For months during the 2024 campaign, Donald Trump promised to use the military domestically. His campaign telegraphed it via

Guard members arrived to specifically to protect federal buildings, including the downtown detention center where protesters concentrated.

The LAPD said in a statement it "mobilized and acted as swiftly as conditions safely allowed," noting that "irritants" deployed by federal agents created a "hazardous environment" for officers. A Saturday demonstration in Paramount, a largely Latino community south of LA, was marked by tear gas and billowing smoke.