LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Sporadic violence and a police dispersal order capped a day of largely peaceful demonstrations that brought tens of thousands of people into downtown Los Angeles and throughout the Southland to protest the policies of the Trump administration during the nationwide “No Kings Day of Defiance.”
Los Angeles Police Department officials said they would release more details about arrests and other enforcement outcomes on Sunday.
The largest crowd massed Saturday in downtown Los Angeles but demonstrators also rallied in other city of Los Angeles communities and in nearby cities including Long Beach, Santa Monica, Culver City and Torrance along with Anaheim, Tustin and other parts of Orange County.
During the downtown Los Angeles march, protesters carried a variety of flags and protest signs including a large balloon figure depicting President Donald Trump as a baby wearing a diaper.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who had urged the crowds to remain lawful, later told KTLA5 that most of Saturday’s demonstrators followed that advice.
“Sometimes people who aren’t even a part of the main protest hang around, and then that’s where you can have trouble,” she told the station as an 8 p.m. curfew when into effect. “I think that is happening off and on right now, but I do think at the end of the day, this will have been a successful, peaceful day.”
The California Highway Patrol continued to provide enhanced support, and the city’s Emergency Operations Center coordinated logistics.
On social media, the mayor reminded protesters of the Trump administration threat to send in National Guard or Marine troops to quell unruly gatherings.
“Please, please do not give the administration an excuse to intervene.” she noted on X. “Let’s make sure we show the world the best of Los Angeles and our country. Let’s stand in contrast to the provocation, escalation and violence.
“LA is strong. This is what a peaceful protest looks like, Bass posted on X. “We refuse the chaos.”
Around 3:45 p.m. Saturday, a dispersal order was issued for all persons located on Alameda Street south of Aliso and north of Temple, according to the LAPD. It was unclear exactly why police wanted to clear that intersection, but a line of officers, some on horseback, were seen driving people from the intersection shortly before 4 p.m.
As of about 4:30 p.m., LAPD officers began using tear gas and less- lethal rounds after a dispersal order was issued at Alameda Street south of Aliso Street and north of Temple Street after people started throwing bricks, bottles, rocks and other objects.
Around 5:30 p.m., police officers in riot gear and carrying zip-ties began mobilizing to clear protesters who refused to disperse. Mounted officers were also moving crowds along.
LAPD spokeswoman Officer Rosario Cervantes told City News Service that tear gas was in use, but she was uncertain of the exact area because “it’s fluid right now.”
Later Saturday afternoon, some protesters lingered in a few places throughout the Civic Center, including at the Federal Building, which was being protected by armed National Guard members.
Other sites were Spring Street, which was closed between Temple and First Street, and Los Angeles Street, which was closed between Temple and Aliso Street.
The mayor earlier said the nightly 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew covering a one-square-mile section of downtown Los Angeles would remain in place indefinitely.
After the curfew began Saturday night, some demonstrators lingered and marched southbound on Broadway toward Sixth Street.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told NBC4 officers were enforcing the curfew. He said rocks, bottles and commercial grade fireworks were thrown at officers by so-called “agitators” and seven officers were injured, but none seriously.
The curfew affects a portion downtown between the Golden State (5) and Harbor (110) freeways, and from the Santa Monica (10) Freeway to where the Arroyo Seco (110) Parkway and Golden State Freeway merge. That area includes Skid Row, Chinatown, and the Arts and Fashion districts.
The “No Kings” events were billed as a peaceful way to oppose the administration’s “authoritarianism and show the world what democracy really looks like,” said organizers at 50501, a national group that stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one movement.
“They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services,” according to a website for the event, referring to the Trump administration. “The corruption has gone too. far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings.”
The protests coincided with a Saturday military parade in Washington, D.C. celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and Trump’s 79th birthday.
Opponents of the military parade — the nation’s first since 1991’s National Victory Celebration, which was timed to welcome returning veterans of the 100-day Persian Gulf War — said it was a vanity project for a nascent dictator.
“President Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday,” No Kings organizers said. “A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.”
The Orange County Republican Party had a different view.
“We agree that there should be no kings. And here in California, we’ve seen authoritarianism. The leftists flooding the streets today are protesting the wrong man,” the party said in a post on X, accompanied by a graphic depicting California Gov. Gavin Newsom sitting on a throne and dressed like a king.
Trump said Thursday that he wanted the parade to show people “How great our country is, very simple, and how strong our military is.”
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