Mayor imposes curfew in downtown LA
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Protesters rally in front of California National Guard soldiers and LAPD officers guarding the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass imposed a curfew in downtown LA on Tuesday during a fifth straight day of fiery protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
The big picture: The curfew that will be in effect from 8pm Tuesday to 6am Wednesday local time comes as Bass moves to address looting and vandalism that have occurred during the protests and as the Trump administration and Democratic leaders are embroiled in a standoff over a response.
- President Trump has said he used a rare legal provision to federalize 4,000 members of the California National Guard and mobilized some 700 Marines to "restore order," but local and state officials oppose the move and blamed him for escalating the situation.
Driving the news: "I wanted to let the city know that I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting," Bass said at an evening briefing.
- Bass expects the curfew to remain in place for a few days and said she didn't want to minimize the "vandalism and violence" in the city that she described as "significant," but "it is extremely important to know that what is happening in this 1 square mile is not affecting the city."
- She added: "Some of the imagery of the protests and the violence gives the appearance that this is a city-wide crisis, and it is not."
What we're watching: A federal judge on Tuesday declined California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) request for an immediate restraining order to stop the president from deploying military personnel to enforce immigration law and granted the Trump administration's request for more time to respond to the governor's filing.
- The federal government has until 2pm Wednesday ET to file its response, and the state will have an opportunity to file its opposition ahead of a scheduled Thursday hearing, per the judge's order.
More from Axios:
- LA protests ignite anti-ICE demonstrations across the country
- Los Angeles protests add friction to Trump's feud with California
- Nearly half of U.S. adults disapprove of Trump's handling of protests: Poll
- Unrestrained Trump flirts with Insurrection Act as Marines deploy to LA
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
