Mass arrests in LA as police enforce night-time curfew

There’s four hours left on the first night of the curfew imposed by Mayor Karen Bass that began at 20:00 local time last night (04:00 BST), and we’re now getting some more photos from the area, where police have been arresting protestors.

Bass said the measure was put in place to curb vandalism following “significant damages”, adding the curfew was expected to last “several days”.

In a post on X earlier, the Los Angeles Police Department said that “multiple groups continue to congregate” in areas restricted by the curfew, adding that “mass arrests” were being made.

The Los Angeles Police Department said on Tuesday that “mass arrests” were underway in the downtown area as groups continued to gather on the streets, defying the curfew.

At an earlier press conference the LAPD said nearly 200 people had already been arrested on Tuesday, up from 114 on Monday, 40 on Sunday and 27 on Monday.

Watch below as a drone footage shows police detaining a man in the area of LA affected by the curfew.

Peter Bowes
Reporting from Los Angeles

The curfew in Los Angeles announced overnight covers a very small area of LA – just one square mile of downtown, in a city that covers 502 square miles.

The crisis is not city-wide. LA Mayor Karen Bass wants to make clear that just a few streets have been affected.

The curfew was brought in to address the looting and the violence late at night.

The mayor says a huge amount of damage has been done to local businesses, possibly millions of dollars’ worth.

On the ground there is anger at troops, especially Marines, being brought in to patrol the streets. They could be here for at least for the next 60 days while immigration raids are happening.

Hundreds of Marines are awaiting deployment in the Seal Beach area, which lies 30 miles (50 km) south of Los Angeles, a US official tells the Reuters news agency.

As a reminder, US President Donald Trump mobilised 700 California-based Marines after deploying the National Guard to LA on Sunday.

A US official said there were 2,100 National Guard troops in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday, more than half the 4,000 to be activated.

The Marines and National Guard troops lack the authority to makes arrests and will be charged only with protecting federal property and personnel.

A we’ve just reported, small protests continue in downtown LA after Mayor Karen Bass imposed an overnight curfew in one square mile of the city.

Stay with us for the latest developments.

It’s just past midnight in Los Angeles and we’re trying to get a sense of what’s happening on the streets in downtown LA.

We’re seeing some images of protestors and journalists running as officers intervene amid continuing protests against federal immigration sweeps.

Mounted officers with the Los Angeles police department are riding through the streets in downtown LA, pushing back protestors.

Watch below as one of them snatches a Mexican flag away from a protestor in a car.

Regan Morris
Reporting from Los Angeles

There’s a massive law enforcement presence in Los Angeles – and dozens of people are being arrested for defying curfew — but there’s no sign of US Marines or National Guard troops out on the streets.

The deployment of federal troops is controversial — but they are not visibly out patrolling demonstrations or arresting people during protests.

The LA police department says that with the curfew in effect in parts of LA, “mass arrests are being initiated”.

In a post on X, the LAPD said: “Multiple groups continue to congregate on 1st St between Spring and Alameda.

“Those groups are being addressed and mass arrests are being initiated.

Curfew is in effect.”

Let’s take a moment to look at the key developments from the day:

• Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has imposed a partial curfew to tackle looting and violence during protests against immigration raids
• Bass said one square mile of the city’s more-than-500 square mile area would be off-limits from 20:00 local time (04:00 BST) until 06:00 (14:00 BST) for everyone apart from residents, journalists and emergency services
• California Governor Gavin Newsom used a televised address to accuse Donald Trump of inflaming protests. “Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy,” he said.

• Earlier, Newsom had filed an emergency motion with the courts to prevent Trump’s expansion of the military in LA – a federal judge denied it and set the hearing for Newsom’s lawsuit for Thursday
• Speaking to members of the US army at a North Carolina military base, Trump blasted the protests as a “full-blown assault on peace and public order”

• The protests against immigration raids have spread from Los Angeles to at least nine other US cities, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and San Francisco

Protests against immigration raids have spread from Los Angeles to New York to multiple cities in Texas.

The protests in New York are mostly peaceful, but “multiple” arrests have been made, as we reported earlier.

The National Guard has been deployed in Texas. As BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher reports, conservative-dominated Texas “appears determined to present a sharp contrast to how the situation has unfolded in Los Angeles”.

Altogether, protests have started in at least ten US cities, including LA, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Austin and San Francisco.

John Sudworth
Reporting in Los Angeles

Police are moving through downtown clearing streets one by on, firing round after round of rubber bullets as they go.

One protester has just run past showing me a large weald on his chest. At one junction we show our press passes but are told by the police to get off the street.

When we attempt to say that the mayor and police chief have made it clear that the media are free to operate in the curfew zone, one officer tells us, “we can arrest you, whoever you are”.

Where we are on San Pedro street, the crowd has thinned out considerably. Just a few small clusters of protesters, in twos and threes, some still carrying flags, engaged in a game of cat and mouse across this square mile of city centre space.

Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, has just confirmed media reports that National Guard forces will be deployed in his state.

“Texas National Guard will be deployed to locations across the state to ensure peace & order,” Abbott says in a post on X.

“Peaceful protest is legal.

Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest. Texas Guard will use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order,” he adds.

John Sudworth and Semira Robinson
Reporting in Los Angeles

The protesters gathered around North Main and Temple streets have pulled back 50 metres or so, opening a gap between themselves and the line of police blocking this end of the street.

A row of LA police officers are on horseback and well over 100 officers on foot – armed with zip ties.

The police officers on horseback are now moving forward.

Daniel Wittenberg
BBC News journalist

NYPD confirm to us that “multiple” arrests have been made at ICE protests in New York tonight.

The protests have been largely peaceful as what seemed like a couple of thousand protesters made their way into lower Manhattan.

The police said in a statement: “Upon arrival, officers observed multiple individuals sitting in the roadway, blocking vehicular traffic. The demonstrators were instructed verbally numerous times to vacate the roadway and did not comply. As a result, multiple individuals were taken into custody.”

New York Mayor Eric Adams earlier said protests like those in LA were “unacceptable and will not be tolerated if attempted in our city.”

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

As the protests
against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement actions
spread to other American cities, one of the largest Republican-controlled
states appears determined to present a sharp contrast to how situation has
unfolded in Los Angeles.

Conservative-dominated
Texas has frequently served as a political mirror image to California. Now its
governor, Greg Abbott, has ordered his state’s National Guard to deploy in
advance of planned demonstrations in San Antonio.

According to local media, Abbott’s office stated: “Texas National Guard soldiers are on standby in areas where mass demonstrations are planned in case they are needed… Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles.”

The move may
indicate a lack of confidence by the governor in the police force of one of his
largest cities. More than that, however, it is meant as a message – to
California, to Abbott’s allies in the Trump administration and to the
American public – that Republicans know how to maintain law and order.

The move is not
without risk, however. It could provoke larger demonstrations in the state’s
Democratic-dominated big cities. And if Texas protests turn violent anyway, it
could undercut the Republican case that they know better than Governor Gavin
Newsom and the California Democrats.

John Sudworth
North America Correspondent, reporting in Los Angeles

Curfew has started and I’m reporting next to a large group of protesters facing off against the police.

Announcements are being made that this is an unlawful protest and if they don’t leave the area they will be arrested.

A helicopter is circling overhead shining a search light onto the crowd below.

Regan Morris
Reporting from Los Angeles

Shortly after the curfew began, at 8pm local time, a lot of people were still in cars, seemingly shocked about the fact that it’s illegal for them to be out there.

Many people are stuck downtown – either by accident or defying curfew.

There is a massive police presence. We are still waiting for details to see if police will start detaining people.

With the curfew in LA now in place, let’s take a look at some key details:

• Parts of downtown LA will be placed under curfew from 8pm to 6am, starting tonight, LA Mayor Karen Bass announced, stressing that only 1 square mile of LA would be affected
• The situation is expected to last several days while she consults elected officials on the way forward
• The curfew will not apply to residents within designated areas, those experiencing homelessness, emergency care workers or credentialed media
• Bass said she has reached out to Trump today, reiterating her call for him to stop the ICE raids against immigrants

It’s 12 minutes past 20:00 in Los Angeles now (04:12 BST) – and the city is in its first night of curfew after five days of protests.

The LA government has sent out an alert to phone users. It reads: “The City of Los Angeles has declared that a curfew is in place from 8pm to 6am … Travelling to and from work, seeking or giving emergency care, and emergency responders are exempt.”

Our reporters are on the ground in LA to cover the latest. Stay with us.

Carl Nasman
Reporting from Los Angeles

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s ongoing battle with President Donald Trump – stretching back to the LA wildfires earlier this year – has been ratcheted up another notch.

In the governor’s view, his state is under siege by the White House: widespread immigration raids, threats to withhold federal education money, and now, several thousand troops deployed to Los Angeles against his wishes.

His televised address, which we’ve just covered on this page, was likely aimed at a much broader, national audience too.

And his message is this: if the president can wield his executive power in California, it could happen in your state too.

This could be a politically defining moment for the California governor who has been rumoured to be eyeing the 2028 presidential candidacy.

With the Democratic Party struggling to find a strong leader after its election loss last November, Newsom could become the face of a renewed Trump resistance movement.