Downtown Los Angeles Erupts During Jan. 30th Anti-ICE Demonstration

LOS ANGELES—I arrived in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 30 as crowds gathered outside City Hall for the nationwide “ICE Out Everywhere” protests. By early afternoon, the area around Grand Park and Spring Street was packed with thousands of demonstrators carrying Mexican, Palestinian, American, and California flags while chanting “ICE out of L.A.!” and “When we fight, we win!” Students wearing backpacks climbed onto barriers holding handmade signs demanding immigrant rights as passing cars leaned on their horns in support. The atmosphere felt loud and emotional, but organized. Families stood beside college students, labor organizers, street vendors, and longtime activists as speakers addressed the crowd through bullhorns.

Protesters gather outside Los Angeles City Hall during an anti-ICE demonstration calling for immigrant rights protections and an end to deportation raids. Photo by S. Dudley.

As the afternoon continued, groups began marching toward the Metropolitan Detention Center near Alameda Street. I followed the crowd as the protest shifted from the open plaza outside City Hall into tighter streets lined with federal buildings, buses, and police barricades. Demonstrators packed the roadway outside the detention center, chanting over the sound of helicopters overhead. Some protesters climbed onto barriers while others beat drums and blasted air horns. The tension noticeably increased once officers formed skirmish lines outside the building.

Shortly before 5 p.m., the situation escalated. Officers pushed into the crowd as federal authorities declared an unlawful assembly. From inside the protest, the shift felt immediate and chaotic. Pepper balls and chemical irritants were deployed into the crowd, sending people running in different directions covering their eyes and mouths. I watched protesters stumble backward through clouds of irritant while others poured water into strangers’ eyes on the sidewalk. Loud blasts from sound cannons echoed through the street as officers advanced block by block along Alameda.

At one point, Metro buses became trapped near the crowd while protesters surrounded intersections around the 101 Freeway ramps. Chants of “Abolish ICE!” and “No justice, no peace!” continued even as police moved demonstrators back from the detention center entrance. Officers could be seen positioned above the crowd on rooftops and inside upper windows aiming less-lethal weapons toward protesters below. The smell of chemical agents lingered in the air as helicopters circled overhead and sirens echoed through downtown.

By around 7 p.m., the crowd had thinned considerably after repeated dispersal orders and arrests. Small groups of protesters remained facing long lines of officers stretched across Alameda Street outside the detention center. Even as the streets emptied, chants still broke out intermittently from the remaining demonstrators gathered behind police lines.