Troops in LA can detain individuals, official says, as protests spread across US

US troops in Los Angeles to help manage protests are authorised to detain people until police can arrest them, a military official said on Wednesday, as hundreds of Marines prepared to move into the city soon.

Protests over President Donald Trump's immigration raids have spread from California to other US cities, with hundreds of nationwide demonstrations planned for Saturday.

Trump's decision to dispatch troops to Los Angeles over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom has sparked a national debate on the use of the military on US soil. Newsom has sued the administration, seeking to block the deployment of troops.

The 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops that Trump has ordered to Los Angeles do not have arrest authority, US Army Major General Scott Sherman, who is commanding the troops, told reporters.

But Sherman said they do have the power to detain individuals temporarily until law enforcement can arrest them, if needed to fulfill their mission of protecting federal personnel or property.

The Marines, who have been training at Seal Beach just south of Los Angeles County, will not carry live ammunition in their rifles, Sherman added.

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Sherman's comments reflect regular rules of engagement and did not reflect an expansion of authorities.

In addition to protecting government buildings and personnel, the Pentagon has said the troops will safeguard Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during raids.

ICE posted photos online on Tuesday of National Guard troops standing guard with weapons in hand as ICE officers handcuffed apparent migrants against the side of a car in Los Angeles.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta told Reuters on Tuesday that allowing federal troops to protect personnel could violate an 1878 law that generally forbids the US military, including the National Guard, from taking part in civilian law enforcement.

"Protecting personnel likely means accompanying ICE agents into communities and neighborhoods, and protecting functions could mean protecting the ICE function of enforcing the immigration law," Bonta said.

Sherman did not give a specific number of raids troops had accompanied ICE agents on but told reporters that about 1,000 troops had taken part in operations to protect federal buildings and law enforcement.

Trump says the military deployment in Los Angeles prevented violence, which has included protesters throwing projectiles at officers, from raging out of control, an assertion Newsom and other local officials have said was untrue.

The protests, which erupted on Friday in protest at federal immigration raids in the city, have been largely peaceful and limited to about five downtown streets.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass imposed a curfew over one square mile of the city's downtown starting on Tuesday night after some businesses were looted.

The Los Angeles Police Department said it arrested 225 people on Tuesday, including 203 for failing to disperse and 17 for violating the curfew.

PROTESTS SPREAD

Protesters marched in New York, Atlanta and Chicago on Tuesday night, chanting anti-ICE slogans and at times clashing with law enforcement. Police in Austin, Texas, fired tear gas and pepper balls in a standoff with demonstrators on Monday.

The governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, said he will deploy the National Guard on Wednesday ahead of planned protests in San Antonio and other parts of the state, making him the first governor to take that step.

The protests are set to expand on Saturday, when several activist groups have planned more than 1,800 anti-Trump demonstrations across the country. That day, tanks and other armored vehicles will rumble down the streets of Washington, DC, in a military parade marking the US Army's 250th anniversary and coinciding with Trump's 79th birthday.

A coalition calling itself "No Kings" has planned demonstrations and other events in over 1,800 locations across the US on Saturday.

Trump has warned that any protesters at the parade will be met by "very big force." Thousands of agents, officers and specialists are being deployed from law enforcement agencies across the country for the parade.

The No Kings coalition includes over 100 civil rights and other groups and says it is planning peaceful protests against Trump and his administration's policies.

'LIBERATE LOS ANGELES'

The standoff in Los Angeles is the most intense flashpoint in the Trump administration's efforts to deport migrants living in the country illegally.

The Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, said on Monday that ICE had arrested 2,000 immigration offenders per day recently, far above the daily average of 311 in fiscal year 2024 under former President Joe Biden.

An immigration raid on Tuesday at a meat production plant in Omaha, Nebraska, was the "largest worksite enforcement operation" in the state during the Trump presidency, DHS said. Republican Congressman Don Bacon told local media that 75 to 80 people were detained.

The company, Glenn Valley Foods, said it was surprised by the raid and had followed the rules regarding immigration status.