LOS ANGELES, June 8, 2025 (UPI) -- National Guardsmen called up by President Donald Trump to curb the demonstrations arrived Sunday morning, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he might send in U.S. Marines if necessary to aid them.
The U.S. Northern Command confirmed the arrival of troops in a post to social media, noting that the troops deployed to the Los Angeles area are from its 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
"The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE," Hegseth said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said late Saturday that Hegseth's "threat" to deploy active-duty Marines on U.S. soil was "deranged behavior" as he encouraged protestors not to give the administration the "spectacle" it desires.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department arrested one person overnight in Paramount, a city in Los Angeles County, amid ongoing protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, officials said Sunday.
The sheriff's department confirmed the arrest by email to UPI but did not provide any further details about the arrest. More protests were planned for outside of Los Angeles City Hall on Sunday.
Protesters clashed with police in riot gear in Los Angeles on Saturday as outrage mounted over a series of ICE raids carried out last week across southern California.
Trump then ordered 2,000 members of the National Guard to Los Angeles, later thanking them Saturday night for their "good job" in handling the protests.
"Great job by the National Guard in Los Angeles after two days of violence, clashes and unrest," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. "These radical left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will not be tolerated."
The veracity of Trump's statement fell into question, however, as the first National Guard troops — about 300, according to reports out of Los Angeles — did not arrive until Sunday morning.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said afterward on social media that no National Guardsmen had yet arrived. "Just to be clear, the National Guard has not been deployed in the City of Los Angeles," she said.
Newsom later referenced a post from Kristi Noem, the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who in 2024 had said that if then-President Joe Biden had federalized the National Guard, it would have been a "direct attack on states' rights."
Trump, who pardoned mask-wearing demonstrators who rioted at the U.S. Capitol in 2021, also said protesters would not be allowed to wear masks.
Demonstrators have criticized ICE officers for also wearing masks while conducting raids. Federal law does not explicitly forbid them from wearing masks but they are required by law to clearly identify themselves with badges or patches and to state their identity in an arrest.
"Masks will not be allowed to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why?" Trump said of the protesters. "Again, thank you to the National Guard for a job well done!" The streets were quiet in Los Angeles around 7 a.m. local time, The New York Times reported.
Meanwhile, the Northern California Coalition for Just Immigration Reform said Saturday that it would be organizing a protest rally outside the California State Capitol on Monday.
"The Trump administration's baseless deployment of the National Guard is plainly retaliation against California, a stronghold for immigrant communities, and is akin to a declaration of war on all Californians," the ACLU's division in southern California said in a statement.
"The only threat to safety today is the masked goon squads that the Trump administration has deployed to terrorize the communities of Los Angeles County," the organization said.
Protestors face off with Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies during a protest against ICE and immigration raids on the Alvarado Boulevard Long Beach (710) Freeway in Paramount, California on Saturday, June 7, 2025. The Trump administration said it would send 2,000 National Guard troops into Los Angeles after a second day in which protesters confronted immigration agents during raids of local businesses. Photo: UPI / Jim Ruymen
