Clashes in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Trump: without the National Guard the city would have been wiped out. California sues the president

The United Nations also warned against further militarisation of unrest in Los Angeles after Trump mobilised National Guard soldiers to counter protests against his migrant deportation policy. "We do not want to see further militarisation of this situation and we encourage parties at the local, state and federal levels to engage in this," said UN spokesperson Farhan Haq.

The White House retorted to the governor of California: 'Gavin Newsom did nothing while violent riots broke out in Los Angeles for days': is the accusation made on X by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. "Federal agents," she charges, "were attacked by violent extremists and illegal criminals waving foreign flags because Governor Newsom was too weak to protect the city. The LAPD chief even claimed that the riots were getting out of hand. President Trump intervened to maintain law and order and protect federal buildings'. Again, the US president wrote on Truth: 'We made an excellent decision by sending the National Guard to deal with the violent riots instigated in California. Had we not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely annihilated." "The incompetent 'governor' Gavin Newscum and 'mayor' Karen Bass," he continued, "should be saying, 'Thank you President Trump, you are so wonderful, without you we would be nothing, sir' Instead, they choose to lie to the people of California and America by saying we were not needed and that these are 'peaceful protests'.

Among the alleged crimes charged against those arrested were throwing a Molotov cocktail at an officer and a motorbike at a police cordon, Police Chief McDonnell said. Seventeen of Sunday's arrests were made by the California Highway Patrol while clearing protesters from Highway 101 while the LAPD made 10 arrests during fights downtown, the police chief said.

Trump has called on law enforcement to arrest anyone demonstrating withtheir face covered. "Arrest those with masked faces, now!" the White House tenant wrote on Truth, as protests against the anti-immigration raids wanted by the federal government raged in the Californian metropolis. In an earlier post, Trump had accused the protesters of being paid off and warned anyone not to demonstrate with their faces covered.

Former Dem candidate for the US presidency, Kamala Harris, who lives in Los Angeles, condemned Trump's decision to mobilise the National Guard. "Deploying it is a dangerous escalation aimed at causing chaos," said the former US Democratic presidential candidate. "In addition to recent raids by immigration authorities in Southern California and across the nation, this move is part of the Trump administration's cruel plan to spread panic and division," the former vice president added.

Yesterday, 8 June, thousands of Los Angeles residents invaded the streets around City Hall, the federal courthouse and a detention centre where protesters arrested in previous days are being held. The protests also paralysed a major city highway. Law enforcement officers clashed with protesters, while police used tear gas and 'non-lethal ammunition' to disperse huge crowds.

For much of the day, the crowd was mostly peaceful. But tension erupted several times, with police using tear gas to disperse the protesters and firing stun grenades in an attempt to push them back along the motorway exit ramps. Several vehicles were set on fire.

In the demonstrations, a British photojournalist was injured by a rubber bullet while documenting the protests in Los Angeles.Nick Stern underwent emergency surgery to extract the bullet and told BBC News what happened. 'I suddenly felt a shooting pain in my leg,' he said, adding that he was rescued by protesters and then taken to hospital, where he is recovering. The rubber bullets, as has emerged from several quarters, are used by the National Guard who intervened on President Donald Trump's orders to stop clashes between police and demonstrators protesting against immigration authorities' raids. A video was published on the BBC News website showing Australian Nine Network reporter Lauren Tomasi being hit in the leg by a rubber bullet fired at her by a police officer from about ten metres away.