Protests are ongoing in Los Angeles, California after ICE officers begun conducting raids in the city to deport illegal immigrants at the start of the weekend. ICE is being criticised for avoiding the legal due process, acting beyond the limits of the law and using authoritarian methods on their suspects and detainees. ICE has also been reported for excessive use of authority on Europeans living in the United States.
Protestors in Los Angeles went in front of the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building where ICE detainees are being held and threw rocks at ICE personnel and police officers. There are no reports of ICE officers being seriously injured as a result of the protests, but there are various reports of protesters with head wounds. Some rioters also torched cars and attempted to torch buildings. Police officers are currently guarding the Metropolitan Detention Center in North Alameda Street.
US President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles to quell the riots while the US Defense Secretary has claimed that if the “violence continues” he will deploy the US Marines.
The last time US government troops deployed its troops against civilians was in 1992 in Los Angeles during the Rodney King Riots. The Rodney King riots were sparked after four police officers, who had brutally beaten Rodney King in the street following a high-speed chase, were acquitted in court. Their acquittal sparked massive riots, looting and violence that left 63 people dead. Previous to this incident, the last time US troops were deployed against civilians was in 1968 after Martin Luther King’s assassination during riots in Washington.
Newsroom
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