The Brief

A third day of protests Sunday turned Los Angeles into a "tinderbox," according to Mayor Karen Bass, as law enforcement clashed with demonstrators over a series of federal immigration raids.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a Saturday post on X that it had arrested 118 immigrants during operations in Los Angeles last week. Since then, demonstrators protesting the raids have clashed with police in Los Angeles, Paramount and neighboring Compton.

Police deployed tear gas and pepper spray as protesters gathered outside a detention center on Sunday. Some of the immigrants detained by ICE agents were initially held at the facility.

President Trump said he would deploy 2,000 National Guard soldiers in response to the protests. In a social media post, Trump attacked what he called "Radical Left protests" by "instigators and often paid troublemakers."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the Trump administration's deployment of the National Guard was not necessary and was "inflaming tensions."

Elsewhere in California, police in San Francisco said 60 people had been arrested Sunday night and at least three officers were injured when police clashed with protesters demonstrating in that city's downtown in support of the Los Angeles protests against the immigration raids.

Here's what to know about what happened in Los Angeles over the weekend.

California Highway Patrol officers work to clear protesters blocking the 101 freeway on June 8, 2025, in Los Angeles.

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1: Protesters clashed with police and troops on Sunday

In downtown Los Angeles Sunday, two protests converged near the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison where immigrants were held. The demonstrations grew rowdy and tense. NPR reporters say tear gas was deployed and an "unlawful assembly" was declared from a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter.

The police wrote on X that they were conducting arrests and people were throwing "concrete, bottles and other objects." By Sunday evening, LAist reported that Los Angeles police had arrested 10 and the California Highway Patrol arrested another 17 people on the 101 Freeway.

The LAPD also authorized the use of "less lethal munitions." Several cars were burned in the streets in connection with the clashes.

Earlier in the day, demonstrators said the protests had been mostly peaceful.

"Everybody here wants to be peaceful," Anna Benedict told LAist. "We've been standing here for quite a while, and no one is menacing the National Guard. Everybody is just standing up for their own freedom."

Demonstrators attended protests around the city. Many were responding to ICE actions from previous days.

ICE operations targeted multiple locations across the Los Angeles area, and in some cases demonstrators tried to block the transport of detained immigrants. Authorities used flash bangs, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse crowds. One particularly contentious confrontation occurred at a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, just outside Los Angeles.

"We have to stand united against the attacks on the immigrant community because an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us," Eli Lockwood told LAist.

2: Trump warned more troops could come

By Sunday morning, around 300 California National Guard troops had been deployed at three sites around Los Angeles, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, deputy director of communications for Gov. Newsom, told NPR by email.

On Sunday evening, Trump told reporters that the federal government would ensure there's "law and order." He described the Los Angeles protests as a "riot" and said that justified calling in the National Guard to support ICE agents.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X Saturday that active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton also were on high alert and would also be mobilized "if violence continues."

Trump said he could also deploy troops to more cities. ICE actions sparked protests in multiple cities across the country, including Minneapolis and Chicago.

"We're going to have troops everywhere. We're not going to let this happen to our country. We're not gonna let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden and his autopen," Trump said Sunday. (The reference to an "autopen" comes after Trump last week ordered an investigation into whether his predecessor Joe Biden used an autopen to sign documents in office).

This is the first time since the 1960s that the federal government has called up National Guard troops without a governor's consent.

Law enforcement clash with demonstrators in front of a federal building during a protest in Los Angeles on Sunday.

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Etienne Laurent

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3: Local authorities pushed back on Trump — hard

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on All Things Considered on Sunday that coordination with federalized National Guard troops is "collaborative, at this point" but she was critical of Trump's decision to deploy them.

"I believe that these raids and now the federalization of troops to come into Los Angeles is an intentional effort to sow chaos," Bass said. She called the city a "tinderbox" and said, "I do not want to see civil unrest take place in this city and I think bringing the National Guard in is provocative."

Newsom said on social media that he formally asked Trump to rescind the "unlawful" deployment Sunday.

"We didn't have a problem until Trump got involved," Newsom wrote. "This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they're actually needed."

The Democratic Governors Association issued a statement calling Trump's National Guard deployment "an alarming abuse of power."

"Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state's governor is ineffective and dangerous," read the statement, which included the names of 22 Democratic governors.

4: It sets the stage for more clashes

President Trump and conservative media have labeled the protests in Los Angeles as a "riot" and said that justified deploying the National Guard.

"I think it was a riot. I think it was very bad. It was covered as a riot by almost everybody," Trump said before leaving for Camp David from New Jersey Sunday evening. He questioned the ability of local officials to bring the protests under control and said the federal government would ensure there's "law and order."

Trump appears likely to continue his administration's ramped up immigration enforcement in his second term, after running on a promise to conduct mass deportations.

At Camp David, Trump said he plans to meet with people, including generals and admirals. Asked about sending Marines and protests in other cities, Trump left open that possibility.

"The bar is what I think it is. I mean, If we see danger to our country and to our citizens, we'll be very, very strong in terms of law and order. It's about law and order," Trump said.

The Democratic governors, in their statement, said they are capable of maintaining order.

"It's important we respect the executive authority of our country's governors to manage their National Guards — and we stand with Governor Newsom who has made it clear that violence is unacceptable and that local authorities should be able to do their jobs without the chaos of this federal interference and intimidation," they wrote in their statement.
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May gray has come and gone, and now it's time for June gloom.

Overcast skies will be present this morning, especially along the beaches and valleys closest to the coast. Otherwise, we're in for a partly cloudy afternoon.

Today's temperatures at L.A. County beaches will stay around 66 to 71 degrees, and reach 76 to 80 degrees for places more inland.

In Orange County, expect similar temperatures with highs from 67 to 74 degrees for Huntington Beach and surrounding areas. More inland areas like Anaheim and Garden Grove will see temperatures of up to 79 degrees.

Moving on to L.A. County valleys, expect high temperatures in the low to mid 80s.

In the Inland Empire, temperatures will range 80 to 89 degrees.

Election Day is here, but now comes the waiting.

Do you have something to watch on Netflix? Maybe you've been meaning to pick up a hobby — how about crochet? Whatever you do, take a deep breath and keep busy because it could be days (or weeks) before we get some California election results.

The state is often knocked by the rest of the country as being "slow" to count votes. But here's the deal: that's a feature, not a bug, of the election system.

The backstory

Things take a while here largely because California works so hard to expand the ways people can vote. For example:

• Californians in recent years overwhelmingly vote by mail — nearly 90% of votes cast in the 2024 presidential election were mail-in ballots. In that same year's primary the percentage was just as high. Those ballots can be postmarked up to and including Election Day. They're counted as long as the ballot arrives within seven days (for the June primary, that's June 9).
• California offers same-day voter registration at any voting center. These new voters must cast a provisional ballot, which is counted once election officials confirm their eligibility (they are overwhelmingly accepted — for example, Los Angeles County reports that historically between 85% to 90% have been counted.
• Voters also have the right to cast provisional ballots if there's any problem on election day — like if poll workers aren't able to void an outstanding mail-in ballot, or if there’s any issue calling up voter information from e-pollbooks. Again (see above), provisionals take longer to process because eligibility has to be confirmed.
• Vote-by-mail ballots require signature matching. When the one received doesn't match the one on file, county registrars must contact that voter to let them know — and give them the chance to correct it.
• And, with more than 23 million registered voters, we're really, really big. In the 2024 general election more than 16 million Californians voted (down from nearly 18 million in the 2020 presidential election). Either way, that’s more people than the total populations of all but three other states.

Why things have sped up, some

But things have sped up considerably in the 30 counties that have adopted a 2016 law called the Voter's Choice Act, including L.A., Orange and Riverside counties. In recent elections, the changes associated with that law — like voters not being locked into a designated polling location — drastically cut down the number of provisional ballots cast, which helped move things along faster than they had before.

A closer look at ballot counting times in California where an increasing number of vote-by-mail ballots has slowed ballot counts.

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Still, accuracy and a commitment to "expanding the franchise" — translation: allowing more people to vote — means the process is not designed to produce instantaneous results.

Why you should take a deep breath Election Night

You'll have to get that endorphin hit elsewhere on June 2.

A few things to keep in mind: You may recall that during the 2024 primary, it took about a week to call the results for L.A. City Council races in District 4, where incumbent Nithya Raman was fighting to avoid a runoff election, and District 14, where challenger Ysabel Jurado wound up overtaking incumbent Kevin de León by just a few hundred votes.

It took an even longer 15 days to call the results of Prop. 1, during which opponents conceded, walked back that concession, and conceded again when the measure won by a razor-thin 0.4% margin. And it took 23 days to call the second-place winner for Orange County's 45th congressional district — it ultimately went to Democrat Derek Tran who went on to beat Republican Michelle Steel in the general election. Tran is now up for reelection and rematch with Steel is considered likely in November.

Depending on how close some of these races end up being, we may face similar waits this election cycle.

TL;DR: Officially, county and state election officials have until July 10 to certify election results — including a mandatory audit that requires hand-counting all of the ballots at 1% of precincts. Nevertheless, you're going to see a lot of national media headlines about California's relative "slowness." Brush it off. We have sunshine, beaches, and a highly enfranchised population.