US President Donald Trump on Sunday warned protesters in Los Angeles that there would be strong consequences if they spit on police officers or soldiers. His warning came hours after he sent National Guard troops to the city in response to protests over immigration raids.

Speaking to reporters in New Jersey before boarding Air Force One, Trump defended his decision to deploy at least 2,000 National Guard members. The protests in Los Angeles began after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out raids.

“When they spit at people — you know, they spit, that’s their new thing,” Trump said. “They spit and worse. You know what they throw at ’em, right? And when that happens, I have a little statement: ‘They spit, we hit!’ And I told them — nobody’s going to spit on our police officers. Nobody’s gonna spit on military. Which they do as a common thing. They get up to them this far away, and then they start spitting in their faces. If that happens, they get hit very hard.”

PROTESTERS CLASH WITH TROOPS

The protests in Los Angeles turned chaotic after a group of demonstrators marched from Mariachi Plaza to a federal immigration detention center in downtown LA. They chanted slogans like “ICE out of LA.”

The situation escalated when National Guard troops fired tear gas and pepper balls without giving a warning, according to reports. Videos from the scene showed clouds of tear gas filling the streets.

The Los Angeles Police Department said it arrested 27 people on Saturday for not leaving the area when ordered. Police spokesperson Norma Eisenman confirmed the arrests but said she couldn’t comment on whether officers used “less lethal force.”

POSSIBLE MILITARY ACTION

While US Vice President JD Vance referred to the protesters as “insurrectionists” and senior White House aide Stephen Miller described the protests as a “violent insurrection.”

However, Trump hasn’t used the Insurrection Act — a 1807 law that allows the president to send the US military to handle civil unrest. When asked if he planned to invoke it, Trump said, “It depends on whether there’s an insurrection. You really just have to look at the site. You have to see what’s happening. Last night in Los Angeles, we watched it very closely. There was a lot of violence there. It could have gotten much worse.”

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also warned that if the violence continues, active-duty troops could be sent in. “The Marines at Camp Pendleton are on high alert,” he said.

With inputs from Reuters

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