At least 60 people were arrested on Sunday after protests against federal immigration raids in San Francisco escalated into violence, according to the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD).
Police said officers began monitoring the assembly near Sansome and Washington streets around 7 p.m. on June 8 as protesters engaged in “First Amendment activity.”
The demonstration escalated when some protesters allegedly committed assault and vandalized property, prompting police to declare the assembly unlawful. Many people left the area after the declaration, police said in a statement.
Several protesters had refused to leave and continued to engage in illegal activity as they moved toward Market and Kearny streets, where they vandalized buildings and an SFPD patrol vehicle, it stated.
The SFPD said its officers detained protesters who refused to comply with the dispersal order. Three police officers were injured during the incident, with one transported to a hospital for medical treatment. Police also recovered a firearm at the scene.
“Individuals are always free to exercise their First Amendment rights in San Francisco but violence—especially against SFPD officers — will never be tolerated,” the SFPD stated, adding that an investigation into the incident is still ongoing.
Footage shared on social media shows police in riot gear forming a barricade to block protesters gathered outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in San Francisco.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said the protest has since “wound down,” and that the city is working to clean up the damage and restore public transportation services to full operation.
Lurie stated in a social media post that his office will “never tolerate violent and destructive behavior, and as crowds dwindled, a group that remained caused injuries to police officers, vandalized Muni vehicles, and broke windows of local businesses.”
Protests against ICE raids began in Los Angeles on June 6, following the arrest of dozens of illegal immigrants in the city as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation. Sporadic protests later broke out in New York City and San Francisco.
Authorities deployed National Guard personnel to Los Angeles as protests continued on the third day on June 8. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said that several business owners have reported incidents of looting during the protests.
President Donald Trump has directed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi to take all actions necessary “to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion” and bring an end to the riots.
“A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,” he stated on Truth Social. “Order will be restored, the Illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom stated on June 8 that he had formally requested the Trump administration to withdraw the deployed troops from Los Angeles and return them to his command.
“We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty—inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they’re actually needed,” Newsom stated.
At least 27 people were arrested on June 7 following the protests. During the third day of protests in Los Angeles, members of the National Guard faced off with demonstrators, leading to tear gas being fired at a growing crowd near a federal complex in the city, according to video footage.
The confrontation broke out in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, as a group shouted insults at members of the guard lined shoulder to shoulder behind plastic riot shields. Near downtown, at least four Waymo self-driving cars were set on fire. Flashbang crowd control grenades were deployed throughout the evening.
Jack Phillips and Joseph Lord contributed to this report.
