Nationwide ICE protests live updates: Judge's ruling on National Guard temporarily blocked

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced during a press conference on Wednesday that there have been at least five criminal cases stemming from the ongoing immigration protests in Los Angeles.

Juan Rodriguez, from Gardena, California, was charged with one felony count of assault upon a peace officer, resisting arrest and advocating violence against an officer that has caused injury. He faces six years and four months in state prison, according to the DA. Rodriguez is accused of distributing and throwing commercial-grade fireworks at police officers on June 8.

Randy Ruiz and Georgina Ravallaro were charged with two felony counts of assault upon a peace officer and face six years and four months in state prison. They are accused of driving motorcycles into police officers, injuring one and knocking down several others.

Timmy Paulk and Raven Mitchell have been charged with one felony count of second-degree commercial burglary and grand theft for allegedly robbing and facilitating the robbery of a Nike store on June 8. Paul is accused of stealing multiple items from that store and getting into the car driven by Mitchell. They each face up to three years in state prison.

Ulysses Sanchez is accused of recklessly driving a minivan in downtown LA on June 8. He's charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon, one misdemeanor count each of reckless driving and possession of a smoking device. He faces 25 years to life because of the three-strike rule.

Christopher Gonzalez and Jocelyn Johnson have been charged with one felony count of conspiracy to commit vandalism and two felony counts of vandalism. They face three years and eight months in state prison. They are accused of vandalizing an apartment complex and the Hall of Justice, respectively.

"If people want to engage in crimes, we will prosecute them," Hochman said, adding, "hurling bricks, hurling cinder blocks, hurling fireworks, will not be tolerated in this county now or ever."

The DA did note that peaceful protests have largely outweighed instances of violence. "We estimate that there's probably thousands of people who've engaged in legitimate protests," Hochman said.

Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, the commander of U.S. military forces in Los Angeles, told ABC News that about 500 of the National Guard troops have been trained to accompany ICE on immigration operations.

The general stressed, however, that these troops are not carrying out law enforcement in these operations. That is being done by the ICE agents and the trained troops are carrying out protection for ICE during these operations.

The service members have ammunition in their clips for their rifles, but there are no rounds in the chamber, according to Sherman.

There are 4,700 troops, made up of National Guardsmen and Marines, deployed to Los Angeles.

Dozens of mayors from across the Los Angeles region banded together Wednesday to demand that the Trump administration stop the stepped-up immigration raids that have spread fear across their cities and sparked protests across the U.S. They also called on President Donald Trump to pull back from using troops alongside immigration agents during the raids.

"I'm asking you, please listen to me, stop terrorizing our residents," said Mayor Jessica Ancona of El Monte, who said she was hit by rubber bullets during a raid in her city.

Meanwhile, the commander in charge of the troops said about 500 National Guard soldiers deployed to the Los Angeles protests have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations. And while some troops have already gone on such missions, he said it's too early to say if that will continue, even after the protests die down.

Speaking alongside the other mayors at a news conference, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the raids spread fear at the behest of the White House.

"We started off by hearing the administration wanted to go after violent felons, gang members, drug dealers. But when you raid Home Depots and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you're not trying to keep anyone safe," she said. "You're trying to cause fear and panic."

Those who have been caught up in the nationwide raids include asylum seekers, people who overstayed their visas and migrants awaiting their day in immigration court.

The administration has cited the protests in its decision to deploy the military. Referring to the demonstrations, which have been mostly concentrated in the LA business district, the Democratic mayor added: "If you drive a few blocks outside of downtown, you don't know that anything is happening in the city at all."

California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, has asked a federal court to put an emergency stop to the military helping immigration agents in the nation's second-largest city. This week, guardsmen began standing protectively around agents as they carry out arrests. A judge set a hearing for Thursday.

The military is now closer to engaging in law enforcement actions such as deportations, as Trump has promised in his crackdown. The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any arrests must be made by law enforcement.

The president posted on the Truth Social platform that the city "would be burning to the ground" if he had not sent in the military.

Some 2,000 National Guard soldiers are in Los Angeles, and are soon to be joined by 2,000 more along with about 700 Marines, said Army Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, head of Task Force 51, which is overseeing the deployment of National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles.

Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press and ABC, Sherman initially said that National Guard troops had already temporarily detained civilians in the Los Angeles protests over immigration raids. He later said he based his comments on photos and footage he had seen that turned out not to be a representation of Guard members in Los Angeles.
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This story has been corrected. The commander of the troops deployed to Los Angeles initially told the AP that National Guard members had already detained some civilians. He later said his information was incorrect and Guard members have not detained civilians.

All 700 Marines sent to LA must complete four days of crowd control training, Marine Commandant Gen. Eric Smith told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Smith said that the Marines are operating under standard Rules of Force.

"These rules emphasize de-escalation, use of non-lethal force and the inherent right of self-defense for Marines and others," he said.

The 4,000 National Guardsmen must complete two days of crowd control training, he said.