President Donald Trump said he authorized their deployment amid the riots.
President Donald Trump announced on June 8 that he is directing top military officials and prosecutors to “liberate Los Angeles” amid ongoing riots related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the city.
“A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,” Trump said in a post on social media platform Truth Social. “Now violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations—But these lawless riots only strengthen our resolve.”
The president said he was directing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi “to take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots.”
“Order will be restored, the Illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free,” Trump said.
National Guard troops were also confirmed to be in Los Angeles after Trump ordered their deployment over the weekend, following days of protests and riots in the city.
The U.S. Northern Command confirmed in a post on social media platform X on the morning of June 8 that the California National Guard had started deploying troops in the Los Angeles area and that some members “are already on the ground.”
#USNORTHCOM can confirm that elements of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from the California National Guard have begun deploying to the Los Angeles area, with some already on the ground. Additional information will be provided as units are identified and deployed. pic.twitter.com/BxqZM2YG1G
— U.S. Northern Command (@USNorthernCmd) June 8, 2025
“Additional information will be provided as units are identified and deployed,” the military stated.
Later on June 8, members of the National Guard faced off with demonstrators, and tear gas was eventually fired at a growing crowd near a federal complex in the city, according to video footage. The confrontation broke out in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, as a group shouted insults at members of the guard lined shoulder to shoulder behind plastic riot shields.
Members of California’s National Guard were seen staging early on June 8 at the federal complex in downtown Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, one of several sites where confrontations involving hundreds of people have taken place over the past few days.
The troops included members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a social media post from the U.S. Northern Command that showed dozens of National Guard members with long guns and an armored vehicle.
By Jack Phillips and Joseph Lord
