After the arrival of the National Guard, violence between rioters and police continued in Los Angeles. Reporters observing and reporting on the events were also shot at. President Trump would like to see the protesters in jail.

US President Donald Trump once again sharply criticized the protesters following violent riots in Los Angeles."The people causing these problems are professional troublemakers, they are agitators, they are bad people. They should be in jail," Trump said on Monday after an event outside the White House.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump also defended his decision to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles. Trump wrote that if he hadn't done so, the West Coast metropolis would have been completely destroyed.

Meanwhile, in California, the street battles against Trump's deportation policy continue: After the National Guard began deploying to the Los Angeles area, media reports indicate the first confrontation between soldiers and demonstrators. At a federal prison in the city, soldiers and federal security forces used tear gas to push back dozens of demonstrators, as photos and television footage showed. Smoke grenades and pepper spray were also used, the Los Angeles Times reported.

It was initially unclear what triggered the incident. Some police officers patrolled the streets on horseback, while others in riot gear followed behind the National Guard troops.

Journalists are hit by bullets

However, reporters were also injured during the operation: Journalist Lauren Tomasi was broadcasting live in the US metropolis for the Australian broadcaster 9News when she suddenly heard a bang behind her. The camera had previously panned to the police officers with their weapons in their hands, as shown in a video clip circulating on social media.

Tomasi screams loudly, grabs her leg, utters a few curses, and the cameraman takes her out of the situation. US broadcaster CNN has released a video of the scene in which Tomasi was hit by a rubber bullet. According to the broadcaster, she was uninjured.

A British news photographer, however, was hit much harder: According to the British news agency PA Press, he had to undergo emergency surgery. Nick Stern witnessed a confrontation between protesters and police on Saturday in Paramount, a Los Angeles neighborhood predominantly inhabited by immigrants from Latin America. Suddenly, a 14-millimeter"sponge bullet" pierced his thigh, the agency reported. He is currently recovering from the surgery.

Numerous television stations are currently reporting live how local police officers in the vicinity, some with batons, are attacking protesters in an attempt to disperse them from the area surrounding the federal prison, as live images from CNN showed. Police reported on Platform X that bottles and rocks were being thrown at security forces in isolated cases, and arrests were being made.

The demonstration near the federal building downtown was banned and had to be broken up. A CNN reporter on the scene said the police were likely trying to push back the several hundred demonstrators to avoid clashes with the National Guard at the prison building. Thousands of demonstrators also stormed the 101 Freeway, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Some threw objects at police from makeshift barricades. Others threw concrete blocks, rocks, electric scooters, and fireworks at California Highway Patrol officers and their vehicles parked on the closed southbound 101 Freeway. The officers ran under an overpass to take cover.

Images also show burning Waymo vehicles – self-driving cars. Entire streets resembled a field of rubble, with fireworks repeatedly exploding amidst the debris, e-scooters, and burnt-out vehicles.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said officers were"overwhelmed" by the protesters. He said they included regular agitators who show up at demonstrations to cause unrest.

As protests against the raids continue, Trump is intensifying his rhetoric: On his Truth Social platform, the US president spoke of “violent, insurrectionist mobs” trying to prevent deportations by federal officials.

He justified the deployment of National Guard troops by saying it was to ensure"law and order." "There are violent people, and we're not going to let them get away with it," Trump said to the rioters."I think you're going to see very strong law and order."

The US President further threatened the rioters with violence if they spit or throw objects at security forces."They spit, that's their new thing," Trump told reporters on his way to the Camp David resort."And even worse, you know what they're throwing at them, don't you? And if that happens, I have a little statement, and that is: They spit, we hit." Trump is known for his pithy slogans – and the threat even rhymes in English: "They spit, we hit."

Trump is using the violent protests that erupted in the Los Angeles area on Friday as a show of force. They are directed against U.S. immigration enforcement officers, who were arresting undocumented migrants with the intention of deporting them. Some demonstrators threw stones at the security forces, among other things.

To bring the situation under control, Trump ordered the deployment of at least 2,000 National Guard troops on Saturday – against the express wishes of the California governor. According to the US military, around 300 troops were already deployed there by Sunday morning.

At the same time, Trump hinted at a possible deployment of troops to other US cities. When asked by a journalist whether he would use the so-called Insurrection Act for military operations at home, he replied:"We are considering troops everywhere. We will not allow that to happen to our country."

When asked what the threshold would be for deploying Marines instead of the National Guard now deployed in Los Angeles, Trump said the decision was his:"The threshold is where I think it is."

California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass saw no reason to mobilize the National Guard. They stated that there were sufficient local security forces, and militarization would only lead to increased tensions. Both urged demonstrators to protest peacefully.

Left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders accused Trump of rapidly moving the US toward an authoritarian state."This guy wants all the power. He doesn't believe in the Constitution. He doesn't believe in the rule of law," Sanders complained in an interview with CNN.