approximately one square mile from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., will continue until further notice, according to Mayor Karen Bass, who described the measure as “successful” in controlling violence and vandalism.
“I look at today and I’m very disappointed,” Chief McDonnell said Saturday night. “We started out with a very peaceful protest earlier in the day. About mid-afternoon or so, then it got violent when you had the agitators in the group start assaulting officers with missiles, rocks, bottles, fireworks, and they had a high-ground position on the officers.”
According to LAPD, the confrontation escalated around 3:50 p.m. when the march passed the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and “people in the crowd started throwing rocks, bricks, bottles and other objects.” Police and county sheriff’s deputies deployed smoke and flash-bangs while moving protesters away from the federal building.
Some protesters blamed law enforcement for the escalation. “They came in super, super hard and aggressive, and that’s what created all of this,” one protester told CBS News Los Angeles. “No warning. They just masked up.”
Meanwhile, Sheriff Robert Luna defended officers’ actions: “The only time our deputy sheriffs are utilizing that less-lethal weapon is when they are being attacked or others are being attacked. They’re not just using it indiscriminately.”
The ongoing protests, which began in response to ICE raids across Southern California, have cost Los Angeles over $11.4 million through Friday, according to earlier reports from City Controller Kenneth Mejia.
A federal court hearing scheduled for Tuesday will determine whether President Trump or Governor Gavin Newsom will control future National Guard activity in the city. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer initially ruled that Trump’s federalization of the Guard didn’t follow proper procedure, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily stayed this ruling pending appeal.
The next LAPD update on arrests connected to protest activity is expected Monday morning.
