University of Kwazulu-Natal

Officers Deploy Tear Gas And Storm Protestors At Federal Detention

Bonisiwe Shabane
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officers deploy tear gas and storm protestors at federal detention

Media coverage of this Summer’s events in Los Angeles focused largely on President Donald Trump’s unprecedented decision to send the California National Guard and U.S. Marines to quell protests against immigration raids. But another federal force has gotten less attention: The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service (FPS), which deployed numerous agents to the streets of Los Angeles. Charged with protecting federal buildings, FPS has sweeping police powers that go far beyond that mandate and make the agency vulnerable to political weaponization. Its presence in Los Angeles may be an opening salvo, as similar protests crop up in cities around the country. State and local authorities in California and nationwide should act fast to prevent the abuse of their resources and mitigate harm.

Thanks to permissive laws enacted by Congress in the early war-on-terror years, FPS has broad authority to augment its core workforce of roughly 1,300 employees and 13,000 contract guards by drawing on a pool... In Los Angeles, some FPS-activated border patrol agents—a group with little training in crowd control and a history of alleged human rights violations and sexual abuse—fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters. Reporting indicates that the “special operations” division of border patrol—a unit that previously deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan—descended upon Los Angeles, followed by more units. DHS appears to have deployed Predator drones to conduct overhead surveillance. A review I conducted of insignia, uniforms, and locations across numerous videos, images, and reports online shows FPS officers, border patrol agents, and special response teams in Los Angeles firing tear gas, projectiles, and... This is a massive show of force against protesters that, in some instances, have numbered only in the “dozens” or “hundreds,” with the likely effect of intimidating others from exercising their right to dissent...

Read More: What the National Guard Crackdown in LA Made Us See Eric Thayer, Associated Press Eric Thayer, Associated Press Jason Dearen, Associated Press Jason Dearen, Associated Press Jake Offenhartz, Associated Press Jake Offenhartz, Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tensions in Los Angeles escalated Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Donald Trump's extraordinary deployment of the National Guard, blocking off a major... Some police patrolled the streets on horseback while others with riot gear lined up behind Guard troops deployed to protect federal facilities including a detention center where some immigrants were taken in recent days.

Members of the National Guard faced off with protesters in Los Angeles on Sunday, and tear gas was fired at a growing crowd that gathered outside a federal complex hours after the federal troops... (AP video: Eugene Garcia) Sporadic confrontations broke out again Saturday in the heavily Latino satellite city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles, the second day of clashes between hundreds of protesters and federal immigration authorities in riot gear. Agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls, and protesters hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol patrol vehicles. (AP video shot by Eric Thayer) Tear gas and smoke filled the air on the southern outskirts of Los Angeles on Saturday as confrontations between immigration authorities and demonstrators extended into a second day and top Trump administration officials vowed...

(AP video shot by Eugene Garcia) Protesters clashed with police on Friday evening outside a federal detention center in Los Angeles after U.S. immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people. Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the center where they believed those arrested had been taken, chanting “Free them all”. Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks stood guard outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount, deploying tear gas as bystanders and protesters gathered after U.S. immigration authorities extended activity in the Los Angeles area Saturday.

More than 1,000 protestors gathered outside a federal detention center in Los Angeles on Friday night following a series of high-profile ICE raids across the city. Earlier in the day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted enforcement operations at several downtown LA businesses, including a Home Depot. Multiple individuals were taken into custody during the raids. As federal agents attempted to leave the scenes, they were met with fierce resistance from protestors who threw projectiles, including eggs, and blocked ICE transport vans. The FBI was called to assist. #BREAKING Protesters surround federal detention center in Los Angeles, California as ICE raids continue.

pic.twitter.com/xKxkybAzpZ — Fast News Network (@fastnewsnet) June 7, 2025 Following the confrontations, a crowd of protestors marched to the federal detention center on Alameda Street, surrounding the facility and escalating tensions further. Some protestors vandalized the building and engaged in physical altercations with law enforcement personnel. This is a developing story…please refresh page for updates. More than 1,000 protestors surrounded a federal detention center in Los Angeles on Friday evening following multiple ICE raids.

Earlier Friday, ICE agents descended on multiple businesses in downtown Los Angeles, including a Home Depot, and carried out immigration raids on Friday. Far-left protestors clashed with federal agents as they conducted their raids. The protestors threw projectiles at agents and blocked vans from leaving. Some protestors threw eggs at the federal agents. The FBI arrived on the scene. The LA County Sheriff’s Department deployed more than 100 deputies on Saturday in response the unrest in Paramount.

Tracey Leong reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on June 7, 2025. As the Trump administration pushes back against protesters following the widespread immigration raids in Los Angeles, federal police officers showed out in full force to disperse crowds in downtown Los Angeles Saturday. Following another clash between protesters and federal officials outside the Home Depot store in Paramount Saturday morning, a large group began gathering in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center where undocumented immigrants were held. Stream Los Angeles News for free, 24/7, wherever you are. When crowds grew, dozens of federal police officers emerged from the building, firing pepper balls and flash grenades to aggressively push back protesters.

LOS ANGELES — Hundreds of National Guard troops dispatched by President Donald Trump arrived here Sunday, a move Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called “unconstitutional,” as protesters continued demonstrating against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

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