Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is lifting a curfew on the city’s downtown, capping off nearly two weeks of immigration protests that saw President Donald Trump federalize the National Guard and send in active-duty Marines despite opposition from Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Bass, a Democrat, blamed the chaotic tenor of the protests on the White House and reserved the right to resume the curfew if needed, she said in her Tuesday announcement.
“As we continue to adapt quickly to the chaos coming out of Washington, I’m prepared to reinstate it if necessary,” she wrote on X. “The safety and stability of LA remains my top priority.”
Bass imposed the curfew — in effect from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. — on a one-square-mile chunk of the city last week, as demonstrations and some unrest raged over high-profile immigration raids in the region. She reduced the curfew hours on Monday, to start instead at 10 pm.
The president’s response to the protests, which included ordering the Pentagon to deploy 700 Marines to Los Angeles, drew fierce opposition from Democrats, who argue it inflamed tensions and verged on authoritarianism.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from POLITICO.
With protests in the city abated, Trump has claimed his force was essential to keeping the peace.
“If I didn’t put the National Guard into Los Angeles, the place would be burned down to the ground right now,” he wrote on Truth Social Monday. “I did incompetent Governor Gavin Newscum, who doesn’t have a clue, the favor of a lifetime. One of the WORST GOVERNORS IN HISTORY!”