LA-Area Mayors Demand Troops Out       06/12 06:27

   Dozens of mayors from across the Los Angeles region banded together 
Wednesday to demand that the Trump administration stop the stepped-up 
immigration raids that have spread fear across their cities and sparked 
protests across the U.S.

   LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Dozens of mayors from across the Los Angeles region 
banded together Wednesday to demand that the Trump administration stop the 
stepped-up immigration raids that have spread fear across their cities and 
sparked protests across the U.S.

   But there were no signs President Donald Trump would heed their pleas.

   About 500 of the National Guard troops deployed to the Los Angeles protests 
have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations, the commander 
in charge said Wednesday. And while some troops have already gone on such 
missions, he said it's too early to say if that will continue even after the 
protests die down.

   "We are expecting a ramp-up," said Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, noting that 
protests across the nation were being discussed. "I'm focused right here in LA, 
what's going on right here. But you know, I think we're, we're very concerned."

   Hours later, a demonstration in Los Angeles' civic center just before start 
of the second night of the city's downtown curfew briefly turned chaotic when 
police in riot gear -- many on horseback -- charged at a group, striking them 
with wooden rods and later fired crowd control projectiles, including one that 
struck a woman who writhed in pain on the ground. After the curfew went into 
effect, a handful of arrests were made before the area cleared out and the 
evening quieted down.

   The LA-area mayors and city council members urged Trump to stop using armed 
military troops alongside immigration agents.

   "I'm asking you, please listen to me, stop terrorizing our residents," said 
Brenda Olmos, vice mayor of Paramount, who said she was hit by rubber bullets 
over the weekend. "You need to stop these raids."

   Speaking alongside the other mayors at a news conference, Los Angeles Mayor 
Karen Bass said the raids spread fear at the behest of the White House. The 
city's nightly curfew will remain in effect as long as necessary. It covers a 
1-square-mile (2.5-square-kilometer) section of downtown where the protests 
have been concentrated in the city that encompasses roughly 500 square miles 
(1,295 square kilometers).

   "If there are raids that continue, if there are soldiers marching up and 
down our streets, I would imagine that the curfew will continue," Bass said.

   Those who have been caught up in the nationwide raids include asylum 
seekers, people who overstayed their visas and migrants awaiting their day in 
immigration court.

   The administration has cited the protests in its decision to deploy the 
military.

   Governor asks court to step in

   California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, has asked a federal court to 
put an emergency stop to the military helping immigration agents in the 
nation's second-largest city. This week, guardsmen began standing protectively 
around agents as they carry out arrests. A judge set a hearing for Thursday.

   The Trump administration called the lawsuit a "crass political stunt 
endangering American lives" in its official response on Wednesday.

   The military is now closer to engaging in law enforcement actions such as 
deportations, as Trump has promised in his crackdown. The Guard has the 
authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any arrests 
must be made by law enforcement.

   The president posted on the Truth Social platform that the city "would be 
burning to the ground" if he had not sent in the military.

   Some 2,000 National Guard soldiers are in Los Angeles and are soon to be 
joined by 2,000 more along with about 700 Marines, Sherman said.

   Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press and ABC, Sherman 
initially said National Guard troops had already temporarily detained civilians 
in the Los Angeles protests over immigration raids. He later said he based his 
comments on photos and footage he had seen that turned out not to be a 
representation of Guard members in Los Angeles.

   Curfew continues in downtown LA

   Police detained more than 20 people, mostly on curfew violations, on the 
first night of the curfew and used crowd-control projectiles to break up 
hundreds of protesters. But officers were more aggressive in controlling 
demonstrators Wednesday evening and as the curfew took effect, police were 
beginning to make arrests.

   Los Angeles police have made nearly 400 arrests and detentions since 
Saturday, the vast majority of which were for failing to leave the area at the 
request of law enforcement, according to the police department.

   There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for assault 
against police officers and for possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun. 
Nine police officers have been hurt, mostly with minor injures. Some were 
transported to a hospital and released.

   Protests have spread nationwide

   Demonstrations have also spread to other cities nationwide, including Dallas 
and Austin in Texas, and Chicago and New York, where thousands rallied and more 
arrests were made.

   In New York City, police said they took 86 people into custody during 
protests in lower Manhattan that lasted into Wednesday morning. Police 
Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the majority of demonstrators were peaceful.

   A 66-year-old woman in Chicago was injured when she was struck by a car 
during downtown protests Tuesday evening, police said. Video showed a car 
speeding down a street where people were protesting.

   In Texas, where police in Austin used chemical irritants to disperse several 
hundred demonstrators Monday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's office said Texas 
National Guard troops were "on standby" in areas where demonstrations are 
planned.

   Guard members were sent to San Antonio, but Police Chief William McManus 
said he had not been told how many troops were deployed or their role ahead of 
planned protests Wednesday night and Saturday. Officers with the Texas 
Department of Public Safety said the Texas National Guard was present at a 
protest downtown.

   The protests began Friday after federal immigration raids arrested dozens of 
workers in Los Angeles.