June 2025 Los Angeles immigration protests

Donald Trump politicized and inflamed protests against ICE raids and deportations.

Jun 17, 2025

The Los Angeles Police Department had to handle geographically limited riots (<1 km square) within its territory following raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. Protests have been mostly orderly, with LAPD being fully capable of handling the deplorable excesses. There were no reasons, nor requests to escalate law-enforcement extra jurisdiction. In comparison, the 1992 riots were exponentially more violent, destructive, and spread across most of LA, overwhelming local police, which then requested for federal help. It would therefore seem Trump’s escalation was politically motivated.

Noise:

(Things that will be said but are untrue or irrelevant)
Images and videos of violence by rioters; they are irrelevant as a justification for Trump to impose sending the National Guard as the L.A.P.D had not expressed a need for it. Most of the fires took place Sunday during the most heated part of the protests. No fatality. No buildings were set ablaze, according to law enforcement.
“L.A. is under siege!”, “If we weren’t there, if we didn’t bring in the National Guard and the Marines, you would probably have a city that was burning to the ground”. This is false as only a very small part of the city has seen riots, they were not expanding, and there has been very little in the way of destruction and looting. The L.A.P.D. has always had the situation under control. Businesses are open throughout L.A. Most of the confrontation was handled by L.A.P.D., further proving the lack of need for the National Guard.
“No amount of violence should be tolerated”. That is true. However, no violence has been tolerated; criminals have been arrested. So this comment is irrelevant.

Summary

The demonstrations began on Friday after it emerged Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were carrying out raids in areas of the city with prominent Latino populations.

Raids have stepped up after Trump returned to the White House and pledged to crack down on illegal immigration.

Donald Trump falsely claimed that the L.A.P.D. requested help to control the riots

“Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell denied on CNN that he asked President Donald Trump for help with the ongoing protests in the city, claiming that the police department was “nowhere near” having to request assistance from the National Guard.” (1)

False claim that the riots would have escalated had the National Guard not been involved

Rioters have mostly been confronted to L.A.P.D. (2), not the National Guard, an evidence that L.A.P.D. had the situation under control and could prevent any escalation without any additional help.

Furthermore, although Trump claims that the National Guard was there to prevent escalations, the nature of their deployment contradict this assertion:

“Trump’s order called the National Guard in to “temporarily protect” immigration officers, federal personnel and federal property. He notably did not invoke the Insurrection Act, which would let him deploy the military for domestic law enforcement actions, something they are generally prohibited from doing.

During demonstrations Monday, California National Guard troops were lined up in front of the federal building, alongside Customs and Border Protection agents. They remained on the federal property, hanging back while police officers formed a line and pushed demonstrators away using batons and rubber bullets.” (3)

Comparison with 1992 L.A. riots (as of June 16th, 2025)

Visually, the areas of violent unrest are disproportionately dissimilar. The area in red is where there was destruction (4) and looting during the 1992 L.A.riots, and in dark grey (behind the letters ‘ng’ of Los Angeles), the June 2025 L.A. immigration protests, in an area less than 1 kilometer square (5), with the actual hotspots being limited to an even smaller area (6).

1. Violence

1992 Riots:

Extremely violent: over 60 deaths, more than 2,300 injuries.
Widespread looting, arson, physical assaults, and shootings.
Notably lawless in areas like South Central L.A.; civilians attacked at random (e.g., the Reginald Denny case).

June 2025 Protests:

Significantly less violent.
Some clashes with LAPD involving rubber bullets, flash-bangs, and tear gas.
No reported deaths; dozens of injuries (including journalists) and around 250 arrests.
Protesters were mostly unarmed; confrontations were between law enforcement and activists resisting ICE actions or federal troop presence.

2. Destruction

1992:

Over 1,100 buildings destroyed, $1+ billion in damages.
Fires burned for days, many businesses lost.
Entire neighborhoods were devastated.

2025:

Property damage was minimal and isolated—broken windows, minor vandalism.
No widespread looting or structure fires reported.
Businesses mostly remained open outside protest zones.

3. Geographic Spread

1992:

Concentrated in South Central L.A., but also spread to Koreatown, Hollywood, and the San Fernando Valley.
Riots eventually touched other cities (e.g., San Francisco, Las Vegas), though at a smaller scale.

2025:

Protests primarily centered in downtown Los Angeles (around City Hall, ICE offices, and federal buildings).
A few solidarity protests in Santa Ana, Pomona, and Long Beach, but without major unrest.
No national-scale copycat unrest occurred.

4. Escalation & Response

1992:

Escalated rapidly after Rodney King verdict.
LAPD was unprepared and withdrew from areas early on.
National Guard, federal troops, and Marines deployed at LAPD and city request (over 10,000 total troops).

2025:

Protests escalated over several days, sparked by ICE raids and unannounced federal troop deployments ordered by former President Trump.
LAPD remained in control and explicitly stated they did not request federal assistance.
Military presence arguably provoked more tension, but protests were ultimately contained by LAPD and local agencies.

Link to ChatGPT request.

Signal-to-Noise Ratio

Discussion about this post

Signal-to-Noise Ratio

June 2025 Los Angeles immigration protests

Donald Trump politicized and inflamed protests against ICE raids and deportations.

Signal:

Noise:

Summary

Donald Trump falsely claimed that the L.A.P.D. requested help to control the riots

False claim that the riots would have escalated had the National Guard not been involved

Comparison with 1992 L.A. riots (as of June 16th, 2025)

1. Violence

2. Destruction

3. Geographic Spread

4. Escalation & Response

Further reading:

Sources:

Discussion about this post