Newsom slams Trump’s ‘brazen abuse of power’ as LA mayor imposes curfew

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California condemned President Donald Trump’s deployment of the military to quell protests in Los Angeles as a “brazen abuse of power,” saying the president escalated the situation by choosing “theatrics over public safety.” He addressed the state even as thousands of demonstrators spilled into streets nationwide to oppose the administration’s workplace immigration raids and crackdown on dissent.

The governor’s speech came about an hour after Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles announced an 8 pm curfew for downtown after several days of unrest in the blocks around the federal building, where the mayor said the demonstrations have resulted in “significant” violence and vandalism. Some businesses downtown have boarded up their windows.

Across the nation, thousands of demonstrators showed public resistance to Trump’s immigration policies, which have prompted the raids of businesses and deportation of migrants.

“Trump is pulling a military dragnet all across Los Angeles,” Newsom said, to catch, detain and deport people like dishwashers, gardeners and seamstresses. Newsom called those moves “weakness masquerading as strength.”

In Chicago, they chanted anti-ICE and anti-Trump slogans while marching through the city. In New York, blocks of protesters walked together through the streets after assembling in lower Manhattan near a large government building that houses federal immigration offices and the city’s main immigration court.

The protests came as a federal judge in California set a hearing for Thursday afternoon on the state’s request to restrict the federal government’s use of Marines and National Guard troops in the Los Angeles area, limiting them only to protecting federal property.

The request had sought an emergency order by 1 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday declaring that the Marines and other troops could not accompany immigration agents on raids or perform other law enforcement activities, such as operating checkpoints. But the judge, Charles S. Breyer, declined to meet that deadline.

The Marines’ arrival Tuesday, after a night of small and mostly peaceful protests in Los Angeles, enraged Democratic leaders in California. They say city and state law enforcement departments have been able to handle the unrest.

While speaking to troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on Tuesday, President Donald Trump addressed the protests, calling Los Angeles “a trash heap” and promising to “liberate” the city.

Here’s what else to know:

Other cities: More protests were planned for Wednesday in places like Seattle, St. Louis and Indianapolis. Trump threatened that protesters elsewhere would be met with “equal or greater force” than those in Los Angeles.

Legal fight: The motion for an emergency order is part of an earlier lawsuit asking the court to intervene in Trump’s deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, which local officials have called unnecessary and provocative. The state argues that the president unconstitutionally bypassed Gov. Gavin Newsom in sending them.

Arrests: Hundreds of people have been arrested in at least five cities since Friday, including more than 300 people in Los Angeles, more than 240 in San Francisco and a dozen in Austin, Texas, officials said. The encounters have turned tense at times, but the protests have remained largely peaceful and confined to only small sections of cities.

Damage: Bass said that 23 businesses in downtown Los Angeles had been looted and that graffiti caused “significant damages” in a small part of a huge city. “Some of the imagery of the protests and the violence gives the appearance as though this is a citywide crisis, and it’s not.”

Disinformation swirls: Misleading photographs and videos about the protests have spread widely on social media, rehashing old conspiracy theories and expressing support for Trump’s actions. The flood of falsehoods online appeared intended to stoke outrage toward immigrants and political leaders, particularly Democrats, and added to the confusion over what exactly was happening on the streets of Los Angeles.

Weekend warning: Trump, speaking to reporters Tuesday, warned against protesting at the military parade planned for Saturday in Washington. Peaceful protest is a constitutional right. But, Trump said, “for those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.”