Order mostly restored in Los Angeles after days of riots, but the damage is done

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Amid a group of protesters who showed up outside the federal building near City Hall on Tuesday to oppose U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a man tried to get into the Veterans Affairs clinic to pick up his prescription medication but was told by the California National Guard that the building was closed.

A man unable to get his medication is one of the many big and small ways the riots in Los Angeles have disrupted daily life in the downtown area. Though Democrats like Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass have shifted the blame for the violence onto President Trump, it was clear from day one that the riots were sparked by people interfering with federal immigration enforcement.

After days of unrest that started last Friday, federal agencies, the Los Angeles Police Department, and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were out in full force to clamp down on unruly protesters before things spiraled out of control once again. A curfew from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. was imposed and mostly adhered to. Downtown restaurants and bars had noticeably fewer patrons, and many food trucks were not parked at their usual spots.

RELATED: Lies, flags, and firebombs: Just another ‘mostly peaceful’ riot in LA

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Over the course of Tuesday, anti-ICE protesters marched all over the heart of downtown. While the demonstrations mostly remained peaceful, there was a moment when the crowd found a big gap in a fence running along the U.S. 101 freeway and rushed onto the road to disrupt rush-hour traffic. The California Highway Patrol was initially caught off guard but promptly responded and forced the crowd off the freeway to get cars moving again. At least one person was arrested during the many scuffles with state police.

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A large crowd did show up outside the federal building before the curfew went into effect, but many people quickly scattered after seeing the large deployment of LAPD officers move into the area. Some protesters stayed behind but were easily moved away from the intersection.

RELATED: Fiery footage shows radicals in LA savagely attack law enforcement on second night of violent riots

Fiery footage shows radicals in L.A. savagely attack law enforcement on second night of violent riots. Photo by RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images

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Even though the riots in Los Angeles appear to have calmed down for now, the damage is already done. Stores and restaurants have been looted, officers and rioters have been injured, and the unrest has spread to other cities. The Trump administration faced a similar test during the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020. While immigration is energizing people to get out into the streets now, the same far-left networks that helped foment violence five years ago have been reactivated to spread chaos on the streets of America once again.

Protests and riots are expected to continue in different parts of the country, as the Department of Homeland Security has made it clear that ICE operations will proceed at a high tempo.

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