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Dozens of protesters have been arrested following a weekend of violence across Los Angeles as tensions hit a boiling point over immigration raids throughout the city.
On Sunday, law enforcement officials from multiple agencies arrested 41 protesters as anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demonstrations spiraled out of control.
Of the nearly four-dozen arrests, 21 were made by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), 19 by California Highway Patrol and one by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
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The charges include failure to disperse, assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, looting and arson, an LAPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Of the most violent alleged offenses, one individual was arrested for attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail, Fox News Digital has learned.
On Saturday, the LAPD arrested 10 individuals for failing to disperse. The agency did not make any arrests Friday, according to officials.
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The California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The arrests come as the sanctuary city is bracing for the possibility of more violence as anti-ICE protesters clash with local, state and federal law enforcement.
The protests kicked off on Friday after federal agents swept through the city’s garment district in search of undocumented immigrants, sparking outrage throughout the community.
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In response to the unrest, President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 California National Guard troops to the area, with 300 troops arriving over the weekend.
“We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday morning. “If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.”
Tensions escalated on the third day of protests as agitators moved throughout the city, setting self-driving cars on fire and blocking off major highways.
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National Guard troops took to the streets Sunday morning to guard the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. As the protesters approached the guard members, additional uniformed officers began shooting smoke-filled canisters into the street.
The LAPD began firing off rounds of crowd-control munitions in an effort to disperse the protesters, who then advanced onto the 101 Freeway and proceeded to block traffic until state police cleared the roadway by late afternoon.
Additionally, demonstrators set at least four self-driving electric vehicles on fire, resulting in large explosions being heard throughout the chaos along with intermittent flash bangs going off periodically. By Sunday night, local police had issued an unlawful assembly order, effectively shutting down the area throughout downtown Los Angeles.
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“Demonstrators have marched to the LA Live area and are blocking all lanes of traffic on Figueroa and 11th St,” the LAPD posted to X. “An UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY has been declared for the Downtown Los Angeles area. You are to leave the area immediately.”
Trump’s move to send in the U.S. military has drawn criticism from local and national politicians, with Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom renouncing the move while vowing to sue the administration.
“This is about authoritarian tendencies,” Newsom said in a statement. “This is about command and control. This is about power. This is about ego. This is a consistent pattern. This guy has abandoned the core principles of this great democracy. He’s threatening to go after judges he disagrees with, cut off funding to institutions of higher learning, he’s rewriting history and censoring historical facts.”
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Newsom arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday evening to meet with state officials and oversee the response to the anti-ICE demonstrations.
ICE said in a Saturday post on X that the agency had arrested 118 illegal immigrants throughout Los Angeles, including five alleged gang members.
“Why do Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass care more about violent murderers and sex offenders than they do about protecting their own citizens?” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for Homeland Security’s public affairs, said in a statement. “These rioters in Los Angeles are fighting to keep rapists, murderers, and other violent criminals loose on Los Angeles streets. Instead of rioting, they should be thanking ICE officers every single day who wake up and make our communities safer.”
Representatives for Bass’ administration did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
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