400 Arrested in Los Angeles on First Night Of Riot Curfew; 330 Illegal Aliens

A new citywide curfew led to hundreds of arrests in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, with some calm returning to the city on Wednesday.

The curfew was issued by Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday following 5 days of unrest so intense that the President Donald Trump had to send in thousands of activated National Guard troops and Marines. The curfew goes from 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM and covers Downtown Los Angeles and surround districts, including the Arts District, Skid Row, the Fashion District, and Chinatown. By area, it covers all of Los Angeles from within the triangle shaped area between the 5, 10 and 110 freeways to the 110 freeway and the 10 freeway to where the 110 freeway and 5 freeway merge.

“I am exercising my mayoral powers to implement a curfew within Downtown Los Angeles to curb bad actors who do not support the immigrant community. If you do not live or work in Downtown L.A., avoid the area. Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew, and you will be prosecuted,” said Mayor Bass in a statement. “The raids must end. I thank the Governor for his partnership and especially thank our state and local officers and deputies who are working tirelessly to keep Los Angeles safe.”

The LAPD, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies wound up having a busy night. With many protesters still in the area at 8 P.M., law enforcement moved in. Before midnight, around 200 had been arrested. By the time 6 A.M. rolled around, nearly 400 were arrested. Of these, 330 were found to be illegal immigrants. 157 in total were arrested for the charges of assault and obstruction. Other charges included 203 people arrested for failure to disperse, 17 for curfew violations, three for possession of a firearm, and one for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

The Department of Justice was also busy, as they were beginning to prosecute the more grievous charges. Two men – Long Beach resident Wrackkie Quiogue and Mexican illegal immigrant Emiliano Garduno Galvez – were charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device. As they had Molotov cocktails in their possession when they were arrested over the weekend, they now face up to ten years in prison, with Galvez to be deported following any jail sentence.

“When protesting crosses the line into violence, the penalties will be severe,” said United States Attorney Bill Essayli on Wednesday. “Possessing a Molotov cocktail or another destructive device is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison. The vile attacks like the ones alleged in these complaints could have resulted in life-altering or life-ending injuries to police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and innocent bystanders. We will not relent in dispensing swift justice to criminals who take advantage of our country’s freedoms to engage in lawlessness.”

With police now cracking down significantly more, and the 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines being deployed more extensively, a growing peace settled across Los Angeles on Wednesday while at the same time ICE continued on with raids across the county and new anti-ICE demonstrations in places like New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Austin intensified. Despite this, even Attorney General Pam Bondi admitted that the curfews “helped a bit”.

The growing calm in Los Angeles on Wednesday was noted by many, with law enforcement agents getting praise from many. President Trump also received praise from some over his actions. In a post, Special Presidential Envoy Ric Grenell said that the riots would have gone on for much longer if it wasn’t for Trump’s intervention.

“Thank God Donald Trump acted quickly to send in more law enforcement officials to Los Angeles – he saved us,” posted Grenell. “The riots would have gone on for days with hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Gavin Newsom has now rushed to the San Francisco courts, not Los Angeles, to find the most Left wing judges to play politics.”

In addition, Trump also noted his role in the growing peace in the city on Wednesday.

“If our troops didn’t go into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now, just like so much of their housing burned to the ground,” added Trump. “The great people of Los Angeles are very lucky that I made the decision to go in and help!!!”

Meanwhile, Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom continued to blame the Trump administration for exacerbating the unrest. Bass herself appeared with 30 regional Mayors on Wednesday calling for an end to ICE raids to help stop the protests once and for all.

“Donald Trump’s immigration raids provoked residents by causing fear and panic,” said Bass on Wednesday. “A week ago, everything was peaceful. Things began to be difficult on Friday when raids took place. Los Angeles was part of a national experiment to determine how far the federal government can go in taking over power from a local government, from a local jurisdiction.”

The same area in Los Angeles is expected to be under curfew for the second night in a row on Wednesday going into Thursday. More arrests are likely despite fewer protesters likely to be out Wednesday night.