President Trump on Monday ordered 2,000 additional National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles. The move bolstered a military presence local officials and California Governor Gavin Newsom did not want, with the police chief calling it presenting logistical challenges to safely managing protests. The first batch of 2,000 National Guard troops Trump ordered deployed arrived on Sunday. Los Angeles erupted in intense violence on Sunday during three days of protests, with demonstrators expressing anger over Trump’s stepped-up immigration enforcement, which critics say is tearing apart immigrant families. Monday’s demonstrations were far less raucous, with thousands peacefully participating in a rally at City Hall, and hundreds protesting outside a federal complex that houses a detention center where some immigrants are held after factory raids across the city. Trump portrayed the situation in Los Angeles in dire terms, but Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom said that was far from the truth. They said that even with the police saying they did not need help, Trump was sending more military personnel, putting public safety at risk. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement that he was confident in the Police Department’s ability to handle large-scale demonstrations, and that the Marines’ arrival without coordination with the Police Department created "significant logistical and operational challenges" for them. Newsom on the platform X called the deployment reckless and "disrespectful to our troops." "This has nothing to do with public safety," Newsom said. "This is about one dangerous president stoking fear and inflaming hatred." Protests erupted on Friday in downtown Los Angeles after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across the city. On Monday, smoke hung in the air downtown — a day after crowds blocked a major freeway and set fire to self-driving cars, and the police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. U.S. officials said the Marines' deployment was meant to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents. Trump's Monday order authorized National Guard members to perform duties. One U.S. official cautioned that the order had just been signed and that it might take a day or two for troops to become operational. The official discussed troop movements on the condition of anonymity. Despite the troop presence, there has so far been limited interaction between the National Guard and protesters, while local law enforcement is carrying out crowd control. ### California's Resistance to Federal Troop Presence Trump's deployment appears to be the first time in decades that a state's National Guard has been activated without a request from the state's governor, a significant escalation against those seeking to obstruct the administration's mass deportation campaign. According to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, the last time the National Guard was activated without the governor's permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect a civil rights march. In a directive on Saturday, Trump cited a legal provision to authorize federal military personnel in the event of "insurrection or danger of insurrection against the authority of the United States government." California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit after the first batch of National Guard troops arrived. He told reporters on Monday in announcing the suit that Trump had "trampled" on the state's sovereignty. "We won't stand by as the president abuses his power and unlawfully mobilizes California's National Guard," Bonta said. He sought a court order declaring Trump's use of the National Guard unlawful and requested a restraining order to halt the deployment. Trump said on Monday that if he had not deployed the National Guard, the city might have "been totally destroyed." Bass called the Trump administration's deployment of the National Guard and Marines a "deliberate manufacturing of chaos and unrest in our city." She issued a plea to the federal government: "Stop the raids." ### Early Protests Remained Peaceful Thousands poured into the streets surrounding City Hall on Monday for a union rally — awaiting the hearing for labor leader David Huerta, who was released on $50,000 bail hours later. Huerta was arrested on Friday while protesting immigration raids, which has become a rallying point for anger over the government crackdown. He is president of the California branch of the Service Employees International Union, which represents thousands of janitors, security personnel and other workers across the state. Earlier protests were at times peaceful and even jovial, with people dancing to live music and Huerta's release a cause for jubilation. Protesters stood arm in arm outside the federal detention center downtown where Huerta was held, facing off against a line of police officers. Religious leaders joined the protesters, at times working with organizers to de-escalate tensions. In several blocks, including those housing the federal detention facility, there was a heavy law enforcement presence, while across the city of about 4 million people, most carried on with their lives as normal on peaceful streets. Tensions rose in the afternoon as a crowd chanted "Free them all!" and "National Guard out!" at a line of National Guard troops, behind whom were Homeland Security officials who ringed the federal building. In the early evening, as the crowd began to disperse, police began pushing protesters away from the area, firing crowd-control munitions as people shouted "peaceful protest." Other protests erupted across Los Angeles County on Monday afternoon. Outside a Los Angeles clothing warehouse, families of detained workers demanded the release of their relatives at a news conference. Dozens were arrested during weekend protests. Authorities said one person was arrested on Sunday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police officers, and another was arrested for driving a motorcycle through a line of police officers. McDonnell said police were “overwhelmed” by what remained of the protesters, which included agitators who regularly show up at demonstrations to cause trouble. He said the protests followed a similar pattern of civil unrest, typically escalating on the second and third days.