Police Order Protesters To Leave Downtown Los Angeles

Protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles continue for a third day, with police saying downtown LA is now an “unlawful assembly” area.

Vehicles have been set on fire and there have been some reports of looting.

A British photographer needed surgery after being shot with a sponge bullet, while an Australian reporter was shot with a non-lethal round while reporting.

Donald Trump says “things look really bad in LA”, and adds: “Bring in the troops!”.

The president has already called in the National Guard – against the wishes of California’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

The protests have been mainly limited to downtown LA – our correspondent Peter Bowes says things seemed quieter on Sunday night, after a violent day.

Sam Nunberg, a strategist on Trump’s 2016 campaign, says the president is trying to “carry out the law” and the situation would have escalated if the White House hadn’t deployed the National Guard.

Speaking to BBC’s Today programme, Nunberg says California prides itself with not cooperating with immigration authorities and claims the state is at the “forefront of lawlessness”, particularly in regard to illegal immigration. This will not be accepted by the White House, he says.

“These people have no right to be in this country. It’s one of the main reasons President Trump was elected.”

Asked whether the deployment of the National Guard – without the governor’s permission – was a proportionate response Nunberg says: “It’s only provocative to people who don’t agree with the policy.”

As a reminder, California Governor Gavin Newsom has called Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard an “illegal” and “immoral” act and threatened to sue the administration.

BBC