Dozens of No Kings protesters arrested in Los Angeles after clash with police

Police arrested dozens of protesters and shot teargas into a crowd on Saturday night at a No Kings protest in Los Angeles.

The conflict is the latest of many that have taken place outside the Metropolitan detention center, which has become a focal point of protests since the Trump administration launched an immigration offense on Los Angeles last year.

More than 4o No Kings protests took place across southern California on Saturday – part of nationwide repudiation of Donald Trump’s chaotic second administration, the mass deportation campaign, the rising cost of living, and the Iran war.

Protests began earlier in the day with a march through downtown Los Angeles, where protesters brandished signs criticizing the US president and his hardline immigration crackdown.

Tens of thousands of people took part in the demonstrations, according to ABC7 Eyewitness News.

“Peaceful protest is our constitutional right,” Karen Bass, the LA mayor, wrote on Facebook. “When people come together to make their voices heard, that is democracy in action. Please stay safe and look out for one another.”

The rally had largely concluded by the time the conflict at the detention center took place. Los Angeles police department issued a “tactical alert” and ordered a group of protesters who remained to disperse. LAPD issued a statement saying that demonstrators were “throwing large concrete blocks, bottles and other objects”.

Police surrounded a group of about 150 protesters and arrested those who declined to disperse. Police fired pepper rounds and bean bags into the crowd, according to KTLA.

Police shot a protester in the eye with a pepper round, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Protesters and counter-protesters clashed at Trump National Golf Club in nearby Rancho Palos Verdes, where a supporter and an opponent of Trump yelled into each other’s faces, daring one another to fight.