Washington - Saba:
US President Donald Trump declared that some of the participants in the protests against the deportation of undocumented immigrants in the US city of Los Angeles were "paid rioters."
Trump said during press statements on Tuesday in the Oval Office that the city would have burned had he not intervened by sending in the National Guard to put an end to the protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) decisions, according to US media.
Trump said that some areas of Los Angeles were close to a "state of insurrection," describing the scene as "horrible," and asserting that those behind it were "paid rioters."
Trump noted that protesters used sledgehammers to break chunks of concrete and throw them at police, but he did not provide any evidence of the accusations that the protesters were being funded, according to local media.
In contrast, California Governor Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of exceeding its authority by calling in the National Guard to the state. He also filed a new emergency request on Tuesday to prevent the deployment of additional federal troops to the city.
In another statement, Trump said that Los Angeles, California, is being "invaded by a foreign enemy."
Trump also described the protests sparked by immigration raids as "a total assault on peace, public order, and national sovereignty," adding, "carried out by rioters waving foreign flags to continue the foreign invasion of our country."
The Pentagon announced the deployment of 700 Marines to Los Angeles amid protests against US President Donald Trump's immigration policy.
Last Sunday, 2,000 National Guard troops were deployed amid protests against a US raid aimed at finding immigrants who entered the United States illegally, according to state authorities.
Earlier, a raid by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify undocumented immigrants in downtown Los Angeles escalated into clashes with protesters.
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